<p>on your son's experience abroad thus far.</p>
<p>OK. It’s officially on my list of things to do this week. : )</p>
<p>i will be watching this thread. i would like to study abroad my junior year</p>
<p>OK, since there seems to be some interest in my sons study abroad experience, I will give it a try. In the interest of his privacy, Im going to try to keep it informative but not too personal.</p>
<p>My son entered Kelley planning to study abroad after he finished I-Core. He also intended to go somewhere that would enable him to improve his Spanish speaking skills. His sister spent a semester in Madrid and we visited her for a week while she was there. Having had experienced Madrid already, I think he was anxious to study somewhere else, but still in Spain. There are 3 Kelley approved programs in Spain (Seville, Barcelona/CIEE, and Barcelona/IES). He chose the Barcelona/CIEEBusiness & Culture Program. [Barcelona</a>, Spain (Business) (IU-CIEE Co-Sponsored Semester Program)<a href=“The%20Barcelona/IES%20program%20is%20for%20those%20students%20with%204%20semesters%20or%20less%20of%20Spanish.”>/url</a></p>
<p>Here are the Kelley approved study abroad programs: [url=<a href=“Undergraduate | Bachelor's Degree in Business | Indiana Kelley”>Undergraduate | Bachelor's Degree in Business | Indiana Kelley]Kelley</a> Programs: Study Abroad: Academics: Undergraduate Program: Kelley School of Business: Indiana University Bloomington](<a href=“http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/flyers/barcelona_bus.html]Barcelona”>http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/flyers/barcelona_bus.html)</p>
<p>And here is the Overseas Study Offices link: [Overseas</a> Study - Semester Programs](<a href=“http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/programs/sem.shtml]Overseas”>http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/programs/sem.shtml)</p>
<p>The application process is outlined here: [Overseas</a> Study - App instructions (CIEE)](<a href=“http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/applications/ciee.shtml#agree]Overseas”>http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/applications/ciee.shtml#agree)</p>
<p>The deadline for the Spring 2010 program was in mid-September 2009. To complete the app process, you will need two teacher recommendations, a photocopy of the information page of your passport, 6 passport size photos, your resume, a release form signed by a parent, and transcripts. You also have to complete the CIEE online app.</p>
<p>After acceptance into the program, there will be other CIEE forms and a visa application to deal with. One of the forms is a medical report that needs to be completed by your doctor. The checkup is not supposed to have taken place more than 4 months before the doc signs the form. So, if you are getting a checkup this summer, have the doc complete the form while you are there. You will also need a list of immunizations received and their dates.</p>
<p>The moral of this story is DONT WAIT UNTIL A WEEK BEFORE THE DEADLINE TO GET STARTED. Some of these things take time (especially the teacher recs) and may have to be sent from home.</p>
<p>My biggest money saving tip: Once you have been accepted into the program, and know the dates/times of the trip, buy your airline ticket. Do not listen to your student when they say, I think there is a group flight. Can you tell I learned this lesson the hard way? By delaying our purchase, we easily spent $600 more than we should have for his roundtrip ticket. </p>
<p>Also, logisticswise, there are no nonstop flights from Chicago to Barcelona. While hes an experienced flier, since he wasnt flying with a group, we (really I) decided that it would be safer to change planes here in the US, which for him meant Newark NJ. The other options were London Heathrow, Frankfurt, and Munich.</p>
<p>CIEE informed the participants that orientation began on January 3rd at 3pm. They provided 2 separate pickup times at the airport that day (11am and 2pm) and gave very specific directions on where to meet up. If you missed them, you needed to provide your own transportation from the airport and be at the hotel by 3pm. Son had no problems finding them.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the orientation hotel: [Silken</a> Gran Hotel Havana Barcelona About the hotel](<a href=“Silken Hoteles en Barcelona | Web Oficial”>Enjoy Barcelona with Silken Hotels | Official website) Very nice digs! S was very impressed. He had his own room.</p>
<p>Orientation lasted 3 days and covered program rules, registration info, safety issues, and info on living in Barcelona. The host families came to the hotel to pick up their students on the second day. </p>
<p>Sons family lives in an apartment. He has a small room to himself. The mom was born in Puerto Rico and speaks English (although she told him it was only for emergencies), the dad is retired, and the son is in high school. The main time for interaction is at dinner around 930pm.</p>
<p>Breakfast and dinner are provided as a part of the program fees. His critique: so far, its been nothing to write home about. In fact, it leans American, probably due to the cooks Puerto Rican background. Lunch is the responsibility of the student, as well as any other snacking. We budgeted $10/day for that expense. Lots of days he spends less, but then on other days when he goes out with friends to eat, he spends more. We figure it all evens out.</p>
<p>The apartment is close to the Metro which he uses everyday to get to and from class and elsewhere. I think he purchases a monthly ticket. He also purchased a cell phone with rechargeable minutes .twice. One of them is in Valencia. Oh well . ; )</p>
<p>Students in this program (Business & Culture)are required to take 16 credits. 4 credits in an intensive Spanish class at CIEE, and then 4 more 3 credit classes. Depending on how well you test in Spanish, determines how many classes you have to take in Spanish.</p>
<p>He is taking 3 of those 4 classes through CIEE. 2 business classes and one humanities class. 2 of the 3 are in Spanish. He is taking one business class through ESCI, and it is in English. </p>
<p>To date, the classes have not been very rigorous, although group projects are starting to come due so there is a bit more homework going on as of late.</p>
<p>One word of warning: When the school says that dates for finals cannot be changed, they mean it. No exceptions, except for illness. Another expensive lesson learned . : (</p>
