<p>My student is looking into a semester abroad at his private university. They charge full tuition but it's up to the student to find housing, which is not guaranteed, and register for courses. They have no staff or faculty at the university in the Netherlands and no group trips. The kids are on their own.
Comparing this to my daughter's experience at a private college with comparable tuition, it bought her studies, an apartment, a staffer from her college working in a nearby office, field trips and a stipend of $425/mo for meals and independent travel. This was in a popular European city as well with similar costs.
Which is normal? Am I right to be disappointed with what's being offered at Greed is Good U? I could use another perspective here.
Thanks!</p>
<p>What exactly are they charging full tuition FOR?</p>
<p>Sounds like your kid might want to consider simply taking a 1-semester leave of absence and making his or her own arrangements somewhere. Arranging for the credits to transfer could be the sticking point.</p>
<p>My D1 did a school semester that cost no more than tuition on campus would, included airfare and a stipend. BUT, she was also looking into a private program (for 2nd semester) where, in addition to its charges, she would pay a place-holding fee at her college. Each college has its own policies and charges.</p>
<p>It seems unusual, to me, to just send a kid off, with no housing or support. I’d wonder if this is one of their usual programs or perhaps a post-grad opportunity. Or for those kids who are advanced in their research and able to make this work, independently. There has to be, imo, a way to promote a successful experience for the student. What if he can’t find housing or has enrollment issues? What credit does he get, toward graduation? I’d check further. If he’s paying full tuition at home, who pays for the courses in the Netherlands? And, if there is no staff from his college at that foreign U, is there a Dutch facilitator, someone on that end, to play the same role?</p>
<p>My D did something like this at University of Helsinki, but her college did NOT charge her their tuition that semester. Because they had no program and no partner program, and because she had to enroll directly in U of Helsinki as a visiting student, they only charged her a small-ish fee (compared to tuition) at her private LAC. I think it was about $1,500. She was attending Dickinson, and I think this was three years ago.</p>
<p>It was a pretty big headache, especially arranging the housing. She ended up living in a sublet studio apartment pretty far off campus, and had a hard time making friends (and she is very friendly and outgoing, and spoke quite a bit of Finnish). The college provided no help other than a website with external housing options listed for visiting students (like apartment rental websites, their equivalent of Craigslist, etc.). And it was difficult to get someone to agree to rent to a foreign student when housing was tight and deposits had to be wired, etc.</p>
<p>But also enrolling in classes was a headache – especially getting the level of intermediate Finnish class they had blithely assured her was available before she went. Then was not when she got there… and since improving her Finnish was a main reason she studied there, that was a hassle. Eventually resolved with a class outside the university that her college agreed to accept, but it was very stressful.</p>
<p>I really don’t recommend having your kid go outside a formal program after what we went through. And if you do it, you sure shouldn’t have to pay full tuition at her home college!</p>
<p>What is the goal of studying abroad? If the goal is to get experience, learn language, etc … I’ll suggest taking a semester off and making direct arrangements with Netherland University. It would be much cheaper and more efficient.</p>
<p>Well, it was “cheaper” for us, but the stress and hassles were very significant. Also, some colleges will make you withdraw and re-apply if you want to enroll in a university they don’t have a program with – we ran into that when asking colleges about studying in Finland during D’s college visits. I know U of Chicago had that requirement – I think one of the LACs in the northwest did, too, but now I can’t remember which one.</p>
<p>If OP hesitates about an independent experience that seems to be offered by the home U, with no housing or enrollment support, I am not sure the solution is…an independent experience.</p>
<p>OP, many universities offer semester abroad programs for students from other schools. (Syracuse University, for example.) I would google semester abroad in xxxx, see what pops up, and start contacting the various programs affiliated with major institutions. Now, many(most?) private schools don’t want you paying money to other institutions, and at least initially refuse to grant credit for those programs. (I say initially because often, with some logic and in-person persuasion of the parental variety the school can bend its greedy silly rules.) So keep that in mind when considering other schools’ programs - that your child may “lose” that semester.</p>
<p>D1 studied abroad at an Uni in Australia. Her school helped with class registration, all of her credits were transferred, but she was on her own to get her own housing and there was no orientation. We paid for her study abroad Uni as an international student, which turned out to be 10k less. During her study abroad semester she was still considered as a student at her school and all of her courses were approved by her school.</p>
<p>I feel like it would be easier to find your own housing in a country where the native language is English. In a country like the Netherlands it adds another barrier (besides the currency exchange, international wire transfers for deposits, and difficulties in communicating from so far away). Now, there are posters out here who may jump in and say your kid should just go without housing if they can’t find it ahead of time, and figure it out when they get there (have seen those comments in the past). I sure wasn’t going to let my kid do that when she didn’t know a single person in the city where the college was located.</p>
<p>Study Abroad was a big thing my daughter researched before making her final decision. Some schools rip students off in this regard. See if your son can direct enroll as intparent’s daughter did. Mine did this, had all her classes approved, got her housing through the school she was visiting. Her credits transferred, but not the grades. She traveled with other students at the school, some from that country, but mostly others from all over the world. Her home university only charged her a fee of $250. She did not need a visa because she has both an American and EU passport.</p>
<p>It really depends on the (home) college and the program that they have. My oldest is at BU, and they differentiated between colleges abroad where they have programs and oversight in place and where they don’t. For the ones BU has arrangements with, it’s fairly easy to have housing, register for classes, etc., and there’s a member of the BU faculty who lives there to facilitate the semester abroad. I don’t know what students do if they choose to go the other route.</p>
<p>My D’s an Education major, and BU is the only school she found that actually let you student teach abroad. That sealed the deal for her.</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies. I’m glad to find so many other parents on this forum.
