<p>Has anybody ever did this? Is it hard to do? How likely is it that I can get scholarships to fund it?</p>
<p>Im learning French and Arabic and want to study abroad in France for a month in summer and for a year in an Arabic-speaking country.</p>
<p>*while not “will”</p>
<p>It can definitely be done. A few thoughts:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>At many colleges, your financial aid will go with you IF you study at one of the college’s own programs or even what they consider a “partner” program. This is something you need to verify with the study abroad office at each college you apply to, though. (1) will the aid transfer (both need and merit based)? (2) Do they have programs in Arabic speaking countries?</p></li>
<li><p>My D had an unusual study abroad destination that she was interested in. We found that the tour guides could not answer detailed questions (no surprise), so we made a point to stop by the study abroad office at every college we visited to talk with them. It was time well spent, since it was important to her. You can also email with them at colleges if you have missed that in your visit.</p></li>
<li><p>If you attend a college with a “J” term (January term, where time on campus is optional and short courses are offered), sometimes those can be spent abroad (usually about a month), so that would be a chance to go to France. I know at least one school does their J-term in May… but can’t recall who that is (someone on CC will know, though :)). However, I am not so sure about financial aid funding for that shorter term stay.</p></li>
<li><p>Even if your financial aid carries to study abroad, you typically have to pay your own airfare. If you want to do any traveling, that will also have additional cost (and almost everyone wants to do a little extra traveling once they are abroad). Additionally, if you count on the income from working during the school year, that can be a challenge based on work rules in other countries, job availability, and language barriers. Some schools might offer some a few competitive stipends for study abroad expenses, but you can’t count on getting those.</p></li>
<li><p>If you go to France for a month in the summer, that may make it hard for you to get a job that summer. If you are counting on that cash, could also be a problem.</p></li>
<li><p>Some people spend a semester in two different countries. So you could go to an Arabic country one semester, and France for a second semester. This requires a LOT of planning and coordination with the study abroad office – for various reasons, some schools might not support it, so you should ask about this up front if you might want to do this.</p></li>
</ul>