Ayusa International Reviews 27

I completed my exchange year in the United States with AYUSA, and it was an amazing experience from start to finish. The organization was incredibly supportive throughout the entire process. They matched me with a wonderful host family with whom I had so much in common, and we built a great relationship thanks to our strong communication.
I also had the opportunity to travel and visit many different places, which made the experience even more enriching. My school was very cooperative with AYUSA as well, which helped everything run smoothly and made me feel comfortable and supported in my new environment.
Overall, I’m very grateful for this experience and highly recommend AYUSA to anyone considering an exchange year.

Ayusa has been a great organization for me. My family has been great ever since I arrived in the States. They welcomed me very warmly and it didn’t take long for me to feel at home. Aside from a few different dynamics at home that took me a while to get used to (curfew, chores…), I have loved bonding with all of my host siblings. The agency has been really supportive for me. Luckily I have never had big issues throughout the year, but my Community Representative Brian Warwick has been extremely helpful and available whenever I needed help.
My exchange year will always be one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever got to live. People in my community have been so kind to me ever since I arrived. Kids at school have always been super nice and it’s been a blast to spend time with american teenagers! I was lucky enough to be able to make friends in a quite short time, and I’m truly thankful because one of my greatest fears if not the greatest one was not to make any friends. I’ve had so much fun experiencing all the cultural differences regarding food, school, religion and much more.
My favorite memories so far are definitely the school dances and all the hangouts with my best friends! I will cherish those moments forever.
A few advices I would give to future exchange students:
be grateful for the experience you get to live and show gratitude to your host family; the experience won’t be perfect everyday and it’s okay!
don’t ever compare your experience to others’. Just because it’s different, it doesn’t mean it’s not as cool!
make the most out of it because this time will never come back! Don’t be scared of what others think and don’t be shy, but just go out there and try as much as you can.

Southeast AYUSA had been a very organization. It has always looked out for what is good for the exchange students. For me personally, Southeast AYUSA has helped me a lot. They have made my exchange year a wonderful one. They made sure I am always comfortable with my host family. They have always looked out for what is good for me. They also resolve problems when it comes to switching host families before it gets to the students which I think is awesome. Because it helps the student not to worry about anything. I would also like to personally appreciate my local coordinator, Scott Warner and my regional Manager, Maggie Warner for everything they have been doing. They have made sacrifices that not everyone could go make. They have endured so much pain from and because of students and yet, they are still always looking for the student's well-being. Shout-out to Ms Julie who has always supported me in so many ways. She is far away but she has helped me by always encouraging me. I am so grateful for that. Words can not express my gratitude to Southeast AYUSA. They have so amazing!!!

My experience with Ayusa has been truly unforgettable. My host family has been incredibly welcoming and supportive, making me feel at home from the start.

What surprised me most was how quickly I adapted and built a life here through school and friendships. My Local Coordinator Scott Warner and my regional manager Maggie Warner were always there when I needed help, which made me feel secure throughout my exchange year.

My advice to future exchange students is to stay open-minded and step out of your comfort zone. This experience goes by fast, so make the most of it.

I feel extremely lucky to be surrounded by such an incredible community!

We have had the best experience with our exchange student! It was our first year hosting and it’s gone fantastic! The amount of culture and customs we have learned exceeds expectations! If you are considering hosting, I highly recommend!

My name is Michelle, I was hosted in Florida.My exchange year was good. I made a lot of friends, got placed in a nice and caring family and also got a nice CR. She took me and some other exchange students to different states like Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina. Also during the breaks we had a Halloween party, Christmas party and cultural day for all exchange students.

Hello prospective host families!

My name is Caroline and my daughter, Carlilse and I hosted Maya from Rome last semester. We always knew we wanted to host an exchange student, but weren't really sure what to expect. We just went into it with open minds and hearts. From the moment we met Maya, we had a connection. Our home consists of a lot of girls, so it was easy for Maya to fit right in. We traveled quite a bit showing Maya some beautiful spots on the east coast, saw the Nutcracker and Hamilton, she sailed with her high school friends, experienced our beautiful coast in the waterways and on the ocean, did a lot of thrifting, eating out and lots of fun family dinners. I will say, the best parts were just the normal days having her there with us in the house as part of our family. We didn't fully realize the impact Maya could have on our family and now it's safe to say, I've gained a daughter and Carlisle a sister. Two days after Maya returned home from her semester with us, she called and asked if she could return and finish the year with us. I was elated, but unfortunately, the time to extend had already passed. Instead we planned for Maya to return in June and Carlilse to go to Rome in August. I am forever grateful for this opportunity, as hosting Maya has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I can't recommend it enough.

Best,
Caroline

The experience is great especially because of family and friends.

We had a great experience with our students and the organization.

We started hosting high school foreign exchange students in 2015 with another placement agency and was introduced to AYUSA when our first community representative moved away. We've been very impressed by the involvement of our local CR and other AYUSA reps in our state. We've hosted 4 with AYUSA so far. It's always a great time with the students!

We have hosted exchange students for many years since 2006 with various US exchange programs. This is our first year with AYUSA and we are very pleased with how engaged and involved they are with the students. Any time we’ve had any questions or concerns, AYUSA has gone above and beyond the resolve any issues efficiently. We highly recommend AYUSA for hosting exchange students without exception.

Hosting an exchange student is a wonderful experience. We learned so much about her culture and enjoyed sharing ours with her. We are so thankful for our daughter we now have from overseas and the bond we share. We are so thankful for this amazing opportunity.

Our experience with hosting an exchange student through AYUSA has been exceptional. They have been supportive throughout the process (at all levels of the organization). In particular, our local community coordinator has been a key support during our student’s stay, for both us as a host family and for our student. He is in regular contact with us and has planned a number of fun and engaging activities for our student to participate in. I highly recommend this organization.

