<p>Dear informed, generous parents,</p>
<p>Any suggestions for excellent, study-abroad programs that offer engineering courses taught in English?</p>
<p>The Web is being consulted, as is the appropriate office at S's school. Now I come to you for your suggestions.</p>
<p>Thanks to all in advance!</p>
<p>~mafool</p>
<p>DD is considering majoring in engineering. Her college has a well established engineering program. She has been told...point blank...she can NOT participate in study abroad and expect to graduate in four years. Period. AND her school also has a well established study abroad option for students...just NOT engineering majors. They are required to complete ALL courses in the engineering major at the college, not elsewhere and that includes study abroad. My daughter could study abroad, but she would then be one full year out of sequence for her engineering courses. We simply can't afford this. It's much less expensive to send her abroad during the summer. Mafool...is your son certain that his college will even allow and accept engineering credits from a study abroad program?</p>
<p>I think it can be difficult to study abroad in engineering due to the sequential and dependent pre-req nature of the courses and the fact that most engineering majors requires a lot more courses than a typical liberal arts major.</p>
<p>There's another option though and your S could do what my D (CS major) did - she did a summer study abroad and took a history course of that country that counted as a GE for her major.</p>
<p>Yes, it will, Thumper, depending on the class, curriculum, sponsoring org, etc. He has found something that satisfies all the above (through Georgia Tech), but it is a class that is a lab course at his U, and the overseas class does not offer a lab. He would have to take the lab on it's own when he got back, which, as he says, would be a "pain."</p>
<p>His school also has an excellent study abroad program, and it is available to engineering students. The catch: all the programs sponsored by his school have classes taught in the language of the country in which they are taught. Son has not had space in his schedule to continue with his language studies and also take some of the LA courses he wants to sample. I'm sure his Spanish is not up to the level required to take Junior year math, physics, or engin courses!</p>
<p>He could go to Australia, or England, or some other English-speaking country through his school, but I have encouraged him to find something in a non-English speaking country, if possible.</p>
<p>As posted above, we will appreciate suggestions.</p>
<p>You are right, UUdad. That would be lovely. S is planning to have internships for the next two summers, and I can't fault his work ethic in that regard. I am the one who has always recommended an experience abroad while an undergrad.</p>
<p>mafool, We've found the same limitations with engineering. It seems like it's a lot easier to take humanities courses overseas than math/science/engineering, unless you want to go to Australia or Great Britain. Engineering is so sequential and rigid- and schools want it done their way! GT is so highly regarded for engineering, one of the tops- they probably want to ensure the students have the same rigor of curriculum.</p>
<p>My son has basically thrown in the hat as far as doing a semester abroad thing- and he needs to be working in the field the next two summers as well. :(</p>
<p>Lafayette offers study abroad programs for engineering students. See <a href="http://ww2.lafayette.edu/%7Emecheng/study_abroad.htm%5B/url%5D">http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~mecheng/study_abroad.htm</a>
[quote]
At U.S. universities study abroad for engineering students is unusual because of crowded curriculums and a low emphasis on liberal arts education for those students. Also, there are only a handful of institutions in Europe where engineering courses are taught in English and can accommodate American students. However, Lafayette College is a nationally recognized leader in study abroad for all students including engineers. At Lafayette many engineers study abroad and they also graduate in four years. This is accomplished because of Lafayette’s commitment to the liberal arts and a belief in the life enriching quality of foreign travel.</p>
<p>There are three modes of study abroad available: a faculty-led semester abroad, Lafayette-affiliated semester programs, and interim sessions abroad
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Also see Union College's engineering international experience page at <a href="http://engineering.union.edu/eta/%5B/url%5D">http://engineering.union.edu/eta/</a>.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Union's Engineering International Experience Requirement
Professionals in the 21st century need to appreciate and understand the many diverse cultures of the world. Union College has taken a leadership role in engineering education by requiring that every engineering student have an international experience prior to graduating from the College through one of the following options:</p>
<p>Terms Abroad
International Internships
International Design Projects
Mini-Terms Abroad
Other International Experience Options</p>
