Arcadia Abroad

I had an amazing time studying abroad at the Umbra Institute. I applied through Arcadia Abroad, who were incredible especially with coordinating student visas. From the moment my plane touched down, the staff were incredible. I felt safe and welcomed into the program. My classes were great and I loved the opportunity to learn about history and art then actually walk down the street or take a short train ride to witness it in person. My Italian 101 and Roman Empire classes in particular were fantastic and I looked forward to them everyday. One thing I loved about this program was the small size during the fall semester. Our program was 60 people and by the end I knew everyone by name and felt as though I could walk up to anyone and start a conversation. The housing team at Umbra was also amazing, pairing me with three girls who are now some of my closest friends. If you are looking for an immersive program in a small city rich with art, food, and history, I could not recommend ISI Perugia enough!

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Initially I was hesitant to study abroad due to never being to another country before. However, a few of my peers recommended Arcadia to me due to their semester-long program in London. Thus, I decided to take a chance and apply. Several months later, I was landing in Heathrow Airport and being greeted by Arcadia staff. From the onboarding process to the departure process, Arcadia was there for me every step of the way. Their staff does everything they can to make your experience as enjoyable as possible. I personally cannot recommend Arcadia enough after experiencing their program in London. However, they are not just limited to London. They offer study abroad programs in many other countries too.

London will always have a special place in my heart! London has always been on the list of places I wanted to travel to outside of the US, and I am beyond grateful that I was able to travel there with Arcadia Abroad. Arcadia Abroad emphasizes hands-on, interactive learning and encourages its students to step outside their comfort zones and venture into the unknown. The care, compassion, and attentiveness expressed by professors at the London Learning Center encouraged me to utilize my voice inside the classroom and gave me the courage to contribute to class discussions. Being housed in the Princess Elizabeth House allowed me to meet new students who attend Arcadia, and other students from various universities studying alongside Arcadia. I was able to participate in university excursions while abroad, and had the privilege of traveling throughout Europe with friends! My experience with Arcadia in London is one I won't forget, and I plan to study abroad again in the future.

I loved the uni of Winchester. The whole campus and the people are wonderful. Everyone is so warm and welcoming wanting you to have the best experience. The town of Winchester is a short 10 min walk from campus with everything you can need. Also a close walk to the train station if you need to go farther. Only an hour train ride to London if you want to see the city. Overall I had the best time ever and loved every minute of it.

Learning abroad with Umbra was one of the best decisions I made. All my professors were extremely passionate about the subjects they were teaching, especially the Italian Renaissance class. I was in awe during field trips, being able to reflect on what we learned in class from photos and seeing it in real life was one of the highlights of this experience.

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I had the most amazing time spending my semester in Perugia this fall. I made lifelong friends and spent time exploring not only many cities and towns in Italy, but also other countries in Europe as well! My favorite part of this experience was getting to be immersed in the culture and being able to feel confident in living in a non english speaking country. This included traveling by bus and train, as well as navigating airports as well. I was able to grow in my studies of sustainability and marketing to do with Italian food and restaurants. It was one of the best experiences. I remember being worried about coming originally, scared if I was going to make friends, worried about the language barrier, and missing home. Now I can confidently say it was one of the best decisions of my life. I am forever changed and have grown so much as a person! I am so lucky to call Perugia a second home.

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!

I truly loved my time studying at the University of Winchester! I know it might seem more exciting to go to London or Oxford or one of the bigger, more touristy cities, but if you looking for a traditional English town experience, Winchester is the place to be. Every time I walked into town to get groceries or pop out for a drink, I felt like I was walking through a scene in a Jane Austen movie. This might have also been because Jane Austen did, in fact, live in Winchester at one point! I also was very grateful that I went through Arcadia! Every step of my journey from before I left the U.S. to even after I got back they were great! They communicated well and often and always responded to emails in a timely matter. My Advisor was also a huge help in settling me in and checking in on me throughout the semester and I still email her now after the completion of my program. I highly recommend Arcadia!

