hey guys! im a highschool sophomore from ohio, and im super interested in going on a foreign exchange program, but im worried it wont correspond with my classes/interests. in highschool ive taken precalc, AP calc ab/bc, honors physics, honors chem, ap computer science, and ap chem, and next year i would take my math and science classes at a local university. however im r e a l l y into studying abroad and definitely want to do that junior year. im just worried that i wont be able to take the courses i want to take if i study abroad. does anyone have any experience with this or any advice? what countries do you think would be best for science/engineering study? how would this affect my shot @ college? thanks a ton guys!
-abby
The first place to check these things are with your own college/university. Since you’re still in high school, that should tell you something: it’s too early to worry about this.
Apply to colleges that have good study abroad programs (shouldn’t be hard, many do) and, if you can, talk to the departments in fields you might major in, to get their advice. Once you pick your university, immediately discuss your schedule/study abroad with your adviser. Studying abroad requires advance planning, and can be tricky for engineering students on a very specific “track” of courses. But it certainly can be done, especially if you’re willing to take some summer courses of have a semester when you take additional classes. Many STEM students don’t end up studying STEM when they’re abroad, but instead focus on language/culture/history, thus fulfilling many of their GE requirements.
@amo.nett
Realize I’m late to this thread, but since you’re a HS sophmore I might still be arriving in time! lol.
Study abroad for a semester is pretty easy for almost everyone (in the right school) EXCEPT engineering majors. Due to ABET requirements, it can be hard for engineers. But it can be done. Most engineering programs have summer abroad or “J Term”/Winter term abroad opportunities, etc. But for genuine “spend a semester at another school” be aware it certainly can be done, but likely takes a bit more planning. When you start doing your college search, email current students and find some who have done it. Find out if they had to take summer courses to free up space etc.
I have an engineering student kid studying abroad right now, but they opted to take 2 summer school courses so they could free up some travel time while abroad and so they wouldn’t get slammed with required courses when they got back (nobody wants to take 6 engineering/math courses in 1 semester if they can help it!) As far as most liberal arts/science majors - as a general rule that is much easier and most colleges feature a plan to do it. (Some are competitive for location, however, or have a lottery. Also, most will allow you to do abroad on your own - if you can get the credits approved, but that takes more legwork/initiative.)