<p>I am currently a University of Minnesota - Duluth Junior in Mechanical Engineering. I was thinking about do a summer study abroad in London or Amsterdam since i heard it is such a great experience and to finish my liberal arts electives while i'm there. I would like to do a full semester maybe in the spring but i just dont think its possible being an engineering student (also on a side note my GPA is only 2.65 due to my freshman year and i don't think the grades for my current semester would get in, in time to raise my GPA before the deadline for a spring study abroad), and staying on track to graduate in a timely manner. I was wondering if anybody who has done a summer study abroad feels about it being so short at only 6 or 7 weeks (or less). </p>
<p>Did you stay for all 3 terms or just do 1?</p>
<p>Do you still find time to enjoy yourself? </p>
<p>Also is there a lack of interaction with students? since you are there when the majority of local students are gone. </p>
<p>Did you still find it possible to do everything you wanted without being rushed? </p>
<p>Also if anybody has been to one of those locations let me know how you feel about it and how it was.</p>
<p>I am open to other places but i would like to stay in northern Europe, Have been throughout italy and would like a change of cultures. What i am looking for in a location is a place that is very student friendly as far as things to do on a friday or saturday night. I'm not trying to just go to class and relax, i want to enjoy myself and do things i can't at home and i don't just mean sightseeing.</p>
<p>I can’t give you first hand experience but my son did a summer study abroad this past summer. His program was unique in that it was through his university, their professors accompanied them, and they went to four different cities in Europe. </p>
<p>He spent 2.5 weeks in Nantes, France first. They attended classes every day (very long in comparison to typical American classes) taught by French professors with French students in their classes. They were assigned group teams with half French and half American students. He was impressed with the French students and they organized a lot of outings with their American counterparts.</p>
<p>Then he spent a week each in Budapest and Prague followed by two weeks in London. These weeks consisted of courses taught by his university’s professors and a lot of field trips to business to see how they run as well as guest speakers. There was no interaction with foreign students at that time.</p>
<p>The weekends in between he utilized his EuroRail pass to travel. He visited Paris, Zurich, Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some. Of all the cities he was based in, he liked London the most. Of the cities he visited, he liked Munich and Zurich. </p>
<p>He found it was easier and cheaper to travel in continental Europe. The British trains are not covered on the EuroRail pass although you do get a slight discount. London was also, by far, the most expensive city to live in. He’s not fluent in any other language, though, and that’s part of the reason he liked London a lot. </p>
<p>There was plenty to do every weekend and he wasn’t able to do everything he wanted to.</p>