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I went on this program in the Summer of 2017, and I can't recommend it enough. The on-site staff are very friendly, and very willing to help you with any problems you have. The classes aren't super difficult, but they do require you to put the effort in. The professors are all very knowledgeable, friendly, and approachable. I took Scottish Wars of Independence and Marketing/Branding in Scotland, and had great experiences in both. Most students only have class 2-3 days a week, which leaves a lot of time to travel in your spare time. The program organizes 3 day trips to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St. Andrews, and you'll also have 2 class field trips. There is also an optional trip to the Isle of Skye that I highly recommend. You'll have to step a bit outside of your comfort zone if you want to engage with the locals, but you'll have plenty of opportunities to do so.

Don't go through Arcadia if you are traveling here the expense is enormous and there is almost no pay off at all! I am paying almost $10,000 more than some who directly enrolled in University College Dublin "UCD". (UCD is great btw) The only benefits of Arcadia are: 1. They give UCD your application. You can easily do this on your own. 2. They sign you up for housing. Again, you can do this online on your own! You will save so much money and have the option to live in the city or wherever you want. 3. They organize trips for you in Ireland. But these trips are on weekends when you're traveling to other countries and oh yeah you have to pay an additional cost for these. Also UCD organizes very similar and total free trips as well. Arcadia is a scam. They have made promises to check over our classes before registration ended, process payments from UCD, and track our travel plans for safety reasons. They have failed to fulfill these promises. What am I paying for? No idea.

Arcadia is one of the few universities with a first year study abroad program. You are guided through the process step by step (they even book your flight for you!) and the fee is only around $600, which includes your flight, airport pickup, etc. Housing is excellent, always in travel zones 1 or 2, I lived in Notting Hill which is one of the nicest neighborhoods in London, and only a few minutes walk from Kensington Gardens. The professors at the Arcadia Centre are amazing and focused on getting you out into the city. Amazing amazing amazing time.

Studying abroad was one of the greatest experiences in not only my time as an undergraduate student but also in my life. Arcadia made this opportunity more feasible as the process of applying, preparing and participating was organized and well designed. Advisers were always willing to assist me at every step of the way. I could not have chosen a better program!

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Before studying abroad in London, I was beyond anxious and scared. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and living away from everything and everyone I knew and loved for 5 months seemed impossible. A year later, I still think about my life in London daily, and I have not one regret about studying abroad. The Arcadia program made me feel comfortable almost immediately after stepping off the plane in Heathrow. The first few days, when I was so overwhelmed, Arcadia had activities and information sessions planned, so that I could feel some normalcy and become comfortable in my new home. My best friends from studying abroad came from the Arcadia program because we started out together and were very like-minded...we all wanted an adventure! Throughout the semester, Arcadia had planned trips that made it easy to explore some places, such as Stonehenge, that would have been difficult to do on my own. The staff and directors in London were always very friendly and helpful, and I could tell they wanted to make sure every student had the best experience possible. I highly recommend the Arcadia program at Queen Mary. As a student, you get the security of an American program, but the experience of living and taking classes like a British student at a real college campus in East London. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything, and I'm thankful that I chose this program, because it made my experience abroad the best it could be.

Going to Robert Burns' hometown and the house where he was born for my birthday with a few of my friends in the Butler program. His writing was the reason I wanted to study there so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to go to his birthplace and see where a lot of his inspiration came from. I wanted to study Scottish Literature in Scotland, and Arcadia is the program that my home university worked with for all Scottish programs.

I felt so much support during my time abroad. I was nervous to be away from my family, but it was easy to make new friends with all of the planned activities. We met for dinner every week and did some great activities that I never would have tried otherwise. We went SCUBA diving and visited museums.

I will always remember being in Scotland and the Lake District

A school that does a great job of allowing kids to still have free time to go out while also taking academics seriously.

Great balance of academics and cultural experience! Would not have loved anywhere as much as Granada!

I've had an awesome time abroad. I've learned a lot about the Spanish culture through trips/tours around Spain. Also, through my roommates coworkers and teachers.

Granada provides a great mix of the academic, the cultural, and the social experience of the studying abroad