Hi, I’m currently a college freshman, and I’ve always wanted to study abroad (so much so that I came close to applying to schools abroad). My question is, would it be practical for me to study abroad sophomore year (especially socially), or should I wait?
Junior year is standard… what’s the norm at your university? I would go with that. Most places Junior year is the sweet spot b/c you’ve finished your gen eds and are immersed in your major, plus you’re older/slightly more mature (and thus less likely to be a liability for your university).
You could also apply to freshman year abroad programs at colleges where it’s available: FSU (and you pay instate tuition after that first year abroad), Northeastern (NU.in), Colby, Marist…
Some universities, such as St Olaf or Dickinson, make it very easy for you to go Spring semester sophomore year AND one semester junior or senior year - and at St Olaf you could even go on an interim class abroad (January studying biology in Costa Rica, math in Budapest, French in Martinique…) every year.
If you study abroad in Europe you´ll find people as young as 16 or 18 at many of the European programs for international students. So you won´t be alone - for Europeans and many other international students, study abroad is not perceived as a junior year kind of right of passage. They study abroad when it makes the most sense to them.
From my own personal experience, I would say that the sooner you get the benefit of study abroad, the sooner you will benefit from it. Study abroad can really wake up your intellect and clarify your interests - that in turn helps you to really focus on what interests you educationally and professionally.
I personally don’t think that junior year is the best time to study abroad. Junior year is when you really start going in to the meat of your major, and if you are at a good school or school that is good in that major, why would learning that subject at another school be better?
Plus, summer before graduation is the time for your most important internship experience. If you are abroad then, you miss out on on-campus recruiting for that summer.
I personally think going abroad sophomore or even freshman year makes more sense.
I agree, studying abroad Fall or Spring of Sophomore year makes the most sense, depending on where you go. If you don’t need special language skills or they’re advanced enough, Fall Sophomore year would be perfect. Spring Sophomore year is good if you need more exposure, need to bring your GPA up, or if there are pre-reqs you don’t have yet. Fall junior year would be the latest I go study abroad.
I have a preference for Fall over Spring for some European destinations because jetlag+short days, depending on where you land, can make the first 2 weeks miserabe, vs. late summer/early Fall when it’s much easier to adapt.
Opposite advice if you go to the Southern hemisphere - leaving the Northern US in early January to go to South Africa or Australia is awesome. 