Too bad ND can’t be relocated to DC (but it wouldn’t be ND if it was…) ND is going to be a very iconic middle American college experience. But DC is a wonderful city in which to be a student (or a resident for that matter). It’s only one semester so brand name or lack there of is just not significant enough to tip the balance. What do you care more about?
If you want to experience a wonderful campus life, great academics, and be with an accomplished student body in middle America (as you said) then ND is the clear winner. I wouldn’t worry about the religion part. There is religion present for those who want to partake and if you are a full time student you would need to take some theology/philosophy classes to graduate but for a one semester program it should not impact your experience much (as long as you are respectful of religion and are OK with some religious symbols on campus etc.). As noted, South Bend is a couple hours outside of Chicago so you will be able to experience that city. And football season there is fun.
George Mason is not right in DC, but the city is about a half hour away. If you want to be closer to a city, it is a good alternative. It is a good school but not the level of ND. Still, if you want more experience in a major city it is a reasonable option.
I agree with others that for a one semester program it doesn’t really matter which school you attend. Just strive to get the best experience for your interests. IMO it really depends what you are looking for.
I may extend it to a year abroad (I am in the process at the moment). But is name brand still not important for a year abroad in your opinion, @N’s Mom? I would like to travel often. Would this be possible? Or would study time prevent me from travelling? If the latter is an issue than going to ND won’t make any difference really.
“ND was also instrumental in the 1980’s working with the Vatican and Reagan administration in the groundswell that began the breakup of the Soviet Union.”
You conspicuously omitted Lech Walesa and Solidarity, which was more precipitately influential in the breakup than either American or Vatican efforts, and certainly more so than Notre Dame’s specifically.
OP: Your stated criteria point in the direction of Notre Dame. Crime will not be a problem. Good luck.
@RngRvr If you have the opportunity to stay at Notre Dame for a whole year and don’t you would be out of your mind. ND is a place where 98th percentile students attend. George Mason is not.
You can travel during the breaks, which including Christmas break is about 2 months to travel. Chicago is a massive airline hub.
ND is very rigorous and you will get a ton out of the experience. On the way back to the UK you can spend a few days in DC.
@merc81 I was simply trying to highlight the school’s longstanding involvement in civil and human rights, which because the school is Catholic liberals like to forget.
Re time to travel: It depends on how seriously you take your studying and how organized you are in getting your work done. The top students at ND and at GM generally work pretty hard throughout the semester to get good grades. But they are not in ‘study abroad’ mode, where the top priority is to get exposure to another culture. They want to ace their courses - you want to pass and not embarrass yourself. At the end of the year, I suspect you will want to talk about all the great places you visited and experiences you had rather than how you got an A in political theory and another A in economic history.
Re brand name: I don’t think it matters at all for one semester or even for a year. It’s about the cultural experience. If 10 years from now you tell people “I spent a year as a foreign exchange student in DC” or “I spent a year as a foreign exchange student at Notre Dame,” I don’t think you are going to get more kudos for the latter than the former. Now if you were a US student, ND has more name recognition and prestige - but you aren’t looking for a job in the US.
So go where you will have the kind of experience you want to have. (And yeah, don’t drink in public if you are underage. Schools get held responsible when their underage students misbehave while under the influence so they can be quite tough about alcohol on campus. And you really, really don’t want to drive while under the influence.)
@n’smom It’s funny how you omitted George Mason and inserted “DC”, which tells me you dont see any value in that school either. Truth is noone will care whether this student was in DC or International Falls, Minnesota. There is nothing magical about going to school in DC.
The important thing about studying abroad is where did you study, first and foremost. Did the student actually do any work or was it a blow off semester.
A "cultural " semester or year abroad means nothing as a student builds a CV or applies to graduate school. We get these resumes all the time and 9/10 the candidate will acknowledge that academically it was a waste. That is time a student never gets back.
Um, living near DC for a year is quite different from visiting for a few days.
As for whether the city or school is most important, that would depend on the city & the school, IMO.
The cultural component could be more important than the academics. It all depends on what the OP wants.
BatesParents2019, no one is telling the student to blow off anything. I said he/she shouldn’t embarrass themselves, but that coursework is not the highest priority for a student studying abroad. If you think coursework IS the highest priority, then we can agree to disagree.
My own semesters abroad were not memorable, 35 years later, for the coursework that I took. And no one cares in the slightest that it was at school X - not even when I applied to grad school or to any of my jobs. Mostly they thought it interesting that I lived for a year in a foreign country and had experiences were life-changing. I hope the OP can say the same, irrespective of what school he or she attends and what classes he or she takes.
Let’s do an exercise:
Would any American give a fig if an American student studied abroad at Warwick (outside Conventry) or Richmond University (in London)?
Keep in mind that Warwick is well-respected in the UK–probably as well-respected as ND is in the US–and certainly more so than Richmond in London.
Now, if you are studying abroad a year, that may be a slightly different case. While travel would be more expensive from South Bend, you can certainly do it during your breaks, although definitely not during any random time during the school year (academics will not be easy by any measure at UND). The exchange students at my school, which is quite rigorous, were able to see a lot of the country during their breaks. It’s definitely superficial and touristy rather than any kind of valuable cultural immersion due to financial and temporal restrictions, but it’s still something.
Now that said, what I said about the degree still applies, and do not expect to coast on UND’s imaginary reputation abroad. Studying abroad is really a lot about your own experience and how much you enjoy it. Also remember that George Mason can give you a good education and good insight into the American education system, perhaps an even more realistic one because UND is not representative of the general American higherEd. Additionally, realize that it is better to be in a place where people have different viewpoints from yours; that is the only way to learn to defend your own, and potentially reevaluate them.
I am an international student, so I can tell you that studying abroad is a challenge beyond the academics or whatever. In the past year, I found the experiences I had in Portland with my friends more valuable than most of my classes, even though I spent a lot of time on campus. I’m sure that will change in the next three years for me, but the exchange students at my school would not say that the academics, though famed among grad schools for its rigor, was what they will remember the most. I would highly recommend that you talk to past exchange students from your school about their experiences as well.
This is your call.