Psychology Study Abroad Programs in Freiburg, Germany

IES Abroad does a fantastic job of offering authentic experiences with the host country’s culture and educational system while catering to students with experience in the American education system. Orientation is in-depth for culture shock, language (whether or not you speak it), educational system, and so many opportunities to make friends with international and local students. IES offers a few faculty-led trips within the host country/surrounding area, which are incredible. They do a great job of picking cities with a rich history and that would be difficult for students to plan a trip encompassing the maximum number of highlights with enough time to enjoy the city. The staff also book tours of the cities with professionals who are always willing to speak at a lower level of fluency with students and explain concepts and events in several ways to that students all understand their point within the host language (if different that native language). Professors are the same and students can tell that professors genuinely enjoy both the subject they are teaching as well as interactions with students from all over the US and are very interested in comparing their experiences to students’.

I felt extremely comfortable in Freiburg from the first day I arrived to the last. A big part of this in my mind is down to the environment and attitude the city fostered. With its bike riding and pedestrian-friendly vibe combined with the fact that it felt just the right size. Not too big and dangerous but also enough people to feel excited. It is also a very beautiful and sunny city. This combined with IES gives us the freedom to learn while providing support and help to stay safe and enjoy. IES had the perfect balance of providing group activity but not restricting us or keeping us too busy. They understood that we would want to get out into the city and take risks. I appreciated how they showed us how to do this in the safest way possible and did not control us too much. IES did most of the hard work to make settling in very easy and the staff were very supportive and friendly. It felt like a family from day one. The classes and professors were all very good and I liked how they emphasized that we should be speaking German. All of this combined led me to enjoy and feel at home in Freiburg all while pushing my comfort zone and experiencing new things.