Student Testimonials
Here’s what past students have to say about their experiences:
“I was terrified coming here in the beginning but, as they tell you on the first day, you are kind of forced to get to know yourself very well and understand what’s important to you. I definitely feel a lot more mature and independent.”
“I met some of the most interesting people I think you can find at Tech, and exploring Europe together has brought us so close together. If you love to explore new cultures and make lifelong friends, this is the place for you.”
“FYSA is an amazing opportunity to explore the world and become a global citizen. Learning to navigate and traverse dozens of countries while staying on top of classes this early in your college experience is invaluable. These experiences and skills are things I have been able to successfully speak to and lean on in internship interviews and other professional endeavors!”
“I can’t think of another time in life when you travel, study, and love with the same group of friends like in FYSA. “
“Getting to travel every weekend makes for a really exciting start to the college experience. It’s hard to get bogged down in coursework when you’re going on vacation every weekend!”
“I loved exploring Europe from the Metz campus… We were central to so many cool cities and my schedule had Fridays off so I had three day weekends for travel every week.“
“I think choosing to study abroad my freshman year at Oxford was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.”
“FYSA@Oxford is truly one of the most thrilling experiences! You get to study in historical locations, travel to incredible places, and build connections with so many amazing people. It is a wonderful way to transition into college because you can build a closeness with those around you that makes starting uni less intimidating.”
“FYSA gave me the opportunity to be adventurous while getting the benefit of college credits. I’ve made close friendships through this program and we’ve had incredible experiences in all of the countries we’ve been to, ranging from wandering around museums and climbing monuments to finding hole-in-the-wall restaurants and having picnics at a park.”
“Traveling makes you learn about yourself more than anything.”
“My friends and I were all crazy bonded after travelling around Europe together, it was really a crash-course way to make really powerful friendships. They saw me at my crankiest and I love them.”
“It was really powerful to learn about the architecture and musical history as we traveled. I think the classes enriched the traveling experience a lot, and I learned everywhere I went!”
What’s something fun that you remember about the program?
“Several film/tv productions were taking place around the city center during the @Oxford portion of the program. One day as I was leaving the Radcliffe Camera, a production was setting up near the Bridge of Sighs… it was always nice to catch glimpses of the productions taking place.”
– Ella Maksumic, Oxford 24
“Emily and I wanted to go see the Milky Way in a dark sky zone outside of Oxford and we ended up almost getting hypothermia from sleeping on a wet picnic table covered in slugs. We didn’t die.”
– Mishayla Harve, Oxford 23
“Watching your friends try to speak broken French in an American accent is never not funny.”
– Natalie Holm, GTE 24
“While we were in Ireland for the Georgia Tech football game, a few friends and I chatted with a trio of Irishmen about our favorite artists.”
– Allison Baja, Oxford 24
“You don’t realize how much French you have learned until you travel to Germany, and someone tries to talk to you.”
– Henry Lott, GTE 24
“Emily and I wanted to go see the Milky Way in a dark sky zone outside of Oxford and we ended up almost getting hypothermia from sleeping on a wet picnic table covered in slugs. We didn’t die.”
– Mishayla Harve, Oxford 23
“Remember when Grendel left his phone on the bus to charge and got left in Bologna?”
– Kit Machida, Oxford 23
“I’ve been cooking every type of food but French food.”
– Alaric Jenkins, GTE 24
“We found a place to get boba in every city we visited, it was a hidden talent.”
– Sarah Ray, Oxford 23
“We accidentally crashed a famous wedding in Hotels des Invalides (Napoleon’s resting place) in Paris!”
– Preston Taylor, GTE 23
“When the bus broke down in the Austrian countryside we parked at an Aldi’s and Andy and Sean bought a pack of ice cream bars and sold them at a marked-up price on the bus like street vendors. They made just enough profit to buy another pack of ice cream bars.”
– Erin Russell, Oxford 23
“I once slept on a sailboat that was listed as an Airbnb to get a cheap night’s lodging. Why was it so cheap? It had almost no heating, the booking was for December, and the sailboat was in a frozen Swedish harbor.”
– Lily Carras, GTE 23
“We had a snowball fight before our Physics 1 exam.”
– Rachel Bell, GTE 23
“You will be upset with Atlanta’s transportation when you get back.”
– Joaquin Freidman, Oxford 24
“One of my friends ate beans for breakfast in just about every city we could find, to the point where we started sending pictures of her and the beans in the group chat every morning.”
– Ellie Radlinski, Oxford 23
“I traveled after the program ended and got stuck making a whole Thanksgiving for 110 Dutch people. They don’t have ovens in the Netherlands. Would not recommend!”
– Erin Russell, Oxford 23
“I was exploring Gloucester Green’s Outdoor Market, and I spent a couple hours chatting with a man from Peru who has lived around the British Isles for a decade. The encounter gave me a chance to practice my Spanish and connect with a local.”
– Allison Baja, Oxford 24
“I counted how many gelatos I ate in each Italian city each day. My record was 7 in one day!”
– Jennifer Jiang, Oxford 23
“If you plan on going to Octoberfest in Munich, don’t sleep in tents… it is cold and muddy.”
– Alon Mileguir, GTE 24
“You don’t realize how crazy the experience is until you take a step back and think about it. My friends and I were very upset about missing a concert we planned for but ended up walking around a random city in Germany as if that isn’t super cool on its own.”
– Taryn Roher, GTE 24
“I made up one of the concerts that I was sick for at a concert in the Capuchin crypt, which is the monastery crypt made of bones in Rome. I believe the first thing I told people about it was ‘too many bones,’ but I stand by that.”
– Erin Russell, Oxford 23
“Somehow we convinced ourselves we could bike from Oxford to Stratford-Upon-Avon, 40 miles away. We did a test run and barely made it a mile before people dropped out.”
– Jennifer Jiang, Oxford 23
“We had the most magical kimchi at a random Korean restaurant in Prague because we kept going to Korean restaurants on the last day in each city. So good.”
– Mishayla Harve, Oxford 23