<p>willsmom- I believe EAP counts as “in residence” for a UC; if he had to miss winter Q could he pick up a summer class to make up the needed units?</p>
<p>My daughter spent six weeks last June and July at the Summer Institute for Intensive Arabic language and Culture program (SINARC) at Lebanese American University in Beirut. It is an excellent and surprisingly inexpensive program which is offered each summer and fall. She enjoyed it a lot and learned a lot. The weekend field trips were incredible. The director, Prof Mimi Milki Jeha, is very supportive and the students come from all over, although most seem to be are from the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. You don’t need to know any Arabic to go; they have beginner classes available. There are multiple levels of advanced classes so they find a good level of coursework for each student.
[LAU</a> | Summer Institute for Intensive Arabic & Culture](<a href=“SINARC Arabic-language and culture program | Lebanese American University”>SINARC Arabic-language and culture program | Lebanese American University)</p>
<p>And yes, we did worry about her and envy parents of French majors whose kids were in Paris…</p>
<p>Somemom-- i found this on the UCDavis web site:</p>
<p>College Residence Requirement
While registered in the College of Letters and Science, a minimum of 27 upper division units, including 18 upper division units in the major, must be completed on the Davis campus; work completed while registered in the UC Education Abroad Program or the UC Davis Extension Open Campus Program does not satisfy campus or College Residence requirements.</p>
<p>So, I guess if my son really wants to do this, he will just need to work a little harder than he expected when he gets back. Not necessarily a bad thing-- no “senioritis” allowed!</p>
<p>My son just left this morning for a semester abroad in Senegal - living with a family and including an internship with an NGO. I’m nervous about health and safety, but excited for him too! We couldn’t get him to treat his clothing with mosquito repellant, and I hope he remembers to take his malaria meds!! He is totally pumped about the opportunity :)</p>
<p>My daughter spent three months in Prague – doesn’t have a language fluency so had to go somewhere where the classes were in English. She travelled all over Europe – and in the end was so glad she was in Prague – a wonderful, totally manageable city. They could walk everywhere and the city was small enough that by the end they felt they had mastered it and “owned” it.</p>
<p>My son left yesterday for a semester in Paderno del Grappa, Italy (outside of Venice). The Consortium of Universities for International Studies is made up of over 30 universitities from across the US.</p>
<p>'rentof2, D was just at UEdinburgh. Semester was mid-September through December 18.</p>
<p>Oh, Kelsmom… that would be great. Ahh, Edinburgh! I’m definitely checking that out. Was it very costly?</p>
<p>S just started a semester in Barcelona thru IES. Can’t speak to the academics yet, but he LOVES the city of Barcelona. Lots of culture and history.</p>
<p>My sister did a year at St. Andrews in Scotland. She loved it.</p>
<p>Lafalum84-Are the classes taught in English or Spanish in Barcelona?</p>
<p>Our daughter did a semester in Buenos Aires, did a home stay and loved it all. Classes were in Spanish and she learned a lot including living in a huge city. I think she would go back in a flash.</p>
<p>'rentof2, we had to pay her tuition at her own school, although the program was through Butler University. I imagine every school does that part differently. Room costs were low … I think it was $1900 for a flat with 4 girls/4 bedrooms for the semester. D cooked for herself, so food costs weren’t bad. Edinburgh is more expensive than home, but far less expensive than London. Everyone walks (no matter how far!), so there weren’t any costs to commute.</p>
<p>My older son spent a semester in Brisbane, Australia. I had always heard that students in Australia major in beaches and bars and I can say that, in his case, it was absolutely true. But I can also say that he loved every minute of that semester. He got to travel around Australia and New Zealand and Fiji. How many people get to do that? As for hard core studying, no.</p>
<p>Can I just point out that a semester abroad is VERY different from actually studying at a university, EmilySpinach? I’m sure you’re aware of this, but I’m a (British) student studying at the University of Edinburgh, and visiting students here have a certain reputation- especially the Butler/Arcadia ones. Essentially, they take first year level classes and then complain about how ‘easy’ the studying is- if I came over there and did freshman classes I’m sure I’d be the same. They also tend to hang out only with the other Americans on the program- which is obviously their choice, but to me it doesn’t make sense to spend all that money and then hang out with exactly who you would at home. They can also be kind of a pain (and I say this as someone who lived with 6 of them in first year) because they can drink for the first time so tend to go crazy. I think study abroad is a very good experience- but I’d be wary of some of the bigger programs.</p>
<p>St. Andrew’s Scotland for my daughter, and although it sounds kind of boring compared to the exotic places listed above, my daughter absolutely loved it. With its rural location and active campus life, it was the perfect complement to her Columbia experience.</p>
<p>MaryAnnC, the courses that IES teaches in Barcelona are taught in English. They do require all students to take a Spanish language course, but they range from beginner thru advanced. IES teaches the classes themselves in their own IES Center - an office-like building in the heart of the tourist & commercial section of Barcelona. They also offer the option of taking classes through local universities.</p>
<p>There are about 400 kids in the IES Barcelona program this Spring. S is living in a Spanish dorm, there are 12 IES kids in the dorm (all on his floor), out of about 215 total kids in the dorm. I assume the rest of the kids in the dorm are Spanish. The IES kids take public transport (bus) to the IES Center, which is about a 20 minute commute. Kids can also get apartments together (thru IES) or most kids do homestays. I was totally opposed to the homestay idea until I realized that kids are housed in 2s and 3s - they’re not housed alone. BTW, his dorm is very new and gorgeous. </p>
<p><a href=“https://www.iesabroad.org/IES/Programs/Spain/Barcelona/barcelona.html[/url]”>https://www.iesabroad.org/IES/Programs/Spain/Barcelona/barcelona.html</a></p>
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<p>Very rarely. Only at newer univeristies. The vast majority of UK Univeristies operate on a 3 term system, the terms being Sept-Dec, Jan-Mar and April-June (varying a bit depending on the date of Easter each year). This is exactly the same as UK high schools, expect with much longer breaks.</p>
<p>ITA with TARDISgal. I’ve been to 3 UK universities, and at all of them, and in the small town I live in now (outside of London. I don’t live in the city itself) US study abroad students have had a bad reputation for going wild and drinking heavily. At one point my undergraduate college banned them from summer classes, and my PhD supervisor refuses to teach them occassionally. So beware. I’ve posted this before and parents post “My child doesn’t drink alcohol”. But thousands of miles from home, where it is not illegal and all their friends are doing it, they almost certainly will.</p>
<p>TARDISgal,</p>
<p>I think it is unfair for you to make a blanket statement like that about Americans.</p>
<p>My D just finished a semester in UK via Direct Enrol, and I assure you she was not in classes with first years. Another student from her home school was also there, though he was on a Butler program. He was not in first year classes either, as the home uni simply wouldn’t have allowed it for their major.</p>
<p>My daughter was on campus in a single,self-catering dorm, flat- style, with people from many countries. She felt everyone was hard-working, and there weren’t any real big drinkers, but maybe that was because ppretty much all were already of legal drinking age.</p>
<p>I will say, though, that she went with a group almost every weekend to visit different parts of the UK. There was lots of outside reading and research required, but she knew that going in, thanks in large part to cupcake.</p>
<p>D attended a college-sponsored program based in Maastricht, The Netherlands (Political Economy in Europe), living in a rented building. Great jumping off point for visiting many other countries.</p>
<p>Currently she is on another college-sponsored program in Mali, staying with a host family. So far, so good. Side trip to Burkina Faso is planned. Planned trip to Timbuktu had to be cancelled due to Al Qaida activity in that area.</p>