<p>Has anyone studied abroad in two different countries during the same school year? </p>
<p>D is considering studying abroad in both Italy and Australia during her junior year, and has asked me if I think it is a good idea or not. She is a psychology major and strongly considering double majoring in Italian. She just finished her freshman year.</p>
<p>She has had a longtime interest in studying abroad in Australia. I'm not sure why, but that has always been the country she has had in mind for study abroad. I've always wondered why she would prefer Australia over Italy, since she has been studying Italian since high school. She has visited Italy twice before, once on a family vacation during middle school, and once on a high school class trip, and has never been to Australia.</p>
<p>Her college (Dickinson) has their own programs in both Italy (Bologna) and Australia (Brisbane), and the upperclass students she has talked to have raved about both of them. Dickinson's study abroad programs are very highly regarded, and very popular among the students. My D says it is unusual to meet an upperclassman who didn't study abroad at all, but going to two different places is much less common. </p>
<p>The dates work out OK to do both. It could be done in either order, but the dates are more convenient with Italy first in the fall and Australia in the spring, with a longish winter break back home in-between. The program in Italy would (obviously) be good for an Italian major or minor. And the program is Australia is recommended for psychology majors, and she could take classes there that would count towards the major. So, I don't think it would impact graduating on time, but would probably reduce her flexibility of what classes to take during senior year. </p>
<p>The Study Abroad office says it can be done, and that other students have studied abroad in different places the two junior year semesters. Her freshman advisor thinks it is a bad idea - too much culture shock. Her Italian advisor thinks it is a great idea to do both programs. The department HIGHLY recommends that Italian majors or minors study abroad in Italy. </p>
<p>I have a cousin who did back to back semesters abroad, but she was a French major and studied Spanish as a minor and so she studied one semester in each country and was able to travel between the semesters. She had different experiences in that one was a home stay with a family, one was in student housing. It was an outstanding experience and both were directly related to her major. The downside is that while you are having an amazing experience socially and academically, you are also missing out on opportunities and friendships back at school. I don’t think she had any academic or financial issues but she did have a hassle with finding a place to live for senior year. </p>
<p>I know a student who did Argentina (fall) and London (spring). She had a great year. She was a double major in Spanish and Communications(?).</p>
<p>Culture shock varies wildly from one person to another - and even from one country/culture to another for the same individual. There really, truly, is no easy way to predict who will be laid prostrate in bed in tears, who will finally feel like they are living their own best life, and who will fall somewhere between those two extremes. Given that most people tend to reach their most miserable point in the adaptation curve at around 6-9 months in country, it wouldn’t be surprising at all for your D to never even reach the get-me-out-of-here stage if she’s in both places for only a semester.</p>
<p>My vote is with the Italian advisor: Both countries. When else in her life will she get a chance like this?</p>
<p>There’s no one right answer here. My son did two different programs in two different cities in the same country (Jordan). Other people in the program had more culture shock - it seemed to be more of an issue with the young women who really had not understood that they were going to a very conservative city at the first location. (I think they would have been fine in Amman.) Anyway, he loved Jordan from day 1, and actually liked being in Irbid better than Amman - it felt more authentically Jordanian to him and between the language pledge and the fact that people really didn’t speak a lot of English he got the immersion experience he was looking for. (And went from a C+ to A’s in Arabic on his return.) As far as I know he never experienced any culture shock at all. </p>
<p>For him the biggest disadvantage was that Tufts only gives P/F credit for courses that are not in programs they sponsor themselves. That meant he lost some flexibility in terms of filling all his requirements, particularly in his major. Since both programs are sponsored by your daughter’s school she should not have those issues. She might miss out on some leadership positions in clubs or sports, but I agree with happymom, if the department thinks it’s a great idea she should go for it. </p>
<p>Too much culture shock? What does that even mean.</p>
<p>Back in the dark ages when I was in school, a year a broad was much more common than a semester. True, there are tradeoffs, but nothing that’s going to ruin her prospects forever.</p>
<p>If the school says she can do it, and the professors think it works, and she wants to do it, then I’d suggest she find a new go do it, and find herself a new advisor…</p>
<p>The only downside that I would see would be that a longer stay in a country is better (in theory) to build up language fluency – but if the kid ends up hanging around with other American or English-speaking students while studying in Italy, even that might not end up being much of a difference. Anyway, I’d think the Italian advisor would be the one to listen to on that particular issue. </p>
<p>The other issue to consider is actual academics together with language of instruction. If instruction is all in Italian and the student’s language skills still need polishing, then the student could actually be missing out on the academic end. But study abroad programs are extremely variable in that regard. </p>
<p>She wasn’t really considering spending an entire year in either location, since it would impact her double major goal, since she can’t take Italian classes in Australia or Psych classes in Italy. Is it really a choice between one semester in Italy vs one semester in Australia vs. one semester each.</p>
<p>Then what particular reason would there be NOT to go to Australia? The “culture shock” thing doesn’t make much sense in that context. Not much difference between Australians and Americans when it comes down to it. </p>
<p>Sacchi, my D1 spent both semesters off campus at different Dickinson programs her junior year there. She went to Finland (direct enroll at U of Helsinki) first semester, then was at The Washington Program in DC the second semester. For her the only complication was that she had to get security clearance for her Washington internship while abroad in the fall (resulting in very expensive courier fees and multiple trips to the US embassy for her). </p>
<p>The only concerns I would have would be to make sure she can stay on track with her graduation requirements in her major. It is a bonus for you that both programs are through Dickinson, as I assume they arrange housing and make it easy for her to register for classes (not the case for my D’s Helsinki experience). Be sure you take care of any visa requirements for the second semester early if you can so you aren’t scrambling to get her signature or something while she is off on her other program.</p>
<p>I see no reason not to do both if you can handle both financially. They’ll benefit her in different ways but both will be valuable for her major and her personal growth.