The way this program works is that tuition is paid to Home U which pays Destination U for the courses. I suspect both make a tidy profit. The student applies for U housing directly through Destination U after paying a fee to do so. Once housing is assigned he pays rent. Housing availability is supposedly not a problem if you apply early but as I mentioned previously, it’s not guaranteed.
I’ve explored other programs online. It seems my S waited too late and needs advanced courses that few programs provide, in fact it’s this program or nothing.
As far as a facilitator or advocate, the Destination U has an office for study abroad students (of which there seem to be many). Contact with Home U is by phone.
I’m not impressed with this setup, but it could be a good experience if all goes well. But it shouldn’t be such a gamble.
Thanks again - lots of good information here.</p>
<p>It sounds like you are in a slightly better spot than we were with my D1. U of Helsinki does not provide ANY housing to visiting students, which is what my D was considered. So it sounds like the university will provide housing if you apply early (that is a big bonus). Regarding the tuition payment – in our case U of Helsinki has NO tuition. So it sure would have been a ripoff for her US college to collect tuition, provide no services, and not pay anything to the university she was attending. Odds are pretty good that the university your kid wants to attend still has much, much lower tuition than the US college does, though. His college will still make a boatload of money.</p>
<p>Even though you have been researching programs, it might be good if your son asked his college where other students in his major have studied abroad in the past several years. They might have some leads on other programs that are also workable. I know my D2’s college really keeps on top of what programs will fulfill which majors – but they also have the kids planning from freshman year if they want to go abroad, too.</p>
<p>Thanks intparent. Originally when my S asked what his options were at the Study Abroad office and this was all they had to offer, perhaps because he had waited too long to have flexibility in his course selection. I’m certain this program falls under the ripoff category. S and I are now asking “do we play or not?”, but I’m letting him decide. I think. BTW, I think it’s awesome that your D a) studied in Helsinki and b) learned Finnish. I hope for all the hassle it was good experience. I seem to remember a news segment about 20 years ago, maybe on 60 minutes, about the Finnish people being dour and expressionless - by the time Conan O’Brien paid his visit they looked pretty happy to me. If you’ve never seen that, find it on Youtube.</p>
<p>Well… not to offend any Finns out here… but I wanted to visit her while she was abroad. Her winter break was pretty deep into the fall for that far north, and there is only about six hours a day of daylight in Helsinki at Christmas! So we decided to travel together in the region for a couple of weeks prior to the start of her semester in the fall. So we traveled in Sweden and Finland. Gotta say… if I win the lottery, I am going to figure out how to move to Sweden (not Finland). Your news segment impression has some basis in reality, IMHO. My D did have a pretty good semester, although most of the friends she made were other international students (not Finnish kids).</p>
<p>Ahem. I am half Finnish. </p>
<p>It’s bad enough that I have to spend so much time defending New Englanders on this forum, now I have to add Finns, too? :D</p>
<p>As it happens, I have lived in the Netherlands. MANY people there speak English, although certainly not all. Is your S going there for the language, for some particular program of study, or something else? Not many people study Dutch in school. If he is open to other countries, there are alternatives. For example, in Paris there is something called Reid Hall, affiliated with Columbia, through which students from many colleges study abroad.</p>
<p>Regarding making friends with the locals, I’ve heard many students say this about their study abroad experiences. I think that’s why some programs include home stays for some portion of the trip.
Reid Hall - looking up. Thanks.</p>
<p>Check out the ACM programs, too; they allow non ACM-students to participate in some of the study abroad programs and they have pretty specialized programs, too.
Your program sounds like ISEP Direct. I’m not sure I would advise using it unless your son has already lived abroad. ISEP is only a good deal if you don’t pay full tuition at your home institution. 
What is your son studying and how advanced is he? Some people here might have suggestions for study abroad programs that your son might be able to apply for/enroll in.
re: making friends with the locals, it’s typically easier if you’re attending a school in a town rather than a big city, and if you try to meet with the students involved in the English club.</p>
<p>I’ve heard this over and over, that the university charges full tuition for NOTHING. I remember reading about a law student who matriculated at The University of Buenos Aires for a semester or a year (can’t recall), who was really upset to find out that the was paying full tuition at the home school but the UBA tuition was FREE. </p>
<p>Yeah, I’d be ticked too.</p>