<p>hey, so I'm a junior in my fall semester of college and I'm an international student from India. I have the opportunity to go for a study abroad to turkey next semester. The only problem is, with my current plan of study the only way it will work out is if I agree to do a summer after my senior year to finish graduating. I'm in ME so I'll have to take senior design during the summer to finish. My concerns are that
1) doing this will adversely affect my job prospects because companies might not like the fact that I'm graduating one summer late due to a study abroad
2) taking senior design during the 8 week summer period instead of the regular 16 week semester will affect my performance in the class and I feel like that's a pretty important class so I don't want to mess up. Admittedly that will be my only class durin that time so that would make it easier
Any advice you guys have would be really appreciated </p>
<p>What is the benefit of studying in Turkey? If you can articulate the benefits, then you can figure out if it outweighs the costs you’ve outlined here. As an international student, you have already seen more of the world than the majority of your classmates, so you probably don’t need the “cultural broadening” of the experience. Is there something you would be learning in Turkey that enhances your education? Do you hope to work in that part of the world after graduation? Is this a once in a lifetime chance or just something cool to do? Only you can answer whether its “worth it” for you.</p>
<p>I’m looking at this as a once in a lifetime chance because I doubt I’ll be able to travel again to a European country as a student. And I stress as a student because I think traveling as a student is a completely different experience to traveling as a working professional.
Although what is holding me back is the fact that I know that another reason I want to go is because I think this is something cool to do.
And I don’t think I want to go for the “cultural broadening” per se. It’s more like I just want to see that part of the world and the way of life there. I know it sounds almost the same but what I’m trying to say is that I’m not really going to quantifiably learn about another culture so much as to just experience a different way of life. </p>
<p>I don’t think this will have much effect on your job prospects - but you should discuss with the career services office at your school. Unless you are joining a cadre of new hires in some organized orientation plan, your later starting date is not a hardship on their end.
You will have to balance the pros of the experience vs. the cons of delaying your job entry (and paycheck) by a few months and the additional tuition and time investment in the summer course.<br>
If you can afford to delay your “adulthood” by a few more months and have a wonderful semester in Turkey, go for it. You are right that you are only young once - and the opportunity for extended travel is very difficult to get again until after retirement. </p>
<p>I discussed it with an ME advisor who also handles study abroad in my department and he told me that students get hired all year round and that this probably won’t affect my job prospects adversely in any way.
And no, I do not plan to join some organized orientation plan for a company as a new hire but intend to go about it the old fashioned way of having my resume ignored by almost every employer until i get lucky.
Tuition over the summer for a 3 credit course should be relatively minimal compared to tuition I pay the rest of the year and wouldn’t affect me too much.
Yeah, that’s exactly what my thought process was and I want to take every opportunity I can in college right now.
Thank you for your comments, I found them extremely helpful and they gave me peace of mind, which is probably worth more than anything else to me right now. </p>
<p>I’d say go for it!! I plan on studying abroad the fall semester of my senior year (next year), and even though it won’t delay my graduation, I definitely think it’s something you should do if you can afford it/handle it emotionally. You’re right in that traveling as a student is different, and even though you have your whole life to travel, you only have your youth for a limited amount of time. Which classes would you be taking? And do you speak Turkish? </p>
<p>Also, if the one extra summer is the only extra time you’d take to finish your degree, that’s not bad at all. ME majors sometimes take 5 or 6 years to get all their work done, so employers understand. </p>
<p>I studied abroad this past summer in a smaller, shorter program, and it totally changed my life. I encourage you to try and make this work since you too could have a life-changing experience 
</p>
<p>Where is your future employer located, the US or your home country?</p>
<p>If the US, then it won’t make a huge difference, in that it’s basically impossible to get a H1B for a BS student. If you’re going to go for OPT, then your study abroad trip won’t make a difference.</p>