CIMBA Italy - Paderno del Grappa, Provincia di Treviso

Sharon

I loved my experience with CIMBA and proud to be a part of the fam. 🙂

1. They were really great at helping organize transportation for students. The first time I made my way to campus, I was a little nervous, but it was an exciting and challenging experience that taught me to be independent and prepared in life. When there was a delayed train or bus, someone always checked in with me/us to make sure we were all good. I like that they didn't baby us and check in with us 24/7. Instead, they gave us freedom to explore. One of the good things about campus is that there is a front gate that is manned 24/7 so whenever we got back late, we knew that someone would be there to let us back on campus.

2. The cafeteria was great! The food was yummy - although it could get repetitive sometimes. All my classmates enjoyed eating in the cafeteria with local students because the food was warm and fulfilling. If students ever wanted to skip cafeteria meals, there was also the sports cafe with yummy sandwiches and burgers or the local pizzeria with awesome food. Most students chose to eat at the cafeteria anyways for convenience and really, it was a hearty meal. The cafeteria people were also friendly. 🙂 I'll always remember the cafeteria meals fondly.

3. Gourmet dinners at CIMBA were the best. We got dressed up, had an etiquette course with Dr. Al, and then had a 4-5 course meal at local restaurants. These were a great experience and a student-favorite activity. The food at these restaurants or sometimes even hotels were amazing. SO GOOD.

4. CIMBA was so affordable, both their UG program and MBA program. I received some financial aid from CIMBA, but their prices are very comparable to other study abroad programs out there. Rather than taking classes back at home in the US, I am so happy that I was able to study and travel in Italy. Such an amazing experience and so much better than a mere week or two in Europe.

5. Classes were great! Professors are fantastic! I still keep in touch with some of my professors and almost all of my classmates. Classes were max 30 students, so much smaller than those huge lecture hall classes.

Super super thankful for my experience and can't wait to visit campus again soon!

Photo credit: Elizabeth Heinz (fellow CIMBA alum)

Aubrey Sydow

CIMBA is a remarkable program with caring, invested instructors who make it a point to get to know you. The instructors are kind and engaging, often linking business material to global business and/or your study abroad experience. There’s also opportunities to visit local businesses, learn hands-on outside the classroom, and participate in day trips to truly grasp a cultural experience of Northern Italy.

CIMBA also provides guidance and resources to plan travel weekends with ease. Travel weekends can be intimidating at times, but the support system is there to navigate it all. In addition to weekend trips, there’s various night trips that CIMBA has organized, which can be taken locally during the week.

The program has a great balance of studying and traveling, as both aspects are pivotal to your experience. Proud to be a CIMBA alum!

Matthew Hart

The faculty and staff here at CIMBA are amazing at making your study abroad experience truly unique! The area surrounding CIMBA is breathtaking and offers you to get fully immersed into the Italian culture! Highly recommend this program!

Alex O

An American University Abroad. CIMBA is the Personal Development Hub of northern Italy. It not only offers you classes and travel time, but also seminars that enable you to grow professionally toward your goal.

Myah Bauman

CIMBA provided me with everything I needed while studying abroad! The staff put in so much effort, prioritizing our cultural immersion and safety. Lot's of opportunities to travel and have adventures with your peers.

Erin Wurgler

I was a fall 2022 student at CIMBA. This was an overall amazing experience that I would strongly recommend, but I want to go over a few pros and cons for anyone looking into this program.
Pros:
-Amazing staff who genuinely care about you, your education, and your travel. Make sure to ask them where to travel to, because they have recommendations that are fabulous.
-CIMBA has a beautiful setting and the mountains were gorgeous. I also loved the small-town feel. Downtown Paderno del Grappa was a 30-45 min walk away, where there was a grocery store, some restaurants, and a gelato shop. If you aren’t interested in walking very far, there is a Pizza restaurant, a sports bar on campus, a cute convenience store, and 2 coffee shops nearby.
-School activities were very good. LIFE is a mentally and physically challenging 3-day program that connected me to the other students there. We also took part in the DaVinci challenge, which was a very fun physical trust and bonding activity. The school provided opportunities to eat dinners with Italian families in the area, along with activities with the professors, which included things like cheese tasting, pasta making, and pizza making classes at restaurants near the school. The best activities were the “gourmet dinners” that we had once a month. We had lessons in table manners and etiquette and were expected to use them when we ate the 3 to 5-course meals. This will be helpful for the future.
-A benefit of a small city is that we were able to see smaller cities that I never would have been to. Bassano del Grappa is my favorite city in Italy, and I am sure a majority of Americans have never heard of it.
-CIMBA has very nice workout facilities which include a pool.
-We were able to travel every weekend, and CIMBA provided names and numbers of taxi services in the area. If we had a large group of people, CIMBA would help us charter a bus for the drive. CIMBA also had two 3-day travel weekends and 1 travel week.
-Everything feels like a concierge experience. I was glad I didn’t have to worry about cooking, shopping for groceries, cleaning, or finding housing for my semester abroad. Especially if this is your first time abroad without parents, it is a fabulous way to get some exposure and freedom while still being taken care of. We also didn’t have to worry about getting a Visa, since we weren’t in the country for over 3 months.
Cons:
-Classes are completely mandatory. I can understand the reasoning behind it, but the punishment is severe. At times, trains can be late and it is a struggle to get back from traveling for your 8 am Monday class. There were also quite a few mandatory meetings that could get long and boring.
-The program is so short, I felt like I wasn’t able to see all the things that I was interested in. The two 3-day travel weekends we had didn’t seem like enough, and I would prefer at least two more of them.
-The food wasn’t terrible if you were just eating it once, but we had roughly the same food for 3 months straight. Pasta two meals a day may sound great, but trust me, it isn’t. I would recommend bringing some hot sauce or red pepper flakes to break up the boring flavors. The food was severely lacking in anything spicy or acidic.
-Because it is a small town, there isn’t much to do. I wish they had bikes or some other form of transportation so that a trip to the city center of Paderno del Grappa wouldn’t be so long. You can only go to the sports bar or the coffee shops so many times before you get tired of food being your only activity.
-The nearest train station was in Bassano del Grappa, a 20-minute taxi or bus ride. The taxi cost around 30 euros, and the bus price varied. If you wanted to get a taxi to the airport in Venice, the price was 90 euros. It was a struggle to be so far from any public transport or any larger city.
-While the LIFE program was a good experience, it was right at the start of our time there and we were all still struggling from culture shock, homesickness, and jet lag as we went through one of the toughest 3-day experiences of most of our lives.

Drew Thornton

CIMBA is an incredible program. Located in a smaller town, CIMBA lets you immerse yourself in true Italian culture. The staff is incredibly helpful and unbelievable friendly. Unlike most colleges, CIMBA has smaller classes that promote engagement in the classroom and create a relationship between each student and their professors. Professors genuinely care about getting to know the students. The CIMBA program highly encourages travel around Europe and creates opportunities for students to do so without feeling like they are falling behind on their classwork. CIMBA also offers extra activities such as company tours, pizza/pasta making, and nights out with italian families to allow you to truly experience Italy. Would highly recommend this program to anyone!

Raegan Baty

I am a current study abroad student. CIMBA provides free campus events such as, company tours, gourmet dinners, and personal growth experiences). CIMBA provides the most amazing educators, but they also understand your want to travel on the weekends. I will definitely return for my MBA.