<p>When my son returned from his semester abroad, he immediately volunteered to help with the students from abroad who were studying at his college.
He started out with orienting them and providing tours. From there, he became really good friends with some of them, and even brought a couple of them home for Thanksgiving (they were thrilled). He also met many of their friends who were studying at other colleges in the U.S…
This might be a good outlet for students who return from studying abroad - just an idea!</p>
<p>I find it interesting that many discussions end up in a popularity contest between LACs and large universities. I hope that there will be a day when people realize that the Carnegie
“categories” of colleges easily transcend their definitions. After all, are there great commonalities between Dartmouth, Cornell, and Columbia … just to stick to our beloved Ivy League? How much does Grinell or Williams have in common with Barnard? Does Swarthmore provide a similar experience to its students than does Mt Holyoke? </p>
<p>When it comes to evaluating SA programs, the range is just as vast as it is in the United States. Some programs are demanding and interesting; others a … lot less. In addition, the comparison totally depends on what one leaves behing him or her! At the end of the day, the experience (or aftermath) is a purely individualized outcome. </p>
<p>In the case of the OP, it seems that her son was not ecstatic about his experience at his LAC before embarking on one of his journeys abroad. The reality is that world of academia is not for everyone, or at least not for everyone at the tender age of 17 to 20! It is obvious that this student possesses a sense of adventure and a strong desire to do things differently. Perhaps, this sense of adventure should be allowed to blossom as opposed to be stifled by trying to work the passions into an academic profile. Rather than look at what to do AFTER graduation, why not entertain taking a leave of absence … of undetermined length. I doubt that the LAC would resent or combat a request to defer further studies for a while. </p>
<p>It is obvious that for a budding Indiana Jones the old Hippodrome of Constantinople and the Blue Mosque are far more interesting and entertaining than the Hudson Valley. Once the appeal of the adventures start to diminish, there will be plenty of time to realize that spending time in a US college is not all that bad!</p>
<p>Just an addition to my earlier post: DD had traveled fairly extensively and is very independent, so while those factors may sometimes contribute to re-entry issues, they weren’t contributing factors in her case.</p>
<p>Chiming in to agree with oldfort regarding SA 2nd semester junior year and summer internships. S really wanted one, and kept up with listings on his college’s website, emailed resumes, etc. However, being in Europe really hindered him. He had one phone interview which he said was really awkward, and was made worse by the fact that he realized belatedly that he had not prepared as much as he should have, probably because he was distracted with all the traveling he was doing. A second company emailed him to come for an interview, and when he pointed out that he was in Europe and offered a phone or skype interview they declined - they said they had more candidates than they could hire who COULD interview. So he ended up working in a warehouse that summer. Now he’s a second semester senior with a 3.8 GPA but no practical work experience. The job hunt may be interesting… :(</p>
<p>Be careful what you wish for. S managed to land a competitive summer internship via phone interviews during his study abroad. That was the easy part. The craziness began when he got his start date…36 hours after landing back in the US. We picked him up at an airport 2 hours away, came home, did laundry, repacked and headed to the internship city 3 hours in the other direction the next morning. He was quite jet-lagged and I was quite sleep-deprived.</p>
<p>D’s school helped her secure an internship in the same city she did her 2nd semester. It started the day classes ended. Her commute to the uni had been 45 min/way, the internship was 3 blocks from the condo.</p>