Choosing classes for study abroad: Credit or Experience?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I'm planning on studying abroad Fall 2011. I'm currently a sophomore Arts Management and Art History major with an interest in fashion and event management (as well as art in general, of course!). I'm a little ahead of the game as I came into school with 15 credits from AP classes, etc.</p>

<p>I will be taking 15 credits while in Florence, Italy. 3 will be the required Italian language class. I was planning on taking an Introductory Photography class, but I spoke to my advisor and apparently it won't transfer back to my college as the same thing (would just be an elective). A studio art class is required for my major. This is my thought: should I take the photography class at my school and then take Fashion Photography abroad (it is offered and seems like fun, as well as something I'm seriously interested in). While it won't count towards, well, anything as far as credits go, I think it would be an interesting class to take and will be great experience for something I'd like to do in the future. There are other event management classes that I could take as well that probably wouldn't transfer as credit for my major (just as electives that I do not need any more of) but would provide experience that I wouldn't be able to get at my home college. There are also, of course, art history classes that would most likely transfer as credit towards my major and would be incredible to study as well. I'm most definitely taking at least one class of art history, obviously. </p>

<p>I could take some classes this summer (like macroeconomics) at my community college at home and transfer the credit to my college to make more room in my schedule so I could take the interesting classes of study abroad. </p>

<p>Do you think it'd be worth it? And please don't tell me that it's a stupid subject. I may not be going to school for law or business or saving the planet but I have found a passion and I'd like to explore it while I have the time and money! </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>It might be a question that depends on how you are paying for this. If you were my kid, I’d say you should be taking those 15 credits and graduating a semester early to save me thousands (maybe 10s of thousands, depending on your school and merit aid situation). 15 credits would be a full load at my D’s school. And I would say that all credits abroad have to count. My D is abroad right now, and that was one of my stipulations to her, that all her credits have to transfer back. She and I did quite a bit of legwork to find classes in her major and general areas of interest that would also be accepted for transfer. We have a backup plan to make up a class worth of credit (or even two) if her college fails to take the credits in spite of our efforts, but I don’t think she is going to have that problem.</p>

<p>And if you are borrowing to pay for your education, then I would ABSOLUTELY advise this. You will feel pretty silly when you are still paying off loans in 20 years when you could have cut the principal and interest amount by 1/8 by graduating early. As much as you would enjoy that time in Italy, you can probably take additional trips to Italy on your own with that money if you want to! And realistically, your chosen majors are not going to make you enough money to pay loans off quickly if you have them.</p>

<p>But… if your parents are paying and are willing to pay for 4 years and you have some extra credits to play with, go ahead.</p>

3

<p>If you can afford to have the experience, absolutely go for it. I had the opportunity to do. Some of my friends didn’t and it was hard for them to relax and really get to know the culture around them when they needed to study to maintain their grades, which were averaged into their home GPA.</p>

<p>So you do need to find out, if you DO need the credits, is whether or not your university calculates in transfer credits as part of your GPA or not. If it doesn’t, all you need to do is pass, which doesn’t take a lot of effort.</p>