<p>I read somewhere - and have anecdotal confirmation of same - that UIUC distinguishes itself with a large pct of students studying abroad. So I was wondering if engineering students also study abroad at a similar pct as the other students at UIUC, and, if so, what are places that can go?</p>
<p>Also, are they able to go during the semester, or only during winter or summer breaks?</p>
<p>Engineering students here absolutely take advantage of studying abroad. We actually just had the IPENG fair which is studying abroad for engineering students and in some cases it is easier/cheaper for engineering students to study abroad. There are so many scholarships/fellowships available to help pay for studying abroad for engineering students here because with each engineering student UIUC sends abroad, they’re able to take in an international student. Also, I know and have talked to many engineers that have studied abroad and many if not most of them went during fall or spring semester. I also plan on studying abroad spring semester of next year.</p>
<p>I clicked here because even though I did not attend UIUC, I was awarded a study-abroad scholarship that was tailored to an engineering major. Yet UIUC’s requirement that I take out $25,000 in loans outweighed this greatly.</p>
<p>I know the university encourages the engineers to study abroad but do they use up all their elective when they study abroad? I can’t imagine that they would take engineering classes abroad. Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of being free to travel etc? Anyone who has studied abroad or know someone who has want to input?
Hocomon-have you talked to an advisor about studying abroad and how you would manage it with credits etc?</p>
<p>You can take engineering courses abroad and many do. I don’t see how the “purpose” of study abroad is being free to travel. It’s not meant to be a vacation. Feel free to spend your own money on traveling abroad rather than taking university (taxpayer) money to fund your vacations.</p>
<p>You can do summer (6 weeks to 3 months), winter break (~14-16 days only), or a semester, or a year. I went to Germany for a semester, but working full time at one of the university’s engineering labs rather than taking courses (though I did take an intensive language course at the beginning). I got a stipend for the research work (€635/$870 per month) while only paying range IV tuition here (the lowest amount), so that I broke even at the end, even including living costs. Got 12 credit hours for it too.</p>
<p>I’m also going to India this winter and got a $1000 dollar scholarship for it (total cost otherwise would be $3300). Considering plane tickets are going to be like $1600, that’s $700 for a study abroad program that nets 3 credit hours (compare that to full tuition for 16 credit hours per semester; it’s much cheaper).</p>
<p>Go look at the IPENG website. A lot of questions here can only be answered with respect to a specific program.</p>
<p>GShine-My point is that when you study abroad I thought it was an opportunity to take some time to travel around to see other areas nearby. Were you able to do that? Being in Germany, did you travel to Switzerland or France? I thought that was part of the study abroad “experience”.</p>
<p>Chris, I know for a fact that there is time to travel around to the other nearby countries. In fact, most of the engineers here who I’ve talked to who have studied abroad arranged their schedules so they would only have 4 days of classes a week and a 3 day weekend to travel.</p>
<p>Hi,
I am from Spain and going to UIUC this spring. I have had the chance thanks to the “globalE3/IEEE” program ( [Global</a> E³ / AE3 Application System](<a href=“http://globale3.studioabroad.com%5DGlobal”>http://globale3.studioabroad.com)). In stead of applying to just one university abroad, you send your application material and, based on your grades, language skills and more, they place you at the best option (you can rank your placement interests). I do know that my university here (UPV/EHU) accepts intl students gladly, so if you are really interested, you should ask your advisor.
I look forward to going to UIUC! :)</p>