<p>Depending upon your college major and interests, it can be. Lets say you are majoring in German. Visiting and living in Germany would help you tremendously in getting the first hand knowledge not just of language but also culture. Those majoring in archeology or Egyptology will benefit by visiting Egypt. Architecture majors too can visit various sites in the world and seek inspiration from buildings, etc.
The real question is whether these programs are worth the cost. Most of the study abroad programs are expensive and out of the reach of many. Usually the privileged kids make use of these programs which is unfair. But then there are scholarships like Rhodes Scholarships, which are all-expense paid scholarships and let you study abroad. </p>
<p>My D is abroad now and I paid a bit less than if she stayed at her university in the states. It has only been a month but she is loving every minute of it. Even just learning how to adjust to every day life has changed her perspective - shopping daily for food, learning how to economize, etc. She is traveling quite a bit but has worked two jobs in addition to her full time academic program for the last year to pay for it. There are a number of organizations that offer weekend trips for as little at 50E for transportation, hostel and sometimes dinner. There are times she has taken the train with people she has met just for a day trip…she is studying and is taking 2 required courses for her major and two humanities to satisfy her core. So why not? If it doesn’t cost more than what a semester in the US costs and the student works hard and saves all their spending money - why not?</p>
<p>Hard to argue with it if it’s cheaper. But normally it isn’t.</p>
<p>In our case as I’ve indicated in other posts, the tuition was paid to our home university so we paid the same as we would have had each of the d’s had that same semester at school,including our the merit scholarships. We had no need-based aid do that was not an issue. The same with the housing cost. One d lived in a student apartment, three girls to a one bedroom apartment with dorm-like rules and the other lived in a three-bedroom apartment with four roommates and the equivalent of a program RA who was only there part-time as he had a teaching gig in another part of the country and commuted back and forth by train 2x a week. What cost more was the flight to Europe as opposed to a four hour car ride to school. When older d was in he study abroad semester, the euro was almost equivalent to the dollar, when younger d was study abroad the euro was not favorable. Since it was their first experiences managing meals and grocery shopping, it was a learning and broadening experience. Both programs were serious, content-rich and they each took 5 classes including required language immersion classes. All credits transferred either towards their majors or electives and were pre-approved by their faculty advisors.
This is hardly the same situation as a vacation backpacking in Europe. Younger d was in a performance based program that required individual lessons, rehersals and recitals, a good deal of which took place on the weekend. In fact I recall a Sunday in which she had taken a commuter train to her voice instructor’s house for a private lesson. The private lesson cost were paid out of the tuition and cost zero out of pocket. Actually as she took an art history elective she was able to submit receipts for any museum she visited that semester anywhere in Europe and was reimbursed… which actually saved her quite a bit of money… She also picked up extra cash by baby-sitting for a faculty member… same as she would have done had she stayed at her home university. </p>
<p>I would argue that vacationing away from the structure of an university requires a good deal more independence and character.</p>
<p>I am not disagreeing with you but vacation is a vacation. Study abroad is studying in a different culture. There are study away from campus here in the U.S… for example many schools offer a semester in Washington,D.C or a semester in NYC depending on what you are studying. Many people do not have time or money for an extended vacation whether it is backpacking, hitchhiking or travelling by a luxury coach as they need to work during the summer or are involved in an internship or are in summer study although it’s not uncommon for people to drive cross-country or take the summer after college graduation before beginning a job or starting grad school to travel. Everyone’s situation is different. . I personally back in the dark ages worked for several months in an entry-level job in my field and with that money was able to travel and live in Europe on literally $5.00 a day including Eurailpass for four months.While it costs a lot more to do that today, one of younger d’s friends who saved her money while paying back her student loans decided to have a change in her life and quit her job and before settling down to look for a new job travelled in Europe for four months, actually meeting up with d and her boyfriend who were on a 3 week vacation for which she had saved money and his was partially funded by his grad school. Our d’s needed to work in the summer for spending money for the year or at times they had internships which paid some stipends of $500 or $1000 depending on what and when. We paid for college and have paid in a father to daughter no-interest loan for part of grad school for older d. If they wanted to travel to visit friends, go to Bonaroo or in the case of older d, we did pay summer tuition for summer art program and airfare to France although she did have grant money award from her undergrad program. </p>
<p>You really shouldn’t pay keepit much attention, he’s a presumptuous, callow ■■■■■ at his worst. I cannot recommend study abroad more. It is worth the cost, it leads to the unexpected, to live in a foreign environment. Many Americans cannot imagine this, which is what makes it so exciting for young students. </p>
<p>I’m not a ■■■■■. I think living abroad is valuable, though not in direct academic terms. I don’t think that study abroad is living abroad.</p>
<p>Forgive me for being blunt, keepit, but you think you know a lot more than you do. I suppose it is typical Oxbridge over-confidence. You’ll get over it. </p>
<p>You might be right about that, but who can tell. I haven’t gotten over it yet. </p>
<p>Hi guys,
I think most study abroad is a waste of time (and money). </p>
<p>erica, you shouldn’t try to sell things like that on the site. It’s inappropriate. </p>
<p>If you think it’s a waste of time and money, prove it. </p>
<p>It’s a large plus for one majoring in linguistics, international relations, to name a few.</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters for linguistics. Perhaps you mean foreign languages?</p>
<p>I always associated linguistics with translation and learning foreign languages… hence why I mentioned linguistics. Foreign languages, international relations, international commerce and area studies are still fields where the proper use of study abroad will make a much better undergraduate experience.</p>
<p>Linguistics is the study of languages. Many linguists don’t speak any foreign languages (though of course many do). I agree that for the fields you mention, some study abroad will be helpful, but only a carefully selected course, ideally a year abroad or a Master’s direct-enrolled in the target country.</p>
<p>Well, I’m convinced.</p>
<p>Nice comment. I totally agree - and have experienced it. (Am responding to BrendaSummer’s comment)</p>
<p>is study abroad still useful if a student has lived abroad for 12 years and is now living in the US?</p>
<p>@AmbiD77 Sure, if you study abroad in a different area.</p>