Summer or Semester? =?

<p>I'm thinking about studying abroad and have a few questions. I'm transferring into Georgetown University this fall as a sophomore and have a tight schedule that I am figuring out. Currently I have 39 credits and need 81 more to graduate over 6 semesters. I am double majoring in International Business & Finance, minoring in Economics, and would like to do a certificate in International Development.</p>

<p>With that said, I'd like to attend Harvard for their program in International Development/Master Public Policy with their joint JD program. (Its all a working idea haha)
Anyways, I have done volunteer work on breaks freshman year in Guatemala & Indonesia and I plan to work with Habitat for Humanity again over Christmas break in Jordan. </p>

<p>I'd love to fit in two volunteer opportunities a year until graduation. Here is my dilemma; should I just take the summers abroad (sohpomore & junior summer) doing an internship or actually take a full semester abroad? Georgetown has a partnership with Oxford University where I could take classes for credit there next summer.</p>

<p>Ideas?</p>

<p>Personally, I’ve always thought that abroad experiences during term time were the best.</p>

<p>-If you study at a foreign university, the other students will be there. Summers they will probably be on break, and there won’t be as many there.</p>

<p>-Summer abroad programs are always shorter - I haven’t seen many longer than 6 weeks, whereas term-time programs are usually 15 weeks long. You get much more immersion and more time to build language skills.</p>

<p>-More importantly, during the term programs you can usually take your financial aid with you. During the summers, you have to pay out of pocket!</p>

<p>-Summer abroad programs may not be as intensive academics-wise as the ones you can take during the term, and there may be limited options of classes.</p>

<p>It’d be different if you could get a paid internship or if your family has a lot of money to send you abroad during the summers, though.</p>

<p>juillet, I don’t think all of that info is correct.</p>

<p>-Yes, there won’t be as many people there during the summer.</p>

<p>-Yes, summer abroad programs are shorter but there are some available that are longer than 6 weeks. UC’s study abroad programs are 8 weeks long, for example.</p>

<p>-There are plenty of programs that are covered by financial aid during the summer, especially if they are school sponsored (again, UCs are an example).</p>

<p>-Yes, limited options. But I have seen physics and org. chem. classes offered over summer, which I’m sure are academically rigorous, especially at prestigious universities abroad.</p>

<p>I think a year abroad would be best, but summers are also doable!</p>

<p>-I didn’t say that all of them were 6 weeks. I said that most of them are 6 weeks or less. 8 week programs are still shorter than a 15-week semester program. Simply put, summer abroad programs are shorter because the summer session itself is usually shorter than a semester.</p>

<p>-I suppose I should amend my statement. If you take out extra financial aid during the summer, you probably can cover the summer program. Also, some universities will subsidize the cost of the program if they are school-sponsored. However, if you are doing a traditional study abroad program through an external program like IES, SIT, CIEE, Arcadia, IFSA-Butler, etc. you will have to pay their full fees for the summer program and you are less likely to be able to pay over the summer with financial aid fees than you are in the term time. For example, if you have Pell grants, an institutional scholarship, and Stafford loans, if you studied abroad in the fall or spring you can probably take all that with you. If you studied abroad in the summer, you would have already used that up to go to school during the academic year.</p>

<p>-Again, I never said that finding such classes were impossible. I said that your options are more limited and that the program MAY not be as academically rigorous as term-time programs.</p>

<p>I also never contended that summers were impossible. Like I said, if you got an internship, took out loans, or have parents that can pay, or you go to a university with sponsored abroad programs, then it can be doable.</p>

<p>Do not go to Oxford for a summer program. It is a rip-off and there will be almost no UK students there. The place will be empty except for American students having their money surgically removed via shared rooms and dumbed-down versions of Oxford teaching.</p>

<p>ITA with keepittoyourself!</p>

<p>Really? Its a program just for Georgetown students,slightly selective process they only allow 40 to attend, and everyone I’ve spoken to had a great time. Its a great program my whole issue was the semester vs. summer thing not the specific program</p>

<p>So maybe by Georgetown standards it’s great, but by Oxford standards it’s terrible?</p>

<p>^ Sorry that came across as more snarky than I intended! (I went to neither school, btw).</p>

<p>I still think the semester is better, though: Oxford does become an American colony in the summer.</p>

<p>I also agree with keepit and cupcake. I know several professors at US universities, albeit top-notch ones, who teach during the summer at Oxford. So, if you are looking for the British educational experience, why go over to the UK in the summer and take classes from American professors?</p>