<p>Though I was excited to be accepted to Colby, I was disappointed to learn that if I want to attend, I must either study abroad in Spain my first semester. The thought of missing my first semester of college is very daunting--I'll miss COOT, move-in day, people will already have their friends with I come to campus in January, etc.
Do any current students know how kids who study abroad their first semester generally fare? Do they seem to have less friends, be less involved, or be very flustered?
Colby is my top choice, but don't know if its worth it to miss the first semester.</p>
<p>(also, if you're not a current student, but have any input conerning what you would do in the sitatuion, I would love it)</p>
<p>Mom of a Colby soph here but he didn’t start his frosh year abroad. Maybe you can contact Admissions and ask them if they could hook you up with someone who started the semester in Spain? State your concerns, I’m sure you’re not the only one struggline with those questions. I recall that our college tour guide started in Spain and she absolutely loved it.</p>
<p>Emailed D to respond to this thread " hey I don’t remember my own user account and password but, could you just tell them that Colby has a great program for kids who spend their first semester abroad, like an IcedCOOT and link leaders who make the transition for the students easy and its really fun meeting all the new people. Also Colby is so small and welcoming that when new people come to campus everyone is excited to meet them and they are very friendly, inviting the “feb frosh” as they are termed to parties and getting to know them. I think Spain is a great bonding experience for the people on the trip, they get very close and if you love colby do it!" There you go, from a member of the class of 2013!</p>
<p>D is a frosh, and echoes what newport28 is saying–everyone is psyched to see febfrosh kids, there are welcoming parties, auditions for performance groups, lots of stuff to make you feel welcome. And, that’s one of Colby’s strengths, after all–they’re a bunch of friendly and outgoing people!</p>
<p>For my overnight stay at Colby earlier this week, both my host and her roommate were freshmen who had studied abroad their first semester in Salamanca, so I got to learn about the program and meet a lot of their friends who’d gone. They’ve stayed good friends with the group they went abroad with, and also had some other friends who had studied abroad with the Dijon program. I probably wouldn’t worry about everyone else having made friends already on campus, because you’d have made great friends too. They didn’t seem to have less friends or be less involved or be more flustered than anyone; my host was pretty involved in sports and music, for example. They all seemed to have adjusted fine. They said that Colby was great in welcoming them to campus and helping them adjust, even though it was in the middle of the year.</p>
<p>Overall, everyone I met who’d studied abroad their first semester loved the experience and thought it was a really great opportunity. You may not be getting a traditional beginning to college life, but that’s not necessarily bad. They did suggest buying stuff for your dorm over the summer anyway, though, since you might not have time/feel like it when you get back. I think that if Colby is your first choice and this is the only thing you’re unsure about, you should go for it 
To me it seems like you still get plenty of time to experience traditional college life; you just get to start off the year with a fantastic opportunity.</p>