<p>I'm a prospective Carleton student, and I am hoping to pursue study-abroad in college. I am mostly concerned about paying for a program; I'm catered to generously by Carleton financial aid, but I would like to study abroad during the summer (non-Carleton off-campus program). I read that I am able to apply financial aid to one non-Carleton program, but would this be transited from my award package for the year? I was slightly unsure about the entire finance bit.
I am also planning to study a language in Carleton. I've taken four years of Spanish throughout high school; do you recommend that I stay with this language, or should I pursue another language (French, Arabic, Russian, Japanese) that I've always wanted to learn? I'm currently planning to follow the pre-med coursework, and I feel that taking Spanish will alleviate the pressure of designing a schedule that aligns with my prospective major, pre-med requirements, and classes that I want to take. I've been interested in studying Arabic, but I'm not sure of the practical purposes it will serve me in the medical field (most likely psychiatry--subject to change). Traveling to a Middle-Eastern country is mostly out of the question, however, as my parents will not consent (and I agree, given the terms of our situation). I would like to travel abroad to France, but would taking french be more reasonable? Or does it not matter what language I pursue? I'm sure there aren't any requirements regarding this, but which would provide the optimal experience? Thanks in advance:)</p>
<p>If you take a summer program, then you have to take a term off. Financial aid for one term transfers to your term abroad. All the language departments are pretty good, so you should choose whatever one that fits your plans the best.</p>
<p>I had thought that if it is a non-Carleton program, I don’t have to take a trimester off.</p>
<p>I am not sure, but I have heard that if the credits transfer and you are doing it during the summer, they do not want you to get the advantage of graduating early via study abroad program. Considering this explanation, I don’t think it matters if it’s a Carleton or non-Carleton program, but I am really not quite sure.</p>
<p>I think that non-Carleton programs don’t transfer as credit… but I’m not completely familiarized with the programs.</p>
<p>I was recently talking to the study abroad office, and Carleton has to approve the non-Carleton program. They probably wouldn’t have to approve anything if you didn’t transfer credits; it wouldn’t really matter if you went away sometime during summer and took classes. I think the issue arises during credit transfer, and dealing with you having an extra term during the year.</p>
<p>^ Carleton will not provide four terms of financial aid over an academic year, though. They’ll only transfer your financial aid to a non-Carleton program up to the cost of attending Carleton for that year. For example, if you did a non-Carleton program fall term that is more expensive than if you spent that term at Carleton, you will be responsible for the difference. So if you to do any summer program funded with Carleton financial aid (Carleton-run or otherwise), you’ll have to take a term off. See [Carleton</a> College: Off Campus Studies: Financial Aid](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/finances/aid/]Carleton”>http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/finances/aid/) for a little more info.</p>
<p>I think it’s quite uncommon for people to go on non-Carleton summer programs for academic credit. I can’t actually think of anyone who did one? Most people who do a non-Carleton program go fall term of their junior year. It’s possible that Carleton doesn’t actually fund non-Carleton summer programs, even with taking a term off. This is a good question for Student Financial Services and/or the Off-Campus Studies office. They’ll help you out if you call them up.</p>
<p>Summer Programs
Students wishing to do a non-Carleton summer study program for credit must petition the Off-Campus Studies Committee as described above. The maximum number of credits available for a summer program is 14. There is no required leave of absence in the following academic year (as is the case with Carleton summer programs). In general, financial aid is not available for summer programs, but exceptions can be made (see financial aid section).
That is what their website says.</p>
<p>dietcokewithlime, that is what I figured, but I will hopefully figure something out:)</p>
<p>Oh ok, that makes sense.</p>
<p>^I guess that pretty much answers your first question, then.</p>
<p>Have you/are you planning to take the Spanish AP or SATII test? If you place out of the language requirement (or even test into an intermediate class like 103 or 204), I don’t think it wouldn’t be difficult for you to squeeze in a few intro Arabic classes. I also know a girl who’s auditing Russian because it doesn’t fit into the rest of her schedule, so that’s another possibility. As far as which additional language to take–take whichever you want! This is college–no better time to pick up a new skill. :)</p>
<p>For the sake of flexibility, I would definitely recommend trying to finish the formal language requirement as early and fast as possible with whatever you studied in high school. That way you aren’t committing yourself to 4-5 terms of what may be an unexpectedly difficult and inconveniently scheduled language class and can dabble as you like.</p>
<p>^Aww, I was really hoping to start latin at Carleton (I took two years of spanish in high school - I utterly despised the way it was taught, so I dropped it). Is language really that bad?</p>
<p>While we’re on the topic of languages, I’ll just add my few questions here…</p>
<p>How are the Romance languages at Carleton? </p>
<p>And is it possible to start a new language at Carleton while simultaneously continuing to study another one? (I’ve been taking Spanish in high school and definitely want to continue in college, but I’d love to start learning another language - French or Portuguese, perhaps - at the same time.)</p>
<p>Hmm… I never had the notion that Carleton language classes were bad… are they?
Drought, since you haven’t had much experience in Spanish anyways (and you really want to study latin), I think you should. Taking the placement test after taking classes you did not enjoy much will only slightly trim your language requirements–this is my opinion anyways. I am more concerned whether I should forsake border-proficiency in Spanish for something else… but I really want to study abroad if France, so french should be an option, but then again, I REALLY want to study Arabic:P</p>
<p>I also used to be fluent in German and Japanese as a child; I am also debating whether I should continue these in college, as perhaps I’d have some intuitive recovery of the languages.</p>
<p>The language classes are not bad at all!! I really enjoyed my French classes. But they are significantly more difficult than most high school languages classes–even at the intro levels, and especially in the non-Romance languages. I knew a decent number of people who became quite discouraged early into their Carleton experience because they really struggled with Russian/Chinese/Japanese/etc. 101 after having aced years of Spanish/French in high school.</p>
<p>You definitely want to have the chance to take these classes, don’t get me wrong. Often they are an amazing fit and feel better than anything else you were thinking of majoring in. But they can also be a bit disappointing and cast a anxious haze over your freshman year as you dread doing a full 5 terms of that unexpectedly difficult language.</p>
<p>At Carleton, it’s usually intro languages or calculus II that really trip people up who had never struggled with anything academically before. That’s why I think it’s a better idea to finish up your high school language in one or two terms as insurance, rather than to have a decent risk of feeling locked in to 5 terms of something that holds you back from trying other things you’ll like better.</p>