This has been one of the best experiences that our family has ever been a part of. We have been working with a different agency, and then Craig embrace our family and our student as if it was we were his own. Having Richi here as part of our family, It has definitely filled a void that we didn't even know we had. Thank you for allowing us to be part of this amazing group and I encourage anyone who has even thought about it to embrace it because it'll be the best experience you ever had.

Hi, my family and I decided to give hosting a try for the first time back in August. We had no clue what we had to do but I remembered I had a friend that I followed constantly on Facebook and requested some information. We proceeded with the requirements and by the time we knew it, our kid was here with us.

My little ones were so nervous and didn’t know what to do or say but they did keep telling me that they were excited. We kept taking our exchange student out and showing him around. He was so in awe of all the “American things” and couldn’t believe how real it was. He kept telling me that he thought that what he saw on movies- was just in movies. What fascinated him the most was the drive thru car washes. He has never seen one and couldn’t believe his eyes.

2 months into our journey, we went from having one exchange student to having two students. We took in one other student that was not having the best experience with his other family; this was the best decision ever. My kids were now able to have two international students from two different countries share their culture and language with not just my two boys but also with my husband and I.

Here we are now , almost 7 months in and we are loving every bit of it. I would not change anything thus far. We have really really enjoyed hosting students so we decided to do it again this coming August.

If you are ever hesitant to host and international student or students- don’t be! It will be the best time and experience. You will create ever lasting bonds and relationships with them and their families that will last a lifetime! We highly recommend Ayusa. They are quick to connect with us and they are always understanding and will go beyond your expectations to fix or correct anything that may arise that can’t be fixed on your own.

Our daughter is currently seven months into a ten month exchange with Ayusa and she is having the time of her life!

Her host family have become dear to our whole family, she has made some wonderful friends, her school is great and the AyUsa exchange community where she lives is extremely supportive.

They have regular exchange student gatherings and events and our daughter has not only made connections and established friendships with her American peers, but many from other countries in her fellow exchange students as well!

The whole exchange experience has far exceeded our expectations and we would recommend it to anyone considering it.

Ayusa are professional yet friendly and really support and guide their exchange students.

We are now in the process of applying to host a student ourselves here in Australia after being inspired by our daughter’s AyUsa host family and will make enquiries next year for our youngest daughter to go on exchange.

I was an Ayusa exchange student a while back, and let me tell you that this is the worst communication I’ve ever experienced with an organization. When I was placed in the US, I had a hard time connecting with people, I’ll be honest. Once it got better after a month or so, someone who goes over the evaluation conversations of Ayusa, sent MY MOM an email telling her lots of things that I’ve been doing wrong and claiming other things while they never contacted me first about it. Saying that I wanted to quit cheer for no reason, that I made my hostmom sit in the backseat, had no interests in my host family and other exchange student who lived next to me, that I closed myself off in my room and that I was being dramatic over a 15 min car drive (I can get panic attacks in small places, so that’s why. Even a 5 min car drive gave me a panic attack when I was there). Mind you, they have never emailed me first to confirm this all, they straight up emailed my organization and mother first. What a lack of communication and respect. I had to receive their email through my mom too. It actually made me so upset that I emailed back to explain everything, while I still think they should’ve contacted me first if they wanted to make these fake claims about me to make my people at home worry. Everything that was said in their email wasn’t true and never heard of, so I gave them the truth about everything and explaining everything they said I was doing. And they NEVER apologized. The lady who sent out that email later came to our place, and I’ll be honest, I was a little cold towards her. Genuinely because she didn’t apologize for making false claims and not contacting me about it first. It was brought up that I sometimes made my host mom late for school (never heard about this before, so also my host moms fault for not telling me it was a real issue. I apologized for it though.) and the lady from Ayusa jokingly said that if she were my host mom, she would’ve kicked me out immediately. She made more comments like that, so that’s also why I was being cold towards her. I was younger back then, but I still realize this isn’t how you treat your own exchange student. I wouldn’t recommend this organization to anyone, there’s a lot of other organizations that actually do make their own exchange students their number 1 priority. Ayusa failed me, and they never apologized to me for it. I’m not someone who leaves reviews at all, but I really wouldn’t want anyone to experience what I experienced because it messed me up so bad I left the US earlier to go back home. Be very picky and careful with your organizations.

Read the other negative reviews here. I went through the same as them. Lack of communication. Lack of support. Secret plans behind our backs to re-home our student. They seem to be involved with another host parent conspiring against us.
We had one good year with an exceptional student, who communicated her needs to us clearly. She’s now part of our family. I severely limited our involvement with Ayusa the whole year, as did our student. That made our year a success.
I see our main Ayusa contact, Brianne Stauffer, has left a positive review for Ayusa. Wonder how many other Ayusa staff members account for the positive reviews?

We’ve been hosting with Ayusa for 9 years, and while not every experience has been perfect (because real life rarely is!), the support we've received from our local coordinator and Regional Support Specialist has always been top-tier. They are the reason we’ve felt confident opening our hearts and home year after year.

What really sets Ayusa apart is the community. Our CRs go above and beyond — organizing activities not just for students but for host families too (Host Parent Night Out? Yes, please!). Those moments build real connections and lifelong memories.

We’ve hosted with other organizations in the past, but once we found Ayusa, we knew we found our people. The support, the heart, and the commitment to cultural exchange are unmatched.

I have hosted and worked with 3 different companies for international exchange over the past 2 decades. I left one because they only cared about money and not the kids. AYUSA cares about their kids. They truly want the best for them and their experience. Every person I have met with AYUSA has the heart for their students first and their safety is paramount to the experience for the student and the family.