I went for the semester abroad program in Wellesley College which is pretty close to Boston. I had a really good time. In the educational side, it was a good experience to see how American education is, and I had a great time with the professors. I also loved how interactive the classes were. It was a completely different style to how Indian education normally is. In my semester abroad, my work ethic improved and I definitely learned a lot. 
 
Out of the classroom, it was definitely a culture shock that I underestimated. My advice to people going on a program like this is to speak to more exchange students and try to figure out how to navigate your social life. All in all, it was great because I got the opportunity to interact with exchange students from other countries and a lot of them became my close friends. It was amazing to have some nights in the common kitchens where we would cook ramen together. Since I’m a vegetarian, something funny that used to happen was that my friends would pick out the meat pieces from the ramen because vegetarian food is super hard to find there. 
 
I had a great time using the facilities - the fantastic gym, the huge library with a lot of common spaces, just going to a campus that is way bigger but with a reasonably small group of students was super helpful. I had a great time exploring Boston. I was also able to travel around the US on my break. 
 
All in all, I had a great experience but it was also very eye opening. I’m way better prepared for my Masters if I’ll be doing it abroad!