<p>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Something to consider - do a study abroad one summer and an internship another summer rather than interning both summers. He has the rest of his life to work and I'm not sure the second summer of interning will add greatly to his job prospects. This assumes he has a reasonable interest in studying abroad as my D had. Not everyone has as strong an interest in the study-abroad and might rather intern instead.</p>
<p>My D's has been doing an internship this summer (> 40 hours/wk) and since it's close to her college will continue interning (at greatly reduced hours) through the school year. She'll end up with plenty of experience to put on her resume'.</p>
<p>I've heard of one engineering student who was adamant about studying abroad one summer and has managed to get an internship offer in that country (I think Germany) while she's over there so she's managing to do the study-abroad and internship at the same time.</p>
<p>UUDad--He wants it all!!! LOL! Probably my fault, as I always told him to keep his options open as long as it made sense</p>
<p>He interned last summer (after freshman year) and has identified 2 places where he'd dearly love to intern the next 2 summers. We'll see what comes of that. I think, for him, it is not as much about resume building as sampling different industries and environments. Once again, I can't fault the thinking.</p>
<p>Wouldn't that be sweet! (Intern overseas.)</p>
<p>SLU's Madrid campus: has anyone had experience or knowledge of that?</p>
<p>Another option - do a reduced study-abroad summer program (like maybe 4-6 weeks) and intern somewhere in the remaining time. Life and time is a balancing act and he'll need to decide where he wants the balance point to be.</p>
<p>UVA offers a study abroad program in Brazil for systems engineers, but I don't think the program is open to nonUVA students. Students are accepted into the program in the fall of their third (junior) year to spend the fall of their senior year abroad. Although the engineering classes are taught in English, students must take Portuguese the spring of their junior year at UVA, then a summer language immersion program in Portuguese in Rio, followed by the semester abroad and then a capstone project with Petrobras (the sponsor) the spring of their senior year back in the U.S. Participants do graduate on time, which is a priority for UVA. </p>
<p>Our S did a language immersion program in Peru this past summer through UVA and hopes to get accepted to this program. It is more of a commitment than the typical semester abroad but combines internship experience with Petrobras. S wants to work overseas upon graduation, so it is a good program for him.</p>
<p>USC has summer-abroad engineering programs. Basically they transport USC engineering professors over someplace and teach a few mid-level courses there and a required writing course. It is not quite as elaborate as a real semester abroad in a non-engineering program, but seems pretty good considering. Downside is it is kind of expensive and places are limited.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I have encouraged him to find something in a non-English speaking country, if possible.>></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Just my humble opinion...I don't think you can have it both ways. Engineering courses are hard enough in your NATIVE language. I can't imagine what it would be like for a student who is not completely fluent in a foreign language to take an engineering course in that language. I would suggest that you look at options in English speaking countries. If your son goes to school in the UK, he will have the opportunity to visit countries where other languages are spoken, but will be able to do his engineering courses in his native language.</p>
<p>mafool, isn't your S at Duke? A list of suggested places for engineering majors:</p>
<p>There are many excellent engineering UK schools that aren't on the list (Cambridge, Imperial, etc.), so he should check those out too. In particular, he should check out Duke's Oxford Direct program.</p>
<p>Yes he is, Warblersrule, and he will probably end up in one of Duke's excellent programs in an English-speaking country. My understanding is that the programs in non-English speaking countries have instruction in the language of the host country.</p>
<p>I was curious about the option of English instruction in a non-English speaking environment. Miami U has a program in Poland. Lafayette has one in France. SLU has one in Madrid.....</p>
<p>Thanks for the reminder about Oxford. I'll have to look into that or suggest he do so. I know nothing about it.</p>
<p>For any readers thinking about wanting to do engineering and a study abroad: Worcester Polytech is trying hard to allow their engineering students to have an international experience by integrating into their "project" curriculum. They claim:
[quote]
About two-thirds of our students do off campus projects – nearly half travel outside the United States.
[/quote]
and
[quote]
WPI sends more engineering and science students overseas than any other university in the nation!
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</p>
<p>My son is only a freshman, so I really have no idea how it works beyond what I've read. My understanding is that they aren't necessarily taking COURSES, but that they are working on their projects. (I could be wrong!!!)</p>
<p>what a cool program, weenie! Thank you for the link. I don't immediately see a way for a "visitor" to participate, but I enjoyed the info.</p>