<p>Anyone have any knowledge of this study abroad experience?</p>
<p>S is looking into it for next Fall.</p>
<p>Haven't heard of this program, but my daughter spent last spring in Maastricht at her college-sponsored program.</p>
<p>It's a good place particularly if you think your son might struggle in a big impersonal European university environment - it's small and they teach on American lines. Maastricht is a very international university - gets a lot of students from over the nearby borders with Germany and Belgium. They have some good faculty in the field of European Studies and although I've heard complaints that it's not very challenging for students who've chosen to specialise in the area (European students on exchange there) if your son wants an introduction to the EU, European Studies etc, I think it'd be ideal.
Maastricht is also a really pretty town with lots going on. It's an easy day trip to Cologne or Brussels as well as many cities in the Netherlands. And as you're only 2 hours from Brussels by train it's an easy connect for the Eurostar to London or Paris. There used to be a bit of an issue with Germans coming over the border to buy cannabis and so it had a druggy reputation but the town authorities seemed on my last visit last year to have cracked down on that a lot. Hope that helps a bit.</p>
<p>thanks for the information. Any other ideas appreciated</p>
<p>A close friend and classmate of my daughters did that program a few years back and was very impressed. He was an IR major and was inspired to go on to get his MA in another EU country after graduation. He attributed his current career to the experience and academic expansion he had during his junior semester abroad.</p>
<p>hop--that is fantastic.</p>
<p>I also hope that there will be time for my S to strike out and do short trips in the Netherlands and nearby countries along the line of what bewildered123 suggested.</p>
<p>I haven't "dug into" the details yet, but I'm hoping that the end of the semester backs up to Xmas and that my S can ski the Alps and have the family spend Xmas together in Salzberg.</p>
<p>hop--do you recall whether the friend attended in the Fall and, if so, how late in Dec. is the program over? Thanks</p>
<p>Question: If I am sure S is going, would it be a decent idea to buy Euros now? Anyone keep up with the exchange rate?</p>
<p>Maastricht is a really nice city - small and really pretty, and there's a lot going on.
People in the Netherlands tend to be quite good at English, so thats an advantage as well.
I don't know much about the program though, Im sorry.</p>
<p>Oh, make sure he visits Amsterdam (Amazing city, and not as paradise-of-hedonism as it might sound) ! The Hague (Den Haag in Dutch) is also interesting, if he's interested in politics. </p>
<p>If you have some questions about the Netherlands, feel free to ask me (I'm Dutch myself)!</p>
<p>I also hope that there will be time for my S to strike out and do short trips in the Netherlands and nearby countries along the line of what bewildered123 suggested.</p>
<p>Hello 07DAD,
Our D just returned from an amazing fall semester in Maastricht. She traveled to 16 countries while there. Luckily for her, she arranged to have Fridays off (she was in the International Business program) and found a traveling companion who had the same schedule. Her school (Muhlenberg) sent 12 students to Maastricht, and when the group wasn't traveling, our D and her wonderful traveling companion were off on their own. </p>
<p>Interlocken Canyoning, and Cinque Terra were extremely fun for them, as was Octoberfest in Munich (with relatives), Prague, especially exotic, London right before Christmas stunning. </p>
<p>She bought a bike while there, which she used to travel the 20 minutes to the train station, and do town for shopping.
Life in the International Student's Dorm was comfortable, even though a bit sterile because it was once a hospital. </p>
<p>She bought a Euro pass which they used, but have heard that students in Italy did not use it as much as Maastricht students, because Maastricht is centrally located for travel throughout Europe. </p>
<p>I would be happy to share more specifics about her experiences, if you would like to PM me.
Overall, the students were very safe, however there was an incident on the last night of the stay, when two Muhlenberg students were attacked as they returned from bars late at night. Luckily, the sleeping guard heard their screams and woke up to scare away the attackers.</p>
<p>s did summer abroad at Maastricht (european studies). He had a good experience. Traveled quite a bit - down side was that it was very expensive. He ran out of money quickly - we gave him a bit more but he had to use a lot of his own funds.
He spent a lot of time in Germany and loved the german people...said they were friendlier and more relaxed than the Dutch.
He loved watching soccer with the locals...the Dutch team progressed pretty far last year.<br>
His professors (two classes) were good.
Lots of nice kids in the group.
Maastricht is a nice laid-back town.
He came back saying that he would like to work in Europe for a couple of years. And he wants to do a full backpacking trip to Europe when he graduates.</p>
<p>I doubt the exchange rate will change significantly before next fall. For it to be worth it to buy ahead of time, you would probably have to buy thousands of euros. That is not really ideal to be carrying around / packing in your luggage.</p>
<p>And, it might go down. The rate has gotten better since the summer (when I was there), when it was at a little under 1.60... it was down around 1.25 until the interest rate was cut, when it jumped into the 1.40s. It's now around 1.32. And when you get foreign currency at someplace like a bank, you don't get the best exchange rate.</p>