3 Reasons Why I Chose CIMBA

As this school year is coming to an end, I am becoming more and more excited to travel to Italy! I am really looking forward to all the amazing opportunities there are in Italy, like traveling to beautiful cities, visiting historic landmarks, and experiencing a new culture. This will be my first time studying abroad and being in a completely different culture. As a first-year student who was looking for a fun and new experience, these are the reasons why I chose CIMBA to study abroad: 

1. The Course Offerings 

The fact that CIMBA offers high quality classes that are taught in English and that transfer easily to your home institution made me fall in love with this opportunity. As an engineering student, there aren’t always opportunities to take courses abroad that will correlate with the major you are pursuing. However, CIMBA offers a diverse set of courses that are beneficial for almost any major, even engineers!  

2. The Location 

I think most of us can agree that Italy is a gorgeous country. More specifically, Paderno del Grappa, the Northern Italian village in which the CIMBA campus is located, is beautiful and is in a very convenient location. If you take a bus, train, or plane, you can visit large and historical cities like Rome, Venice, Paris, and many more. Also, the CIMBA program is great because classes are structured in a way that allows students to have lots of travel time in order to experience the Italian culure.  

3. The Cost 

It is obvious that study abroad programs will be expensive, but I liked how much was included in CIMBA’s program cost. The program cost includes tuition, textbooks, a dorm room, meals, laundry tokens, travel insurance, bus transportation, company tours, cultural exploration activities, and still so much more. CIMBA makes the payment process easy by using the University of Iowa’s billing system online with different payment plans. Additionally, CIMBA offers financial aid and scholarships to help keep the cost down. Many people’s home institutions will also have different financial opportunities for students who are studying abroad. By applying for and receiving scholarships from CIMBA and my own university, I was able to cut down the cost to study abroad significantly.  

Overall, I think CIMBA will be a great study abroad program that will give me the opportunity to explore, learn, and grow while being in a new culture. I am so excited for my next month in Italy – I know I will love it!