<p>I know some were concerned about the different form of Spanish which is spoken in BarcelonaCatalan. All of the classes that my son is taking in Spanish are in the traditional SpanishCastellano (sp?) He says that he has not experienced any difficulty navigating between the two in his daily life. Also, he says his Spanish skills have increased exponentially. YAY!</p>
<p>One of the benefits of studying in Barcelona as opposed to Seville is the ease of travel to distant places. DS has done independent weekend travel with groups of friends to London, Milan & Cinque Terre (Italy), Valencia for Las Fallas, and Sitges for Carnivale. Spring break is scheduled for Prague, Paris & Amsterdam. </p>
<p>Additionally, CIEE also sponsors weekend travel (included in your fees). One trip was an overnight to Seville & Cordoba. There was a day trip to Figueres and Girona to see the Dali Museum, and another weekend there was a hike part way up Mount Tibidabo followed by a Catalonian feast. They also offer different experiences right in Barcelona like cooking classes and castelling workshops. Google it. Youll be amazed at what seemingly intelligent people will do.</p>
<p>His travel has been primarily by air so far. However, he did take one train along the Mediterranean coast of Italy. Breathtaking! Has stayed in hostels they find on the internet. So far, so good .</p>
<p>The drinking age everywhere he has been has been lower than here in the US. Drinking/clubbing is common until the not so early hours of the morning. One problem that can occur is if you want to go home early, say at 2am, and the Metro is already closed. Not sure what the exact closing time is in Barcelona, but if you miss it, youll need to pay for a taxi home. </p>
<p>Access to money is very easy in Barcelona and any town or village with an ATM. S had one unfortunate ATM experience in the first weeks he was there. For some reason, an ATM he tried to use claimed it was out of funds. So, he went to a different ATM and got money there. He banks with Chase and has set up his account so he receives an email alert whenever there is a withdrawal to his account. Well, he received 2 emails, both claiming that he had withdrawn X euros even though one of the transactions did not produce any actual money. He had to make the call from Spain to Chase to get it straightened out. Oh well, another lesson in becoming an adult!</p>
<p>Every family handles various college costs differently. In our case, when we compare what we spent for the fall semester in tuition, rent, utilities, & groceries with what we are spending on this programtuition, airfare to & from, lunch money, and some misc. expenses, it has pretty much evened out. That’s with overspending on the airfare. If that hadn’t happened, our costs in Spain would have been less than in Bloomington.</p>
<p>Party expenses as well as the costs of travel for fun are sons responsibility.</p>
<p>All of his IU scholarships applied to this semester as well. Additionally, he applied for a Hutton International Experience Program scholarship and received over $1500 towards the trip. Do not pass up the opportunity to apply for this if you qualify. This is the second IEP scholarship son has received while at IU.</p>
<p>I think that is about all I can think of to share. If you have questions, Ill try to answer. S is loving his time over there. Hopefully, he has learned something in the classroom. I know he has learned how to function more independently while hes been over there. Im happy that he is getting to experience so much of the world, but will be very glad when he is home!</p>
<p>IllinoisMom2006,</p>
<p>Thanks for the great summary and details about the experience. Is it possible to do this during summer and still have the expenses covered by the scholarship?</p>
<p>ace, there are summer programs available, including one in Barcelona. re: scholarship money applying to summer programs, I do not believe that the automatic scholarships will cover summer studies. Those awards are divided equally between the fall and spring semesters.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the Overseas Study Office that speaks to financial aid issues:
[Financial</a> Aid Information and Resources](<a href=“http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/basics/finaidr.shtml]Financial”>http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/basics/finaidr.shtml)</p>
<p>Please note that the Hutton IEP scholarships are not only for Hutton students. Any IUB student with a 3.4 GPA overall or 3.7 GPA in their major may apply.</p>
<p>I had my son read over what I had posted and he sent me this:</p>
<p>"hey, i just read your write up on CC… a couple things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I didn’t have my own hotel room. I shared it with another student.</p></li>
<li><p>IES is probably the most popular program (at least by volume of students involved). One advantage of IES- the option to share an apartment with other students.</p></li>
<li><p>Food here hasn’t really been leaning American like in the beginning… we’ve been eating a lot more fish and catalan dishes.</p></li>
<li><p>Catalan isn’t another version of Spanish. It is its own language and is completely different. 99.8% of people here also speak Castellano, at least as a second language- fluently.</p></li>
<li><p>I live near the metro, but it is a 20 minute ride to the center of the city- a lot of people live closer than that, but there are only a handful who live farther. It can be quite the inconvenience because cabs cost a lot.</p></li>
<li><p>The metro is extremely modern due to the 1992 Olympics. Every other system I have used has been ages behind. Sunday-Thursday it’s open 5AM-Midnight. Friday 5AM-2AM. Saturday it’s open 24 hours starting at 5AM (so it carries over to Sunday).</p></li>
<li><p>It’s called “castellers”, not castelling</p></li>
<li><p>Pickpocketing is rampant… Probably half the people in my program have been pickpocketed. Probably something important to tell people"</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So it appears I got a few things wrong. Oh well, I tried. Sorry! If you google CASTELLERS, you will see this link: [YouTube</a> - The construction of the largest human castle in history](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIIzGnoYUtc]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIIzGnoYUtc) Crazy!</p>