<p>i am gonna study abroad soon and i was wondering which places are the most fun to study abroad(like a place where they party a lot and have many festivals and parades) and where you do not have to worry so much about achieving a 4.0 the semester abroad. </p>
<p>I have heard Italy and Spain are good places that meet my criteria. What about Australia and New Zealand?</p>
<p>Barcelona....</p>
<p>my ILR daughter went to Florence through the Wells College program. Classes are taught in English. She loved it!! She did ALOT of traveling throughout Europe on week-ends- and Spring break</p>
<p>oh and how is the safety of florence and barcelona? like, are there many thieves that swish by at an instant and take something you were hold but not paying close attention to?</p>
<p>my daughter never had problems. I assume florence and barcelona are as safe as other urban areas.</p>
<p>florence is very safe. barcelona definitely not.</p>
<p>thing about Barcelona is they speak Catalan so if you go there thinking youll able to talk to everyone in spanish or that youll be able to practice you spanish there, you wont be able to as much there</p>
<p>Study abroad grades don't count towards your GPA anyhow, although you will lose credits if you fail a class.</p>
<p>I went to Paris and had a good time, but that doesn't really fit your criteria...it is certainly possible to travel from Paris to more festive places.</p>
<p>My coworker studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic. He said almost everybody spoke English (classes were in English) and he got by with no Czech. He had an AMAZING time! I didn't studythere, but I did visit for 5 days and it was the most beautiful place! I liked it even better than Paris!</p>
<p>I had a friend go to Ireland (Galway specifically) and she loved it. Classes were easy, people went to the pubs every night, and definitely had time to do and see all of the touristy places around.</p>
<p>If you are applying to law school (and I think medical school too), your grades WILL count. You need to send your study abroad transcript to law school admission council (LSAC) and they will calculate these grades into your "law school" GPA.<br>
do not screw up during your semester abroad. Those grades DO COUNT for law school.</p>
<p>Well, then, I'm curious -- how are the grade conversions done? It's not like you can accurately take a 12 out of 20 from a French university (respectable by French standards) and turn it into a 60%, which is a failing grade. Are all the idiosyncracies for every single program taken into account by the LSAC?</p>
<p>sjar- you need to double check with LSAC. There may be some exceptions to calculating grades into LSAC GPA- especially when the grading system is very different than what is usually used in American colleges.
but I will tell you that my Cornell kid got a transcript from Wells college for courses she took at Lorenzo d'medici U (??) in Florence. And the grades followed the 4.0 GPA system (A= 4.0 B= 3.0 etc)
A good chunck of study abroad programs do produce transcripts with grades that will be calculated into LSAC GPA's.
I suggest you check with LSAC for your particular program if this is going to be a concern.</p>
<p>But word to the wise-- assume your grades will count toward your law school GPA and make an attempt to do the best you can.</p>