Why would you hesitate about?</p>
<p>After seeing my 16-year-old HS sophomore flourishing in Spain this semester, I would not hesitate to let her do back-to-back study abroad programs. I will say that CIEE, the company she went through, did an outstanding job of orienting the kids and parents. Before they even accepted her application, an employee spent an hour with DD and me, making sure we understood the challenges. Then the kids went through a two-hour online orientation, another orientation in Boston, then another one in Barcelona! DD did go through some culture shock - she said their manner of speaking makes Spaniards sound like they’re always angry. But she hung in there and is having the time of her life now.</p>
I think the key reason why my D is somewhat hesitant about it is that her freshman advisor had advised against it. She has also mentioned that she wonders what she would be missing by leaving her college and college friends for an entire year. I think she also finds the concept of studying abroad to be a little scary, even though she is excited about it. </p>
<p>I’ve already told her that it is her decision, and that we can manage the extra costs if she does both. Personally, I would lean towards doing both programs, because, as said upthread,
<p>D1 considered a semester in France, followed by a semester in a second country (more relevant to her major.) After she was admitted to both, she decided she didn’t want to be away from the school, what was going on, and her friends, for a full year. It was both an academic and social decision. For us, 2nd semester would have been a more expensive program. </p>
<p>Imo, the study abroad experience is good- but some kids treat it as their only chance to experience another country in some depth. You have to sort through that. If they really want to experience life abroad, they also have the options of extended travel or post-college grants. D1 grad’d in '13 and has been living abroad since last summer, on a grant. </p>
<p>WRT friends: one aspect of things is that LOTS of students are abroad junior year, at Dickinson, some for a whole year and many for a semester, so her friends won’t be on campus anyway (certainly quite a few will be gone in the Spring and quite a few will be gone in the Fall so regardless she won’t see them). Plus, with Skype, blogs, Tumblr, Twitter, etc, etc, it’s not like she’ll be cut off from them. :)</p>
<p>Um, I should mention that DD stayed in almost literally CONSTANT contact with her friends at first. Internet connections are very spotty in her town, so she used the phone we sent her with. We told her to use it sparingly, but to her, contact with friends was “essential.” The first month’s phone bill was astronomical. Obviously, we could have planned that better, so beware!</p>
<p>Maybe I should have added that D1 was also abroad for the last 5 weeks of soph year (also a school opp.) So her away would have been about 16 months. That did make a difference to her. </p>
<p>Fwiw, phone options drove me nuts. It seemed the US plans that offer the overall lowest cost rate for calling home were for short duration only- a month or two, max. A phone bought in the foreign country is better for local calls there, awful for calls home. The US cell was cheaper to call the US, but crazy for local calls. We manage on Skype, FB, email. She has a local pre-pay for in-country. </p>
<p>The only downsides I’ve observed with kids who are away the entire junior year is that it makes a summer job for that important “pre senior year” summer very difficult logistically. Not impossible- but difficult.</p>
<p>The corporations which recruit on campus for summer internships have their resume “drop” dates in September/October, with first round interviews on campus in December or so. Then callbacks in Jan/Feb. A kid who is away for one semester can usually manage these hurdles (resume drop is via email; first interview can be Skype, etc.) but it’s tough if a kid is away the entire year.</p>
<p>For non-profits, small companies, local government or whatever, the interviews are usually March or April for the summer jobs. So being away first semester not a problem, by the time the kid comes home in June those jobs are likely to be gone already.</p>
<p>So I think in addition to the academic planning, there needs to be some pre-employment planning as well. Best case- a kid gets an offer last week of the summer before senior year after a successful summer experience. But even without an offer, that job can be meaningful when the kid is looking for employment senior year. Good contacts, good experience, etc.</p>
<p>Your D can’t expect to show up at Career Services in March of her senior year in the hopes that an employer is hanging around waiting for her. It can take two years to get launched and if one of those years is spent abroad… makes it very tough.</p>
<p>Yes, that was another disadvantage. My son did apply for some internships, but most wanted in person interviews. He ended up working on campus at the same job he’d had the summer before with a promotion - and in fact he’s doing it again with yet another promotion. He did have one internship in his field while he was in Jordan, (part of the program there), but nothing stateside. We hope the fact that he’s been working the last three summers will count for something, but he hasn’t lined up a permanent after graduation job yet.</p>