I am a very concerned Mother and sent my daughter to ACA this past summer and it was nothing short of exceptional. The staff was kind, caring, approachable and literally willing to bend over backwards for my daughter. My daughter is gluten intolerant which makes meal times a bit challenging. My daughter shared at each and every meal, special food was provided and she was never made to feel like an outsider. We are a well traveled family, but my daughter relayed the quality of accommodations and large selection of both daily and evening activities and weekend excursions was amazing. Every call I could hear the smile beaming on the end of the phone as she called to check in. Our family has been on teen tours in Europe and to sleep away camp in Maine and to many of the finest programs and ACA was the best of all the experiences.
I attended ACA's Malibu program this year and it was HORRIBLE. The staff was incapable of doing anything, not only that, the people who run it are completely incompetent. Besides all of that, the staff and owners of the program treated me horribly!!! Horrible enough that I decided to go home early! And I'm not the only one! DO NOT waste your time and money at this place, they are completely incapable of running an organized program.
I attended the ACA Barcelona program this summer it was awesome I had an amazing summer thanks ACA for everything. I enjoyed my classes and had a great time sightseeing thanks again for my summer
I signed my daughter up for their program in France. In all my conversations with them I was never told it was the first year it was running - it fact, I was definitely misled that this was an established program. They cancelled the program in the spring for lack of enrollment. THen I moved my daughter to their Seville program - they cancelled that too - in the middle of June! THen I moved her to the program in Barcelona which was a disaster. Inexperienced staff, no communication at all from the company, they don't do 1/2 the things we're told they would do so don't bother reading their information book, lots of walking and walking (sure, that's free), horrible- unhealthy meals - pasta and more pasta. THere were only a handlful of boys - contrary to what we were told - and 95% girls. Other parents I spoke to also felt they were sold a bill of good by this company. Buyer beware - check references carefully.
I attended ACA Seville back in July 2003. It was the best summer of my entire life. So much so that, since my trip, I have referred many friends to go, remained very close with the company, have served as a counselor for one of their summer programs and also a flight monitor. I highly recommend this program for any high school student looking for a true cultural immersion experience. It is also one of the most structured and safe programs out there, which is sure to make any parent feel comfortable in sending their child overseas. Eight years later and I am still as in love with ACA as I was the day I left my Seville trip…if not MORE!
I will totally agree with the misrepresented comment. My child went to Spain. The camp was advertised as a camp with 200 students, only 40% from the US. There are 50 students and 98% are from the US, everyone else came with someone so the cliques are very strong. All of the other campers are interested in shopping, not the culture or art of the city, so that when my child is taking advantage of a museum or sight he feels that he is imposing on everyone else's pool time. The icing on the cake is that while my child was in the bathroom at a dinner outing the entire table, including the counselor left. She had to call the camp and they sent someone to pick her up.
Stop! Don't send your junior to ACA U of Wisconsin 2-week program this summer 2008! My daughter attended last summer and was extremely disappointed! Only 9 students enrolled; THIS PROGRAM WAS MISREPRESENTED, leading us to believe there would be many more attending. The classes she picked were cancelled at the last minute; then one was reinstated. The counselors were not trained to deal with social issues; one of the three other girls ran away. We had to pick our daughter up before it ended because she was alone during activities, meals, and at the mall, etc. SAVE YOUR MONEY!
Awewsome!!!! This is a very good pre-collegiate experience, and I recomend it to people who want to have fun and experience college life!!! Wisconsin 07
