Studying abroad last attempt as a senior...worth it?

I am currently enjoying the last few days of summer before senior year starts of university. I was talking to someone and they brought up studying abroad. I have never had the opportunity to study abroad. I have tried to apply for summer ones and never got the chance (A: gpa was not so good and B: I’m a spring admit).

  • Spring admit is someone who has just been waitlisted but accepted (I missed fall semester).

Being a spring admit means delayed graduation by a semester and i didn’t want that. My whole focus was always trying to catch up with my class so I stayed every summer taking classes. I was able to persuade my friend to apply for study abroad who is in the same boat. Of having a low gpa as me and now she is studying abroad this fall. I am the type of person who gets really excited for something and then leave it and possibly come back to it with same excitement. I had the same excitement yesterday when an old friend said you should study abroad. I looked at my schedule right now I have 16 credits (18 max unless overload) and 14 credits (I really only need to take 6 credits but you have to have a minimum of 12 credits) in the spring. This would be my first semester without any heavy credits. If i TRULY wanted to study abroad then it would be in spring of my senior year.

If I do pursue studying abroad that means I’ll have to take 19 credits this semester and whatever I choose next semester. My school has this policy that only 1 class of your major can be taken abroad. I was going to take 2 next spring but if I study abroad i can transfer only one. That why it would be at 19 credits (I can handle that bc 4 of the 16 credits I currently have is an art class). Money is not an issue for me for studying abroad. But more so do i really want to go away the final semester before i graduate? I have not done an internship with a company, it has always been school internships and such. My bf says i should focus on trying to get a job rather than “vacationing”. We have job fairs both fall and spring. I’m a marketing major our school fairs tend to be focused on engineers and finance majors. So the push is really yourself in getting a job and who you network with.

All in all i just don’t want to feel like I regretted not studying abroad. I spent my whole college career trying to catch up and i did but i also want to travel. I am also unsure if doing it my last semester is worth it. My bf said I should just vacation in italy (where i want to go). But it’s kind of different. So idk i need your advice. (please be gentle on me for long paragraphs). What would you do? Or should I stick to relaxing my senior year?

Study abroad is very different from vacationing. The goal is to improve your knowledge of a Language and culture, learn new approaches to your major subject, become incredibly adaptable and resilient (and learning things about yourself and your own culture that you can’t suspect till you’re there). How well do you speak Italian? Why Italy - is that the country recommended for marketing majors?
Will you secure a job in September/October, is your resume ready, have you praftifed with the career office? Then studying abroad is possible.