College is literally the best time ever. Nothing can compare especially if you go to super fun party school.
I think it’s just a matter of mindset. Most of them are right, we just don’t see the happy college students posting their side of the story much as we see the sad ones. Take into consideration how you’d feel when you start off to a new chapter of your education.
@iwannabe_Brown that’s certainly something to look forward to. I mean having said that, I’d now know what I might face in college. However, would you know if this could be the same for international students? I just figured, my sister is off to canada next semester to study there I wonder if she’ll survive. Though she’s been looking forwad to it saying she has a great team behind her, (she applied under the study abroad programs in diversityabroad.com).
@intparent What is a DC internship program if I may ask? How was studying abroad for your kids?
@EliteKid that’s something to look forwar too then
@HumpyDumpy you got that right. I might’ve been blinded with the amount of sad stories I have read along the forum. Tuns out there are people who are actually enjoying their college stay.
I would love to be back in college. I graduated in May, and I’m the youngest person in my department by 5 years, and I’m the only person that isn’t already married or engaged. There’s something that I really enjoyed about being surrounded by a lot of people who are in a similar place as me in life. Also, I love learning. I’m currently still learning a ton at my job since I only started a little over a month ago, but I liked having a diversity of topics.
My D1 went to Dickinson. They have a program through something called The Washington Center. The students find an internship for the semester (WC provides some help if the students have trouble). My kid interned at the Dept of State. WC provides housing. They also have weekly seminars with speakers, and the students also do an independent study project of some kind with a prof from Dickinson. They get a semester of credit for it, like a full semester of coursework. Most colleges have some kind of semester in DC program, but usually it is thru American University. The WC was a great experience. I don’t know what other colleges use it.
Her semester abroad was in a kind of unusual country where she had previously studied the language. There are very few formal programs in that country, so she direct enrolled in their largest university for a semester. It was a hassle to do it that way – she had to find her own housing, class enrollment was complicated and stressful, and she wasn’t housed with other students. If she had it to do over she would have gone on a more organized program through her college or another American college.
Odd that Boston University classifies its Washington DC internship program under “Study Abroad”!
http://www.bu.edu/abroad/programs/washington-dc-internship-program/
Are you at BYU? #same
@naturaldistaster that’s a good news then at least I’d be looking forward to a possible good future hearing that from you 
@intparent oh! that’s a really cool experience. How is he doing now having that experience on his sleeve?
Thanks @tomofboston
She. :). Great, a few years out of college now, has a job she likes and keeps getting promoted. Most colleges have study abroad programs of their own, or programs they partner with. You will probably have an easier time with making sure your credits transfer back and finding housing if you go through a program offered by your college or their partners.
Has she applied under her universities study abroad program or another entity that offer study abroad ? @intparent
She is 25 now, out of college. There are very few study abroad programs to the country she wanted to study in. None through her college or their partners, and the ones she found at other colleges were restricted to their students. Her college was pretty flexible, and allowed her the option of direct enrollment in the flagship university of that country. As I said, it was a lot of logistical headaches.
DD had a theory, and later tested it for a sociology project and found it true. she went to BU, and noticed that the people who reported and demonstrated the most sdjustment issues (e.g. Homesickness, unhappiness, boredom, etc) were the students who lived CLOSEST to BU. She thorized that it was because students who came from further away spent time thinking about the transition more. What strategies to make friends? How will I handle the mundane details of life (medical care, finding a dentist, managing coursework,etc) without my parents? She also thought that it was because the further away you live, the harder it is to go home when you are uncomfortable, forcing you to make alliances and choices that might be a stretch at first. By the way, she also LOVED her college years, and is going to Africa with a college friend that now lives 2K away this month!
I was just wondering how she addressed a possible selection bias among college students? Is it possible that the students who were the most ready and willing to go away to college were more likely to apply to and attend a college far away from home, while students who were less ready to go away to college tended to go to school closer to home? I’m not saying all students are like this (obviously), but perhaps, there are other outstanding factors that may explain why students from closer to BU are more likely to have adjustment issues besides the fact that they live closer to BU. These students may have had the exact same issues (or perhaps even more) if they had gone far away to school because there is something else that is causing them. Perhaps, a personality trait or inexperience being away from home or a bunch of other different factors that might both cause difficulties transitioning to college life AND make the student more likely to apply to schools close to home (perhaps because they are afraid of or don’t feel comfortable going to school further away).
Absolutely true, Baktrax, and we discussed that as well! it would be tough to design a “true” experiment to test this because there were so many factors to consider that would create selection bias. it was really only a small step above anecdotal.
@intparent yeah, when my sister applied for a program they were pretty rattled with everything as well. Luckily we had help from an institution.
May I ask, what did you mean by flagship university?