¡ICS es excelente! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

An impressive variety of courses are available at ICS, including an introductory Spanish language intensive that counts as 3 semesters of college credit. Other courses focus on Spanish history, art and culture, with business, economics, and even film studies offered as well. Small class sizes, below 20, ensure that everyone is included. I found the instructors on site to be very professional and personable, and highly knowledgeable in their subject areas.

On-site administration of your program

The support staff is what really sets ICS apart. In short, they are wonderful! Gina, Lisa and Christine, along with Prof. John Boyle and take tremendous care of the students and faculty. They are highly conscientious at finding supportive homes for the students, in stark contrast to some other study abroad institutions in Seville that I learned about. The ICS team provides a tremendous array of activities and opportunities beyond the course offerings. In addition to the excursions already noted, they held a handful of receptions/fiestas, including Welcome Week, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas/End-of-Semester. They also offer a myriad of extra (mostly free) opportunities, such as classes in cooking and Flamenco dance. They even connected some of the students with a local soccer club where they could up their game.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

ICS takes great care of students and faculty, shows everyone a great time, and offers solid academic program. A full course load, room and board with a local family (usually 2 students to a home), and all excursions are included in the relatively low tuition.

Seville, and Spain in general, offers wonderful food!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

ICS did a great job at introducing students and faculty to Seville with a dazzling array of Welcome Week activities, including tours to various parts of the city, tapas excursions and more. They kept this up over the semester with ventures to most of the locales mentioned earlier. A highlight was the three-day Morocco trip. Students were introduced to an Islamic nation renowned for its religious tolerance and also got the chance to ride camels! All of these excursions included engaging, knowledgeable guides, often ICS faculty members. Seville is a great site for international students, as it's big enough to be interesting, and small enough to be safe, and easy to get around. Seville was named Lonely Planet's #1 city to visit in 2018 for good reason. It has a tremendous mix of ancient and modern, traditional and hip, in terms of its architecture, food, music, culture, arts. Roman ruins, the massive Giralda tower and Catedral, the Alcázar and many other ancient sites dazzle the eye, and have served as filming sites for movies and the Game of Thrones TV series. At the other end of the spectrum are the surreal, modernistic Las Setas and many happening clubs, galleries and clothing shops. Throw in Seville's status as the birthplace of Flamenco music and dance (or one of them), and you're in cultural heaven! Plus, Seville is well-situated for visits to other Spanish highlights such as Barcelona, Madrid, Córdoba and Granada, plus Morocco and Portugal.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Spain has excellent, universal health care, and ICS includes full coverage for students.

Seville is a great site for international students, as it's big enough to be interesting, and small enough to be safe, and easy to get around. ICS is in a pleasant, safe neighborhood.

I commend ICS on running an exemplary program from top-to-bottom.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Spain/Seville is a very low cost locale.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

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• Apartment

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• Other

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• Other

• Seville
• ICS Staff
• Food!

• Fewer excursions to allow for outside travel
• Lower smoking rate among Spaniards
• Same

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