<p>I'm planning to do a study abroad program in the fall, but I don't know anybody who is going to be there. It seems like whenever I talk to other people about studying abroad, they say that they did it with other people whom they knew beforehand. I'm not asking if it's a bad idea to do it without knowing anyone -- I'm excited about it, and I don't think that it's a bad idea at all -- I'm just wondering if it is normal practice to go abroad not knowing any other people in the program. If you were going abroad, which would you prefer? Why?</p>