study abroad questions

I’m looking for some insight into how valuable the study abroad experience is for architecture students. My DD (3rd year BArch) has been rethinking whether it’s worth the cost and I really don’t know how to advise her. I’d also really like to know how much other architecture schools charge for their study abroad programs as a comparison (feel free to message me privately, if you’d prefer). And do most architecture students go for a whole semester or do some go for shorter trips over the summer?

My daughter has done a summer in Rome and Paris (1 month each) plus a full semester in Italy. Money well spent 100x. The summer program was not too bad cost wise maybe tickets, and a few thousand dollars tuition and fees. The semester abroad was more expensive, tickets plus regular tuition plus 5k (rent, activities, etc) plus your own food. Overall around 10k over regular tuition IIRC. In both cases it was run by the school of architecture where she attended and had profs along, i.e. not attending at a foreign school or shared program. The semester program included a large number of trips to places like Venice etc plus kids quickly figured out the train system, AirBnB, and such.

@turbo93 Thanks! Your response is helpful, as always. : )

Some schools have a program where you pay your regular tuition, some have a special tuition, and others require you to arrange everything on your own and you pay what you arrange.

D’s school (not architecture) had 3 different programs. The one through the school was $9k for the semester, which was less than OOS tuition and more than instate. It was for 12 credits. The big surprise at the end of the year was that they didn’t consider ANY of it tuition so if you used financial aid it was all taxable. They also had arrangements with several programs for reduced tuition and the school would accept all credits as transfers. You could also arrange your own program but then would have to have credits accepted as transfer credits.

D2’s school actually required a study-abroad (Rome - Italy) semester in her fourth year of the five year BArch program. (I’ve accused her of selecting the school since the travel was mandatory - Mom and Dad couldn’t back out of it.) She loved it, traveled all through Italy, went on a three week jaunt with five classmates throughout Europe before the semester started. The experience was and is invaluable. During her interviews at her architecture firm, she was able to discuss Italy and what she had seen and experienced there - it developed a bit of a bonding process with her interviewers.

We had to pay for the travel and the European “Grand Tour,” but the semester in Rome was at the same cost (tuition and housing) as a regular semester on campus.

I even have some of the literature from her school and the Rome program if you like to see it. It’s five years old for what it’s worth. Just let me know.

@twoinanddone @QuietType Both of you, thank you for your help!

QuietType was your daughter’s trip through the architecture department like what turbo93 described with architecture specific courses or was it a more general study abroad semester?

The trip was through the architecture department at her school. Their US-base professors did not attend, but the students were enrolled in a partner program in Rome, and studied under those professors. FWIW, this was the Pantheon Institute. I believe they partner with several schools in the US. All grades/credits earned in Italy directly transferred to D2’s school.

One piece of advice - thoroughly research all cell phone service options before travel commences. Without proper planning, your US cell phone bill for European calls can be shocking!

@QuietType Thanks! I looked up the program and that helps by giving us something to compare to. For my daughter, the program fees and travel costs of the trip would be on top of school tuition, like what turbo93 described, so I’m completely jealous that your daughter’s trip was just basically paying the tuition to someone else. We’re having a hard time getting over the sticker shock. And thanks also for the tip on cell phones! We’ll definitely look into that!

I don’t know about architecture, but to me any study abroad program is worth the price. It gives a student a chance to see how other cultures address issues of education and life and in the end will make this ever shrinking world even smaller. I grew up in NE Indiana and never thought I’d get to do anything outside of my little county. Since then I’ve worked so much with people on every continent except Antarctica and have traveled a ton to both Europe and Asia. I now work for a Japanese company, based in the United States. To see how other cultures work has been a great joy and if I’d had lived in another culture for even a semester in college, I would have been a better professional.

Notice that none of this about a major. It is about life and I think learning life in college is one of the greatest outcomes of a college education.

Now to cost. I know you’ve already researched how your daughter’s school does it, so this is for those who don’t or are considering a school in the future. At some schools it is a little more expensive (like travel to and from and a fee of up to $1500) then going to school for a semester and others it is actually cheaper through programs that offset the cost through formal grants or like GA Tech does, charge in-state tuition the semesters you study abroad. If you are an Out of State student at GA Tech it is actually cheaper to study abroad then it is to study at your home campus by thousands of dollars.

