<p>AEM major, looking to study abroad at London School of Economics or Oxford/Cambridge if possible.
Will the experience of studying abroad at a prestigious school abroad help me or should I just save the $50k and graduate a year early?</p>
<p>If you can afford it, study abroad. It will most likely result in a great educational experience, a chance to live in another country that may not present itself again any time soon and the right to add a prestigious university to your resume.</p>
<p>I think this would help you and certainly could not hurt. If you would be graduating this spring, it is still a poor economic environment. Another year would allow more time for recovery. Plus, studying abroad would expand your networking field.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion!
I agree that it will be awesome to study in England.
I visited Cambridge this past summer and it was gorgeous (> Ithaca imo!)</p>
<p>And btw, I’m currently a sophomore.
So I’ll be graduating in 2012 if I graduate early.</p>
<p>Same advice here- studying abroad is an opportunity that you will never regret. 2 out of my 3 children went abroad, England and Italy. Both had a fabulous experience and now the third wishes he did.</p>
<p>Study abroad! But it would probably be easier to sell it to prospective employers as a meaningful international experience if it were somewhere more exotic than England. Take some language classes (you won’t regret it, they are so good) and go somewhere a little flashier and more interesting.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to hijack this thread, but as an engineer, what would look better for job interviews, going abroad to Japan for a year and doing research, or doing a co-op half a year and a study abroad the other half?</p>
<p>^Aseyelum…My friends son attended Harvard and went to Japan. He had studied Japanese in highschool and that year he studied abroad in Japan. He became fluent in the language. A very large Japanese firm hired him and he is doing extremely well. My friend misses her son but he travels back to New york pretty often on business. I also think in this economy you can’t go wrong with either of the options that you mention above. A co-op could lead to you having a job as soon as you graduate, but a study abroad might be your last chance to live in such an exciting place while studying.</p>
<p>I studied abroad at Oxford, and cherish the experience. If by ‘help’ you, you mean broaden your horizons, challenge you to think in ways that you haven’t thought possible, and learn more about the world in which you live, then yes.</p>
<p>If you mean ‘help’ by getting a high-paying job – Not immediately, but international connections can help you down the road, depending on what field you go into.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions everyone!
I will go make an appointment with the study abroad advisor and discuss my options!</p>
<p>I recommend graduating early, and then spending the rest of the time interning / getting a job / co-op / traveling / or sitting in on classes at a foreign university. It essentially gives you the same unique experiences minus the one extra year of tuition.</p>
<p>You can’t do a co-op for only half a year. It’s a minimum 28 week program.</p>
<p>Yeah, but the rest of those 28 weeks happen during the summer, which is not a problem.</p>