Wondering about the quality of the program. I believe all study abroad is worth it just for the experience but was AIFS a good organization? Did it make it easy for your student in terms of housing, excursions etc? Good value? Pros and Cons?
My D17 had a very good experience with AIFS in the fall of 2019 in Grenoble, France. She really lucked out in her home stay with a charming and compatible host family in a historic building in the heart of Grenoble. She did multiple excursions to other areas of France and one to Spain, but I think she did these independently with a few other AIFS students. I don’t think they were AIFS-sponsored trips. The only difficulty she had was getting her credits transferred to her home school, but that wasn’t the fault of AIFS or the University of Grenoble. More due to the chaos that occurred in the spring of 2020 due to Covid. She did finally get it straightened out. AIFS was one of the less expensive programs she looked at and she was able to save money by making her own travel arrangements from the US to France (and return).
AIFS is favorably known.
Would you be going as a HS student or as a college student? Because most colleges offer study abroad programs. Some offer truly extensive choices, from Goucher that guarantees a study abroad program to the more selective Dickinson where study abroad is expected to W&M with its partnership with St Andrews in Scotland, not to mention what flagships with strong FL depts offer (USC Columbia, UWisconsin Madison…)