They’re heavily pushed where I’m going and I just don’t see the appeal of them. Why take them?
Can you elaborate on why you think there is no value to these activities?
@CheddarcheeseMN I’m not really sure quite how to express it. They just don’t really click. I’m not really one who likes to travel out of leisure. Research I’m even less sure why it doesn’t click.
Those are not necessary parts of an education. The benefits to my D were:
Study abroad - she took her two required foreign language classes over the summer in a study abroad program and got to use the language daily and travel around the country. Not necessary, but she had a great experience.
Research - My D did a tremendous amount of research in college. It turned into a paid job for two summers and a school year, she presented her research, and co-authored an article published in a peer reviewed journal. She found it very rewarding. In addition, she developed close relationships with professors who ended up writing her grad school recommendations and she felt her research work helped to set her grad school application apart.
Bottom line is you need to figure out what will make your college experience work for you.
They aren’t for everyone. My son doesn’t care about the great athletic facilities or med school acceptance rate at the college he attends, but for other students those two things make all the difference.
As to the appeal of study abroad and undergraduate research: Study abroad is critical if your major is something like international relations but it could also be of interest to someone who was a business major. Other students simply want the opportunity to live in a different country for a few months (especially nice if the college offers scholarships and other financial aid to offset the cost and take care of logistics).
Similarly, undergraduate research is likely to be critical and passionately appealing to science majors, but other students may also want to develop the skills that a research project teaches: collaboration, inquiry, written communication, etc. Doing undergrad research can also help a student decide whether they want to go to grad school or head straight to work.
I studied abroad in Sydney, Australia. Best 6 months of my life. I’d love to tell you all about it, but then I’d have to kill 
Many students do study abroad to perfect their foreign language skills, meet new people, expand their interests/experiences, and learn about different cultures. Study abroad can lead to new career interests.
Research ( both lab based and non lab-based) gives students an opportunity to learn new skills, work as part of a team, possibly get published, help rule in/out career paths, develop relationships with professors, and strengthen their resume.
These experiences are not for everybody. It is important for you to decide what is important for you.
This is akin to asking why some people like Chinese food and others don’t. Why do some people like working out and others don’t? My college junior D is thrilled to be headed to Japan for four months to study abroad. She’s also going to apply for a summer research position next year. My son literally has zero interest in study abroad and says he will not do it. If a colleges advertises these opportunities, it’s because they want prospective students to know these options are available. I don’t think there’s a big mystery here.
Here are my thoughts. When I grew up in the midwest, most of my family was within a two hour drive and I had a very localcentric view of the world. I never dreamed I’d have to actually work anywhere else in the world or with anyone else in the world who doesn’t have the same focus that I had.
I started my career 30 years ago and I’ve traveled all over Europe and Asia for work, some trips to South and Central America (and the East and West Coast of the US) and I found that my very narrow focus was a hindrance to me and my career and my worldview in general. I’ve made absolutely clear to my kids that they should study abroad at least one semester so that they can see that the world is very different then your current paradigm. Studying abroad and immersing yourself in a different part of the world is a great way of giving you some out of classroom experiences that you can’t get on your college campus.
It is also incredebly cheap to do it at this time in your life. My son leaves for Sweden this weekend with only his clothes, computer, and camera for the semester. Never in your life will you be able to do something like this for basically a net cost of zero (you pay at worst the same price you pay for a semester at your home university). If you have to do this as part of your career later, you move you and your family and your household. Sure the company may cover the actual costs, but the intangible stuff like, what do I do with my pets? How does this impact my family? Those costs usually don’t exist for a undergrad.
S17 has 0 interest in study abroad; never has. D21 will not even consider a school that doesn’t offer tons of study abroad opportunities. Different strokes.
@happy1 my D21 is taking Latin, but are there programs like that for kids who don’t speak the language at all yet? LIke if she wanted to learn French?
@NJWrestlingmom I sent you a PM (since it is a bit off the topic of this post).
Some of it is marketing…study abroad sounds fun to some people.
Research is another thing that people want to or think they want to do…esp if they are thinking of going to graduate school