<p>I am currently studying abroad in Denmark right now and I absolutely love it. I am grateful that I am able to be part of such unique experience. As of right now I am only staying for a semester but I am strongly considering extending it to a year. It would be incredible to stay here for a year but there are few things that is holding me back. </p>
<p>1)It is going to be really expensive. Its already costing me alot of my money just to stand around in Denmark. On top of tuition, Scadanavian countries have a ridiculous high tax on everything. Things here typically cost almost double compared from my home (USA). </p>
<p>2)Staying longer will not do anything to my degree or do much to my academic credentials. I am spending my last semester of college abroad so after my study abroad I am able to graduate. Most of the bachelor classes here that are taught in english are pretty worthless to me because I have already taken most of those classes back home. Yes, it would be taught in a different style, but I would not want to learn the same topic twice. I just dont have the motivation to spend time and money (to buy books) for that.</p>
<p>3)It would be incredibly selfish of me to want to stay for a year. My parents are paying for this study abroad trip. I already appreciate my parent's generosity so much; I feel like if I stay for the whole year I would burn alot of money without increasing any personal credentials that can help with my resume. If staying longer for a year means more credentials I would most definitely do it. My parents said I can stay for a year but I dont know if its right to burn my parent's money just for me to stay in Denmark.</p>
<p>The one thing that is tempting me to stay a whole year is if I will regret NOT taking the chance to stay for a year. This kind of opportunity does not come everyday. </p>
<p>So for those who studied abroad in the past (or anyone who is reading this), would you say it is absolutely worth it to stay a year even if it doesnt raise my academic credentials? Will spending another semester's worth of money worth it for the sake of just 'being' abroad?</p>
<p>Thanks for reading my post. Any help is appreciated</p>
<p>My son spent a year abroad in his junior year . While he had a wonderful time , we feel he lost momentum in his senior year in securing a job after graduation . He feels that a semester would have been a better choice .</p>
<p>Thank you for the response. Generally I hear from people that they regret not going for the entire year but your son’s instance, wishing that going for a semester would have been better, was a first for me. Would your son think going for a year would be worth it just for the experience?</p>
<p>I have two children who studied abroad during their junior year. My D spent a semester in Denmark, while my S spent a full academic year plus the two flanking summers in East Asia. Both had wonderful experiences which shaped their futures in many important ways, but slightly different results in accordance with their lengths of stay. Several years later, my D still has great affection for Denmark, but bears few signs of having incorporated Danish ways into her daily routines and has no significant memory of the language. My S, on the other hand, attained his goal of fluency and returned home with what I believe will be a more or less permanent imprint with regard to many daily habits. </p>
<p>On the flip side, my D didn’t skip a beat getting re-involved in activities at her home school for her senior year. Apart from her ongoing yearning for Denmark and relationships and routines she had there, the relatively brief interruption in her residency at her home school had few significant effects. In contrast, my S has encountered some difficulties related to his year-long absence from his home school in a few areas: he felt somewhat handicapped when he needed recs. from faculty with whom he’d been out of contact for an application he was completing just prior to the beginning of senior year, he has been feeling behind and commensurately pressured in securing an advisor and launching his thesis work (and unable to simply follow up on research undertaken while he was abroad because no faculty member at his home school pursues this particular subfield) compared to peers who were able to firm up these things during their junior year, etc. That said, these problems are quite resolvable, and I know my S has no regrets whatsoever about the length of time he spent abroad. He loves his home school, but values his study abroad experience as probably the most important thing he has done in pursuit of his academic interests.</p>
<p>Thank you for the response, map. I am actually spending my last semester in college abroad. The credits for my major has been taken care of, so transferring credits is not my concern. </p>
<p>To be honest, I just dont want to have any regret for not staying the whole year. But on the other hand, I am also not sure about spending a large sum of money just for me to stay a whole year. I apologize for the indecisiveness, I am just unsure which option will be better for me.</p>
<p>To be completely honest, in your situation, I would stay for a semester. If it weren’t for your parents paying for it and the fact that you seem to feel extremely satisfied with your one semester, I would stay for the year. But in these times, people need to start saving as much as they can. That’s my opinion.</p>
<p>I believe you should stay for a year, but shift your focus from just studying to living and furthering your career prospects. The job market in the USA is tough right now. So if you have not tried yet you should work while studying abroad. It looks great on a resume, it shows that you didn’t goof off for a year but were focus and serious. </p>
<p>The main thing would be to focus in achieving goals that can set you apart from your peers in this job market. I know people tell you about the money but realistically somethings you can’t put a price tag on. Bills and expenses will always be there.</p>