Tips for studying abroad

[zdomerr]

Hey guys,

I wasn't sure whether to put this under Fun and recreation or Business and Financial, it has to do with traveling yet it is about college as well. So I filed it here.

I attend college in the US and was planning on studying abroad.

I was wondering if anyone had some interesting stories to tell when they studied abroad.

Are there any tips to help decide where to go?

Also, I believe it would be a wonderful experience for any college student to study and travel abroad, because it is a great way to meet people from different cultures, origins, and so on. Any other useful information on studying abroad and or traveling would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Pegasus]

I studied abroad 13 years ago. It was a great experience! Some factors to consider:

• Are you fluent in the language?

If not, be sure it is somewhere where classes are offered for English-speaking students. Or go to an English-speaking country.

• Do you need credit for your classes?

• What type of experience do you wish to have?

Do you want complete immersion or just a taste of the culture? Staying there a year will give more experiences versus just a semester.

• Small town or big city?

I highly recommend being somewhere close to a city easily accessible to international travel. For example, if the nearest big city is 3 hours away by train, and all the trains/flights going out of the country leave from the big city, you’ll have to pay for a train to get to the big city on top of the main trip.

• Would you prefer to live with a family or with other students? Other international students or with students who are native to that country?

And when you already are abroad and you’re traveling, some advice:

Travel with someone who

• is on a similar budget as you are

• has similar interests

and

• whom you get along with even when you’re at your worst.

Sightseeing can be very tiring! If you notice you’re getting cranky, it probably means you’re tired and hungry. Stop and get something to eat.

Good luck on making your decision!

[zdomerr]

Wow! First of all, thank you so much for the useful information.

I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, but I haven't spoke much for 2 years since then. I will most likely study up on that if I decide to go to Spain.

All of your questions are really helpful, especially who I would prefer to live with and where. Questions like these ones are very motivational as well because it gets me to think about it. Without questions to ponder, the dream of studying abroad might fade away. But with questions like these I can think about it much more and prepare for it much more easily.

Thank you so much Pegasus!

[VelvetOak]

You can check out study abroad through your school. They have resources that will give you college credits for your efforts. Also, there are other ways to study and volunteer in other countries - you do not necessarily need to know the language - sometimes the point is to teach THEM your language.

For some interesting foreign opportunities, here is a list I pulled off of CharityIntersection.com - you can find the links to these there.


Life Changing Travel

Airline Ambassadors

Earthwatch

Global Vision

Global Volunteers

Hero Miles For Military Families

Hotel Provincial NOLA

Life Changing Travel

TESL

Volunteer New Orleans

Wings of Hope

Good Luck - I just returned from a stint with the Peace Corps and it was the most amazing time of my life.

[zdomerr]

I'll check those out ASAP. I'm really getting interested now that I've found some good resources and heard some good stories.

I see one listed is "Volunteer New Orleans". I attend college in Western New York and I'm about to go down with a organized group from my school on Friday for an entire week to help the homeless families out and hopefully move some back in to their homes. With that I should meet a ton of new people and get a great experience.

If you want to know any more details about the trip you can visit Simple Zack

Thanks for the list and all the info.
Zack

[Calculusaurus]

I studied abroad in Australia for a semester. It was easily one of the best experiences of my life.

My U.S. college had a program, so I just applied through there. Over a dozen students from my college went together. The application process in my case was very easy (though selective). If your college doesn't have a program, then you can apply through another college that does. Some of the larger Universities in the US have abroad programs that accept US students from other Universities. Yeah, it's kinda confusing, but that's one way it works. Lastly, you can always apply with the abroad university directly, if the option is available. Doing so would require more work on your part, and the details and beurocracy won't be bundled up for you in a nice little package.

A few pieces of advice:

1. This will be one of your few opportunities to spend an extended amount of time in another country; make the best of it. For many of us, "real life" starts too quickly and becomes too serious too soon -- meaning, you won't have many opportunities to live in another culture for 5+ months. As a college student, you have that opportunity, so take it and make the best of it.

2. Travel a lot, and don't worry about money. Whether you go to Europe or Australia or wherever, you should travel around as much as possible. Weekend trips. Or skip out on school for a week to fly to Italy with some friends. Exploring the country (or continent) will likely be the most exciting part of your abroad experience. When I went to Australia, I found the day-to-day school routine to be trite -- the best experiences were road trips and vacations to New Zealand. It's hard to convince yourself to spend so much money while traveling ($300 for skydiving!?!) because you'll be out of a steady paycheck, but it's all worth it. Looking back, those couple thousand I spend while traveling were more than worth it - I just wish I wouldn't have been as frugal as I was. I could've had 2 or 3 more mini-vacations.

3. Looking back, I should've taken a break from personal development while abroad. I couldn't eat healthy because of the options available to me, but I tried anyway, failed, and ended up wasting a lot of time/energy. Occasionally I wouldn't go out just so I could wake up early to work on internet projects I had going on. Now, I did have something to show for those 5 months of "PD work" (i.e. diet, health, internet businessess, income, etc), but as a whole they were 5 months of very ineffective work, because of the lack of resources available to me while abroad. I should've just let go a bit and focus all my energy on enjoying myself, going out with friends, meeting new people, and having fun.

[zdomerr]

Calculasaurus,

My school does have a bunch of great study-abroad programs for many different countries. In fact, this summer my school will have a 6 week trip to Spain, which I am interested in. I also plan on studying a semester in Australia.

Your point about this being one of the greatest chances in my life is very mind blowing. I should not miss out on an opportunity like this.

I haven't bought a single thing besides books for this entire semester so far. Not a single thing! So your tip for not worrying how much I spend when I travel was very informative. If I hadn't heard that I probably wouldn't have spent much, but now I'll definitely take every chance I get to road trip and site see.

Thank you so much for the tips.
Zack