Worst program ever! If I could give it negative stars, I would. I honestly wouldn't recommend this program to my worst enemy. I didn't get what I paid for. First off, the Madrid staff is really nice at the start, but going into the program if anything is extra work for them, they wont do it. I had the worst experience of my life with ISA, I honestly regret doing it. I had a roommate issue very early on (less than 2 weeks into the program), I let them know about it, they did nothing, I complained again, nothing happened. I finally contacted ISA in Texas, they were no help either and so rude and told me everything was my fault because I didn't do anything about it. I guess telling your home staff and your staff abroad about a problem is doing nothing. I lived in hell for my semester because ISA didn't care to do anything to help me resolve this issue. They will NOT help you in the event that you really need help. Save your money and stress and study abroad with another program. ISA is the worst company I've ever studied abroad with.
ISA - International Studies Abroad
Program was very nice at first and I wanted to significantly impact my Arabic which has been off and on. Just a warning, any government employee or former government employee traveling to Jordan, beware as members of the program try to pry for information regarding your "experiences" and relay this information to ISA in Texas as apparently its "mandatory procedure". It would be a great experience for students without work in the government sector.
The program in Barcelona is huge. There were a lot of Americans, and I agree with the previous review that it was hard to interact with locals. I also felt like a tourist even though I was living with a family. I would have appreciated more support from the people working there. For the most part they were really nice, I injured myself and they escorted me to the hospital and helped translate what the doctor was saying. However, I wish they had checked in with me about how my homestay was going because it did not go very well.
Comments
ISA was okay. Compared to other programs, they helped out a lot in providing things like the Navigo pass to get around, information about good places to go, nice excursions, and decent homestays. However, I felt like a complete tourist while in France, despite the fact that I was living in a home stay for the entire month. There were no real opportunities to interact with other French people our age, and the people I interacted with and had opportunities to meet were mainly American.
