<p>I had a lot of people ask me "What's the rush?" and tell me "You'll miss out on the whole freshman experience" when I told them I had wanted to take spring quarter off and go to Madrid. I'm planning on transferring out of my school after my sophomore year, because (long story short) I really don't like the school itself. The more time I spend away from the school, the better. I'd like to go abroad again my sophomore year, if possible. I've worked everything out, from financial aid to how many units I would get; but, I'm scared I'll miss out on the "freshman experience" as everyone says. Is it really that important? When I come back fall 2015, will it be terribly lonely? It's only 10 weeks, is it that big of a deal?
Please weigh in, I'd really love to hear from anyone and everyone! Thanks!</p>
<p>To be honest, to me the freshman experience isn’t a big thing, but I’ve also never heard of the possibility of studying abroad during your freshman year. Most study abroad universities require a student to be a junior “or exceptional sophomore” in order to study abroad. Why not just go abroad sophomore year and if you still want more time abroad go during your junior or senior year? I don’t think you’ll be terribly lonely when you come back from study abroad, I myself am now a senior and I haven’t actually attended my own university since I was a freshman because I spent so much time abroad and I have lots of friends that I met from my school on study abroad and the possiblities of making new friends is endless and a great opportunity to meet more diverse people. To me, the college experience is what you make it and you’ll either love it or hate it based on how much you tryto make it what you would want to get out of it. Good luck!</p>
<p>I studied abroad a couple of times in Europe and each time I did I met a couple of students who were studying abroad before they started college, so what you’re doing is not unheard of.</p>
<p>The experience could be Really fanstastic for your - it’s a real eye opener to study abroad and if you’re going to Madrid, you have picked a great place to be. You will learn more than you think you will. Not just Spanish (assume you’ll be doing some kind of Spanish program) but also how people live in Spain and Europe, what their values are, how they think about life, politics, etc. </p>
<p>I experienced the whole freshman thing. It was fun, but if I could go back in time and trade my first semester (cause that’s all it really was) freshman experience for a couple of months studying in Madrid, I would do it in a heart beat.</p>
<p>By the way, my study abroad experiences really helped shape my interests and focus. If you start college already having a study abroad experience under your belt, I’d say that’s a really big plus! If you do it, you’ll see what I mean!</p>
<p>Go. </p>
<p>Haha, the simplicity of just Go. Thanks everyone! I’ve been pretty on the fence about this, but I think I’m going to go through with it. And I’m going with a specific program that only requires sophomore/junior standing, which I already have because of AP classes. 
I’m pretty excited, I hope it’s as life changing as everyone says it is! Thanks again!</p>
<p>It will be a profoundly great experience! You never know at which point in your life you will see how it benefitted you!</p>
<p>Well… your idea that you don’t like your college will likely be solidified by not staying on campus long enough to make friends, get to know professors, and enjoy the college environment. You aren’t even giving it a chance, you have given up before setting foot on campus for your freshman year. Also, most students studying abroad this year have already had the wheels in motion since last spring.</p>