<p><a href="http://www.semesteratsea.com%5B/url%5D">www.semesteratsea.com</a></p>
<p>Have any parents had their child go through this program? I'm planning to do engineering during a summer term, but i'm just wondering if anyone has any experience with any of the terms.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>There's quite a bit of information on the web about the quality of the Semester at Sea program for anyone wanting to research it.</p>
<p>Royal Caribbean is involved in a new one:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thescholarship.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.thescholarship.com/</a></p>
<p>My d is very interested in both of these programs -- would love to hear from parents with experience (the new one has its inaugural voyage in September).</p>
<p>Wow! I know that I spend hours and hours on CC for good reason. I've never heard of this before, but this sounds like it would be perfect for D2 (sophomore in h.s. now---probably will enter college w/ undecided major....) I've forwarded the links to her....along with encouragement to either go for in-state tuition or get National Merit finalist status and go w/ one of the "free ride" options (i.e. maybe do some studying before next year's PSAT?)--so we could free up some of the college $$ to spend on these. Some time I'll take ^^^ advice and spend time looking up online sites that give more subjective opinions on the programs.</p>
<p>I love the Semester at Sea program, because its run through UVA so most credit will transfer easily, and there's an engineering based program in the summer that does 6credits of engineering and 6 of humanities.</p>
<p>I'm just looking for personal experiences outside of the public release stuff from the program's page.</p>
<p>astrophysicsmom:</p>
<p>Before you go pushing the program on your daughter too hard, you might want to acquaint yourself with the program's nicknames: "The Booze Cruise", "Kindergarten at Sea", and "The Floating Mattress".</p>
<p>I think that many people were surprised that UVa chose to associate with the program after UPitt dropped its affiliation over concerns about safety and liability.</p>
<p><a href="http://members.tripod.com/%7Ebigwormsas/%5B/url%5D">http://members.tripod.com/~bigwormsas/</a></p>
<p>I have an adult friend who did this. She is a highly successful person and very motivated in every aspect of her life (to the point of annoying!). She is still in touch with people from her trip and she speaks very highly of the program. Says it was one of the best experiences of her life. This was several years ago.</p>
<p>My nephew is doing this next fall. I don't know much about it, but he is very keen on it.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks a ton. It's obvious there are problems, but it sounds like there's still ample opporunity to make the best of of the trip, and more.</p>
<p>its supposed to be an incredible joke. needless to say, my mom was having none of it. there was big controversy (well...like 3 articles in the school newspaper) about UVa associating with it.</p>
<p>My sister did it and it was a phenomenal experience. Not so much academically, as she was a dedicated slacker-- but the cultural part was incredible and mind expanding, and she returned as a global citizen.</p>
<p>On checking, I find that the program my nephew is doing is "Sea Semester", sponsored by the Sea Education Association, Woods Hole MA, not "Semester at Sea". The former seems a bit more focused.</p>
<p>If the idea of visiting multiple countries sounds enticing, there are programs that do so with a much higher cultural immersion quotient and a lower "650 college kids partying on a cruise ship" quotient. I think that's the fundamental flaw in this equation: too many kids, spending too much time, in too small a place, with nothing to do but party, so you end up with kind of a floating spring break in Florida broken up by the occasional stop in a port city. For $17,000 to $25,000 per semester. </p>
<p>It sounded great to me when I first stumbled across the program, but there's a reason it's not on the approved program lists at any of the top colleges I've seen.</p>
<p>For serious comparative cultures programs, look at the theme-based programs offered by these folk:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ihp.edu/about/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ihp.edu/about/</a></p>
<p>25 to 30 students. Spend 4 or 5 weeks in each of three countries. Pairs of students live in homestays with families in each country, living and commuting in with real immersion in each country. Demanding schedule of "academic" work, consisting of site visits, guest lecturers, group field research projects, presentations, etc. set up by a professors travelling with the group and coordinating the program in each country. Exposure to things in each country that go way beyond the normal tourist attractions.</p>
<p>Not only approved, but often highly recommended, by many of the top colleges and universities in the country. An extremely demanding experience.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I find that the program my nephew is doing is "Sea Semester", sponsored by the Sea Education Association, Woods Hole MA, not "Semester at Sea". The former seems a bit more focused.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's a different kettle of fish!</p>
<p>Or for an even more academic (but land- rather than shipboard-based) experience check out the Semester in Environmental Science (SES) at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. Incredible staff, lectures, research opportunities.</p>
<p>Kids love it... but many schools don't. At two universities my H worked in, the program was called The Love Boat & no academic credit was awarded for the course. Personally, I think a traditional semester-abroad would be more educationally sound, a more interesting experience, and a better use of your money. But that's just me.</p>
<p>Another maritime program:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.williams.edu/williamsmystic/%5B/url%5D">http://www.williams.edu/williamsmystic/</a></p>
<p>Includes a two-week offshore voyage on a research schooner, a 10 day seminar along the Pacific coast, and a trip to the Mississippi Delta and Gulf of Mexico.</p>
<p>Students study American maritime history, literature of the sea, oceanography or marine ecology, and marine policy. They also learn maritime skills, including boat building, ship smithing, sailing or celestial navigation.</p>
<p>My daughter did the Science at Sea program and loved it. She earned 3 credits in marine biology from Cornell.<a href="http://www.sea.edu/academics/index.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.sea.edu/academics/index.asp</a></p>
<p>My problem is that i'm an engineering major and its really hard to fit in everything. It's doable, but you're limited to English-speaking countries for the most part. The enticement of the Semester at Sea program is that there's an engineering-based curriculum of 6-credits of engineering based classes and 6 of non-engineering classes, and you see so much in so little time. I hate to have it ruined by such a bad rep. At the same time, i'm not worried about transfer credits because I just got accepted into UVa today as a transfer (:)) so i'd get credit from my home school since its running it.</p>
<p>Go ahead and have a little Love Boat fun if you want to--but mind what you drink or ingest. Keep your wits about you.</p>