What are some good colleges and or universities that have good study abroad programs? I’m looking at something in Europe, preferably France, but in general I’m just looking for good programs.
Virtually every school has study abroad to Europe.
Are there any specific schools that you had a good experience with? I’m looking for really good programs that stand out.
Are you interested in choosing a college based on the quality of their study abroad programs, or are you looking into enrolling in an excellent program as a student from another school?
A college based on their study abroad. I’m just curious about which schools have top notch programs.
If you can research the percentage of students who study abroad at some tentative colleges of interest, you will at least be able to determine the popularity of their programs. From there, you can further research the schools and programs that are the most appealing to you.
I really think there are many more important attributes you should focus in on when coming up with your list of colleges. Find schools that are academic, financial, social matches first. Then you can look at the study abroad page for all of those schools.
This. About half of the American college students studying abroad do so in western Europe, and 1/3 study in only three countries (UK, Italy, and Spain). It’s extremely common for students to study abroad through programs offered by their home colleges, through the popular study abroad programs offered by other universities (particularly Arcadia CGS and Butler IFSA), and/or through direct enrollment.
Consider the following when analyzing study abroad options:
[ul][]Does the college permit students to attend programs other than those sponsored by the university? If so, how difficult is the approval process?
[]Does financial aid apply to study abroad programs? What about to programs not sponsored by the university, such as direct enrollment? What if the program costs more than tuition at the home university?
[]Do study abroad courses count toward distribution requirements or other graduation requirements at your home university?
[]If your home college is on the quarter system, how does it convert courses taken abroad on the semester system?[/ul]
Because so many colleges have good study abroad offerings these days, especially in western Europe, I would place this fairly low on your list of priorities and examine study abroad offerings AFTER you’ve created a lengthy list (20-30 schools) based on the more important characteristics of selectivity, affordability, size, location/setting, and academic offerings.
Bam: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/study-abroad-programs
Google is your friend. Check out the study abroad pages for the universities here. You can find other lists like this by doing a Google search for “best study abroad universities” or something of the like.
In addition, if you find a study abroad program that you really want and it is not one offered by your university, often it is possible to take a leave of absence from your school and sign up for the study abroad program on your own. So, really, it should not be one of your top considerations when choosing schools.
Dickinson, Middlebury, Kalamazoo, St Olaf are all examples of stellar study abroad offerings and colleges fostering a “going abroad” culture.
USC-Columbia Honors and Moore College of Business also have a strong study abroad connection.
Barnard-Columbia has Reid Hall in France, which other colleges use.
If you’re interested in France, would you want to study in Paris, or in another city?
Personally I think you should pick another city (you can easily visit Paris on weekends), such as Montpellier, Bordeaux, Lyon, all of which are train hubs yet allow for a less “typical American abroad” experience.
And if you are keen to save money or have particular goals, you can organize your own study abroad experience in Europe. D rented an apartment on airbnb (a room in a home would have been cheaper but she splurged), signed up for intensive language lessons at the Goethe Institute in Berlin, hired a tutor to help her the fine points of the grammar, and attended the free language exchanges at a local cafe. She also met up with students/recent alums from her university who were living/working/studying there and developed a social life. Went from zero German to fluent in 3 months.
Was it easy? Nope - she had to figure out a lot on her own. But she spent on $7,000- for the entire period - any overseas program would have cost much more than that. Her own school would have charged close to $20,000 (and yes, she would have had the credits - but she had enough AP credit not to care.)
I wouldn’t recommend trying this in, say, India, where the culture shock could be extreme. But this approach would work almost anywhere in Europe.
The University of Denver has the #1 study abroad program in the country!
LIU has a very distinct study abroad program, although it’s not a well-known school. Students spend each semester in a different country. It’s not a cheap option, though, at $19,000 a semester.
hi how about for me, I would like to explore options abroad like studying and working at the same time
Williams at Oxford is pretty great.
@saabelly did you read the thread? The answers are all above.
Don’t know if this was already mentioned, but Carleton and Macalester both have amazing study abroad programs!