Pro and Con on Study Aboard

[Anonymous]

It's a great idea. How many other times in your life can most people live abroad for 4-6 months? I studied abroad in Australia. The tuition was the same for that semester. All credits transferred. My school had a partnership with the university in Australia so I knew ahead of time, which classes would fulfill graduation requirements. I went spring semester of my junior year and still graduated after 3.5 years. Expenses were more with all the added travel, but that's pretty much expected. Not sure about now, but at the time, the exchange rate was really favorable. There were definitely some party types in the group of 30 or so from my university, but most already had well established drinking habits prior to leaving the country.

I spent 6 months after graduation teaching English at a private school in China, which wasn't in my original plan but my start date for my "real" job got pushed back and studying abroad really gave me the travel bug. I then started working in NYC and eventually got transferred to London office, where I spent 7 years. That opportunity may have still happened, but I don't know if I would have had the courage to jump at the chance to go. To say it was life altering would be an understatement.

Life is an adventure. I've traveled a lot and worked abroad but studying abroad is really one of those opportunities that you cannot recreate. If your heart excites at the thought of the opportunity, find a way to make it happen.

[Anonymous]

I passed on the study abroad thing Never really excited me so i guess it must be whether/if it excites you. FWIW, i am doing fine career wise and financially. In fact, just returned from a 10 vacation trip in Europe.

[Anonymous]

It was great, but agree with PP that the money might be better spent by cutting the "study" part out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was great, but agree with PP that the money might be better spent by cutting the "study" part out of it.

Why? Tuition will need to be paid for anyway- if it's the same cost, why NOT spend the semester abroad? I'd rather my kid get credits toward graduation whilst spending 4 months overseas than spend 4-6 overseas for no specific reason...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I passed on the study abroad thing Never really excited me so i guess it must be whether/if it excites you. FWIW, i am doing fine career wise and financially. In fact, just returned from a 10 vacation trip in Europe.

I don't think anyone suggested that you wouldn't do well career-wise if you don't study abroad, but rather that studying abroad can simply open one's perspectives and understanding of the world which could help in the working world. However, no one said it was mandatory to being successful.

I'm also not sure why you felt the need to let us know you just returned from a European vacation....Plenty of people go on vacation abroad - to Europe and elsewhere - whether they studied abroad or not. What does that have to do with the discussion?

[Anonymous]

NP here but I interpreted the Euro trip information to stress the point that one doesn't need to study abroad to be successful in a career. Perhaps that's not correct. In any event seems like not an unusual point to make given other comments suggesting that they made a huge mistake by no so doing.

[Anonymous]

Told our kids we would only pay if they study a useful hard language like chinese, japanese or arabic. Not paying for a party. Only serious study abroad.

[Anonymous]

Not so sure Japanese is the right language to learn! Maybe in the 80's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Despite the posts on this thread, its really not all that its cracked up to be. Be careful: safety (?) they just don't like Americans (and you can kid yourself if think its not true); costs (as noted elsewhere); and the one thing they don't tell you----the student will not get all of the credits they need to graduate in 4 years without making up a course of two in either the summer or taking on an additional load in a semester (which is generally a real surprise). Finally, its really about visiting the countries. A future employer couldn't care less whether the student did or did not study abroad.

Its really hard to understand how someone views not studying abroad "as the biggest mistake in their life"? Really?

You are a dream killer. I studied in Belguim. What an experience. Changed my world view completely. Did you study abroad? You have quite an opinion which would be an anomaly for any one who has studied abroad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I passed on the study abroad thing Never really excited me so i guess it must be whether/if it excites you. FWIW, i am doing fine career wise and financially. In fact, just returned from a 10 vacation trip in Europe.

I'm sorry, but I lived with a family. Very different than "a vacation".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've done a lot with my life and am very happy at 44. I have two true regrets in my life and not spending time abroad in college is one of them.

So funny, I too have two true regrets, and one of them is not studying abroad when I had the chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've done a lot with my life and am very happy at 44. I have two true regrets in my life and not spending time abroad in college is one of them.

So funny, I too have two true regrets, and one of them is not studying abroad when I had the chance.

Sure does make me wonder what the other regret is for both of you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glorified tourism in almost all cases. Better off spending college learning and then do a 2-3 year stint abroad after school - teaching English, Fulbright, etc...

+1

The actual going abroad part can be fantastic, but the fees and credit workarounds schools impose on students are too much. If your child took the money they would have used to study abroad and pooled together with 2-3 friends doing the same, they could live very well in Europe/Asia for the same amount of time as a college study abroad program, not worry about classes and definitely enjoy the international experience on a grander scale!

My year abroad didn't cost any more than if I had stayed at home that year, other than the airplane ticket and some of the traveling I did during holidays.

It depends on the study abroad program. My college had "exchange" agreements with several universities, where your tuition dollars would be used to cover the cost of studying abroad (and the person from the university abroad would use their tuition fees to study in the US). However, if you went outside of these university partnerships (which were limited, maybe 10-12 total partnerships, with 2-3 of those taking place only in the summer term), prices were staggering -- for instance, going to Oxford for a year cost $52k! You could complete 2/3 of your years at Oxford as an American/overseas undergrad for the same price. And that's only the "program fees" before accounting for plane tickets, spending money, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I studied in Madrid and it changed my life. I practice international law now.

I will encourage my kids to study abroad.

What kind of law do you practice? "International" law as in UN/human rights/wto/ trade that type?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glorified tourism in almost all cases. Better off spending college learning and then do a 2-3 year stint abroad after school - teaching English, Fulbright, etc...

+1

The actual going abroad part can be fantastic, but the fees and credit workarounds schools impose on students are too much. If your child took the money they would have used to study abroad and pooled together with 2-3 friends doing the same, they could live very well in Europe/Asia for the same amount of time as a college study abroad program, not worry about classes and definitely enjoy the international experience on a grander scale!

My year abroad didn't cost any more than if I had stayed at home that year, other than the airplane ticket and some of the traveling I did during holidays.

It depends on the study abroad program. My college had "exchange" agreements with several universities, where your tuition dollars would be used to cover the cost of studying abroad (and the person from the university abroad would use their tuition fees to study in the US). However, if you went outside of these university partnerships (which were limited, maybe 10-12 total partnerships, with 2-3 of those taking place only in the summer term), prices were staggering -- for instance, going to Oxford for a year cost $52k! You could complete 2/3 of your years at Oxford as an American/overseas undergrad for the same price. And that's only the "program fees" before accounting for plane tickets, spending money, etc.

Well, yes. That is also true in the United States - if you went to e.g. Harvard instead of UMD or the SLAC where you got merit aid, it would cost more.

So what?