My son is a Junior at UMD and he is currently in Lund, Sweeden for a semester. I had to pay the normal OOS tuition to UMD, but no room/board to UMD who covered the cost with the University of Lund. I also had to pay $900 Study Abroad Fee, travel to and from Sweden at $650, and pay for room and board in Sweden. It cost me maybe a difference of $400 when it is all evened out. In my experience it is well worth the price.

But why wouldn’t the trip be the cost (travel, room and board) and tuition? She’s getting credit for the classes just like she could if she were taking 12-15 credits on campus.

If you don’t like that, you can arrange for the study abroad to not be through the home university but to have the credits transfer in. Some people like that and can save money by doing the legwork themselves (setting up the program, having the credits transfer) but others like the convenience of having the home university do all the work.

I’m not questioning the value of a study abroad experience in general, but more the study abroad experience specific to architecture students who will have specialized programs that include studio courses that have to be taken every semester. And, yes, we would expect to pay for those credits, either to our school or another institution. But when we’re talking about a normal semester tuition plus ~10K in additional fees and travel costs, we want to make sure it’s worth the investment. I probably should have titled my post more specific to architecture, but I thought just by posting in the architecture forum I was kind of already doing that, so my apologies if I’ve been unclear in what I was asking. Nevertheless, I’m appreciative of all the comments, because it helps me to know the differences between all the types of study abroad programs.

I really can’t imagine how study abroad wouldn’t be valuable, especially for an architecture student. So much to see, so much to experience.

Even architecture students have to take other general classes. If the study abroad program isn’t arch. focused (my daughter’s study abroad program is run by the theater dept but non-theater kids find enough to take 12 credits), take history or languages classes that term.

+$10k in fees sounds extra excessive to me. If that is the case, I retract my earlier post. I’d just pay my kid $10k to tour europe over the summer to see architecture.

The cost is higher for many reasons. For example, if you have your home university send prof’s to teach as opposed to using local talent. Study abroad is about exploring, and DD1’s Italy semester was all that. Basically every other weekend and many weekdays they’d get on the train or charter bus and go places with overnight stay. Venice for 3-4 days, Naples, etc etc. Accommodations were pretty good (2-3 people in apartment furnished). One of their classes was culture, and culture they did, from visiting all kinds of hand made artisans to cooking and ceramics classes, all the way to a private audience with the Pope. Admission to museums, archaeological sites, etc and a local guide. small program size, maybe a dozen kids. They must have been in Florence several times. A local coordinator to arrange all that. The university maintains their own facility in an old, historically significant location just outside Rome. And they did not get dinged on airfare, which was amazing. When DD2 went to France for hers it was pretty much the most expensive flight they could find out of ORD yikes. DD1’s program was 12 credits I think including a couple of arch classes, Italian, and some culture class.

Any environmental science majors out there that have completed travel abroad? Where did you go. Was it worth it. Is summer or semester better

@tulip71 - we are in the same process right now for our daughter; trying to figure out going abroad for summer for her arch studies. we’ve come across a few snafus; she needs absolutely no extra credits for her undergrad degree, and abroad credits through her university are more pricey and it’s mandatory to take the classes as credits. Plus, she needs money from summer work every year. . . . yet - it’s obviously very beneficial to go. Her arch school guidance counselor suggested she look into it as a grad student, where the classes would count for sure. I’d like to know how many kids from her U go to these programs, and what they think of it. Are there any open houses or informational sessions at your daughter’s school she could attend and learn more?

@bgbg4us Yes, my daughter’s school has info sessions for all their study abroad programs, so she’s been to those. At her school they only do fall and spring semester programs, no summer programs. I don’t think my daughter would go on a summer trip even if they had them because she plans to do an internship again. At her school the study abroad program is not required but I think she said more than half of the students participate. My daughter ended up talking a lot to the professor organizing the trip she’s interested in and to students who have been in the past, so I’d encourage your daughter to do the same.