With the right people this program is amazing!
I personally had an amazing time at ISI Florence. I studied abroad for the Fall semester of 2024 and went into the program alone. This program pulls from schools all across the United States so you are mixed in with people from various universities. In the fall the program usually sits around 150 students and in the spring it grows to around 550. You are set up with random roommates and placed in an apartment around the city center. I had 8 other roommates and lived above another apartment of ISI students. ISI does not release your roommates until the day you arrive in Italy which is a little nerve racking but it worked out fine for me. I had such a great experience with my roommates and gained 8 new great friends. Including the 9 boys below us, the 17 of us were able to go on trips together, cook meals, hangout, etc. I was really lucky with my living situation as I was in a central location, but not all apartments are. School itself allows space for people to connect and hangout but my living situation really gave me a great community for studying abroad, so those who didn't end up as lucky as I might not have the same view on the program. School is far easier than my home university and the workload is significantly lower. The professors are a mixed bag but all relatively nice and fine lecturers. The staff is amazing, they are all helpful and very kind. There is little cultural immersion as all the classes are in english, besides your mandatory Italian course. I worked on the Global Leaders Program through the program which got me further immersed in the culture due to the assignments and interviews we did. Overall I had a great experience but some of that was up to luck!
