Anyone's teen done a semester or year abroad in high school?

[Anonymous]

Would it count as 1 year? Where I’m from, school abroad doe not count and one would have to repeat the year.

[Anonymous]

A teacher at my dd’s hs brought his daughter in to talk to the class. She went to South America through Rotary. The year she went would have been her senior year of hs, so she went back to her high school for a year after being abroad. The year didn’t count at all for credit, and only half of the year she spent there was the school year. She took basic classes there: Alg 1, etc. She now goes to a top state school. Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this sounds crazy. But I don't want to give away 5-12 months of HS time with them- they will be leaving for college soon enough. Happy to pay for it then!

Not crazy to me! College is early enough to leave home and do a year abroad program. I don’t want them gone sooner than that.

[Anonymous]

DD’s school has a three week program and a six week summer program. A year away in high school is too long for me when she’s going to head off to college and a year abroad in college.

[Anonymous]

My brother spent a semester in Spain when he was in high school. He loved it. He went on to graduate from the Naval Academy and is graduating fro Harvard Law this month.

[Anonymous]

I did an exchange as a teen in HS and a year abroad at college. Best and most educational experiences of my life. Paved my way to foreign language fluency, a career in international business, and now a position at the State Dept. Definitely do it!!!

[Anonymous]

The educational experience abroad will give them 10x more of an education than what they'd normally be getting at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A teacher at my dd’s hs brought his daughter in to talk to the class. She went to South America through Rotary. The year she went would have been her senior year of hs, so she went back to her high school for a year after being abroad. The year didn’t count at all for credit, and only half of the year she spent there was the school year. She took basic classes there: Alg 1, etc. She now goes to a top state school. Hope that helps!

My cousin did this back in the 90s but in Europe. She took a couple extra classes via correspondence her spring semester junior year so that she could graduate early from high school. THen she went to Europe for a year. That year did not count for credit and the classes she took were random. She applied to college either right before she left or from Europe and got in to her state's flagship.

I did a summer abroad at age 16 via the School for the Experiment in International Living. It was good.

[Anonymous]

My 10th grade DD has. She just got back, actually. She was supposed to be in Israel for 4 months, but her program along with similar ones in the country got sent home after about a month and a half due to COVID. It really sucks for her but it’s gotten better. She proclaims that it was “the greatest experience of her life!” Feel free to respond with questions!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did an exchange as a teen in HS and a year abroad at college. Best and most educational experiences of my life. Paved my way to foreign language fluency, a career in international business, and now a position at the State Dept. Definitely do it!!!

Similar for me. Life changing. HS junior year abroad (learned first foreign language), college semester abroad (learned second foreign language), and now I’m making big bucks in BigLaw, using those languages and cultural skills nearly every day.

What did I miss HS junior year? A prom? A few parties? Some math and science that I’ve never missed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10th grade DD has. She just got back, actually. She was supposed to be in Israel for 4 months, but her program along with similar ones in the country got sent home after about a month and a half due to COVID. It really sucks for her but it’s gotten better. She proclaims that it was “the greatest experience of her life!” Feel free to respond with questions!

So she went 2nd semester of 10th grade? Do you think that is a good time to go compared to 2nd semester 9th grade or 11th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 10th grade DD has. She just got back, actually. She was supposed to be in Israel for 4 months, but her program along with similar ones in the country got sent home after about a month and a half due to COVID. It really sucks for her but it’s gotten better. She proclaims that it was “the greatest experience of her life!” Feel free to respond with questions!

So she went 2nd semester of 10th grade? Do you think that is a good time to go compared to 2nd semester 9th grade or 11th grade?

Would not recommend going 9th grade. Let your kid have a full normal year of high school under their belt before they go. Depending on the program, 2nd semester 10th grade could be perfect. DD opted for that over going in 11th grade as her full IB course load would be too much and too complicated to transfer abroad. It depends on how dedicated and mature your child is and if they can manage their schoolwork on their own in a differently structured environment.

[Anonymous]

I would love for DS to have an opportunity like this, but won’t be able to make it work due to Math and science classes needed for college (likely to be a Math major). As an alternative, I have seen several summer aboard travel programs, but it difficult to determine which are just travel tourism and which would actually provide language proficiency and meaning cultural interactions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this sounds crazy. But I don't want to give away 5-12 months of HS time with them- they will be leaving for college soon enough. Happy to pay for it then!

Not crazy to me! College is early enough to leave home and do a year abroad program. I don’t want them gone sooner than that.

It's the same reason we don't do full summer sleep away camp. I'm good with partial though. But I feel like I know my kids, they are the type to launch and run around the world then (I was the same way) so for now, I'm hoping they just want to stay until 17. If they really wanted it is consider it, but I'd try to make waiting until college to study abroad really appealing instead

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did an exchange as a teen in HS and a year abroad at college. Best and most educational experiences of my life. Paved my way to foreign language fluency, a career in international business, and now a position at the State Dept. Definitely do it!!!

Similar for me. Life changing. HS junior year abroad (learned first foreign language), college semester abroad (learned second foreign language), and now I’m making big bucks in BigLaw, using those languages and cultural skills nearly every day.

What did I miss HS junior year? A prom? A few parties? Some math and science that I’ve never missed?

I mean I agree with you. But you can also make big bucks and gain skills, etc doing this another way. Its weird that people frame this as a "must" or a "leg up" when its really pretty rare- its a privilege and and awesome one- but just view it as that. If you come from a family where this is a real possibility you are already well on your way to being a successful adult- since you are in the top 10% or whatever of people who understand this is even a thing at all and have access to the networks that make it happen.