<p>What a great list to choose from! </p>
<p>Do you have cost estimates yet? If you know your budget, some of these might be eliminated right away. Don’t forget that the continental US is about the same size as Australia. Travel from part of the country can be expensive, as well as time-consuming. You may want to choose your destination based on the part(s) of the US you most want to see.</p>
<p>Do you have a list of the courses at each place that would count toward your degree, or is that something that would be determined after you get back? Unless you have a specific aspect of Spanish culture/history/language/literature that you want to pursue, that needn’t be much of a factor in your choice. Spanish is offered everywhere. International Relations is a bit more variable from one place to another, so you do need to read through the course offerings to determine whether or not there is a good fit.</p>
<p>Rugby is not as big a sport here as in Australia, but I expect that there are club or intramural teams at all of the universities on the list. If you search for rugby in the websites, you should get a link to the information about those teams. Some larger cities also have their own rugby groups. Check the websites of the local newspapers for that.</p>
<p>One very big issue for you coming from Brisbane could be the weather. The winters in much of the US are colder and snowier than in most of Australia. You can find out more about the weather in any of these locations at [National</a> and Local Weather Forecast, Hurricane, Radar and Report](<a href=“http://www.weather.com%5DNational”>http://www.weather.com) For general ideas about places to see and things to do, check out:
[U.S</a>. National Park Service - Experience Your America](<a href=“http://www.nps.gov/index.htm]U.S”>NPS.gov Homepage (U.S. National Park Service))
[Let’s</a> Go Travel Guides - The Leader in Budget Travel](<a href=“http://www.letsgo.com/]Let’s”>http://www.letsgo.com/)
[Lonely</a> Planet Travel Guides and Travel Information](<a href=“http://www.lonelyplanet.com/us]Lonely”>http://www.lonelyplanet.com/us)
[Home</a> - AAA Mid-Atlantic](<a href=“Auto & Roadside Assistance Club | AAA Club Alliance”>Auto & Roadside Assistance Club | AAA Club Alliance)</p>
<p>For ideas about individual universities, you could visit their sub-forums here in the section [Colleges</a> and Universities - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/colleges-universities/]Colleges”>Colleges and Universities A-Z - College Confidential Forums) University of Pennsylvania is at [University</a> of Pennsylvania - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/]University”>University of Pennsylvania - College Confidential Forums) The students at these forums will be full of information!</p>
<p>I’d also suggest that you re-post your question with a more specific heading along the line of “Australian student needs your help to choose year abroad university in US” If that doesn’t result in more replies here, try posting it in the Parents Forum. We are all very opinionated and love to tell people where we think they should study!</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>