<p>I do think Tardis has a point one should be aware of when traveling abroad- I cannot speak to the lower level coursework, but my DD is a student in Scotland and was seriously taken aback by the spoiled rotten ugly American behaviour she saw with some (not all or even the majority, but enough that it was embarrassing) students and she also had to make an effort to seek out the European students, her first flat was 7/8ths American. If your student is going abroad and the destination is some place popular for Americans- Edinburgh, St Andrews etc, it can be an incredible experience, but they need to make an effort to connect with the non-North American kids.</p>
<p>With most study abroad programs, the student has a choice as to whether to take the more difficult path of trying to connect with the locals and local culture, or have fun with other Americans. Or whatever culture. I used to host Korean ESL students here, and saw them struggling with that choice as well. Party with other Koreans, or get in a more uncomfortable zone and try to spend time with the host family. </p>
<p>Getting out of that comfort zone is hard. Some programs set things up so participants are challenging themselves more, and being forced to speak the language.</p>
<p>I’m not making a blanket statement about all americans- some are absolutely lovely and work extremely hard. Others turn up, expect to have one textbook for a third year level history class and aren’t able to handle drinking responsibly (though I certainly don’t think THAT is limited to any nationality). Study abroad is what you make of it.</p>
<p>Somemom, my D was so embarrassed by the behavior of a sizeable number of study abroad students in Scotland & elsewhere (when she visited friends studying in other countries). Not only is it a good idea to connect with Non-Americans … but it is also a good idea to be respectful when in public.</p>
<p>Another study abroad question: What did your kids do about housing … I mean, not housing while they were abroad, but if they lived off-campus, sharing an apartment with a friend or something, how did they work out leaving for, say, spring term in terms of their share of the rent? Or if they lived on campus, were they able to just move out of the dorms for that term without penalty… how did it work for your kids?</p>
<p>Housing was arranged by D’s study abroad program. She didn’t live in a dorm, but her flat (quite a walk from campus) was some type of university housing. I have also heard of students in the UK living quite a ways from campus in shared homes or flats - these arrangements were also made by the study abroad program. That’s an advantage of using a program, IMO.</p>
<p>DS’s university also was the sponsor of his study abroad. His university actually owns both housing and classroom buildings in London. All of his fees were paid as though he was studying at his regular school.</p>
<p>He paid his housing deposit before he left in August…which guaranteed him on campus housing for his January return to the school. He would have been assigned to a vacant spot…probably vacated by a graduate or a student going abroad in the spring term.</p>
<p>In his case, he was asked by some friends to move into an off campus apartment. In the fall term, they had a displaced Tulane student in their apartment. He went back to NOLA for the term beginning in Jan and they had an opening. So he requested a refund on his dorm deposit and moved in with them.</p>
<p>A couple of others from his group did apartment “swaps” with some kids they knew were going abroad in the spring. In DS’s university, one group always goes in the fall and another in the spring. So they just “shared” the same off campus place.</p>
<p>Other kids went into student housing and ALL got their first choices of university owned apartments.</p>
<p>This poor American behavior must be upsetting. Perhaps because my daughter has a medical condition that was diagnosed when she was 11 and she shouldn’t drink has made her just gravitate towards others who don’t place too much importance on it.</p>
<p>'rent,</p>
<p>Since my D is on a second SA now, that was not a problem, but at ther home school, the kids who leave for first semester usually are put in the dorm room of those who leave for 2nd semester. They have no say.</p>
<p>I’m thinking of studying abroad in China my junior year and in Japan the summer before my sophomore year. Does anyone have any experience with studying there? I’ll be going with no Japanese experience for the latter, Intermediate Chinese completed before the former. Both are through Vassar, which I attend.</p>
<p>No, that’s not what I meant, Kelsmom. If my daughter lives off-campus (her home campus, here) with a friend for Fall and Winter term, for example, and then goes away to do a study-abroad program for Spring term… then she’d either have to stick her roommate with both shares of the rent, or find someone to sublet, or find some way to pay the rent for the months she’s gone.</p>
<p>I’m curious how other people’s kids have worked this out.</p>
<p>Edit: Thanks for the info. Maybe it would be worthwhile for my D to talk to the study abroad coordinator and see if there are other students who might be into the swap idea. She doesn’t want to live on campus next year, really doesn’t want to live on campus. I was just worried how the students figure out the housing issue if they’re sharing rent with roommates.</p>
<p>Oh, duh. I only glanced at the question about housing … sorry, because my answer was exactly what you were NOT asking for! 
</p>
<p>My D had to take what was left. Her school requires students to live on campus all four years, so she was guaranteed a spot somewhere. She did get to room with the roommate she requested, who was also studying abroad. Her school’s housing kind of s**ks, especially for a school that costs so darn much … she probably wouldn’t have had anything better had she been there for fall, since it’s by lottery & her number wasn’t high. It was RIGHT before she had to go back when she finally got her assignment. When we got to the room, I was livid … the previous students had left the carpet filthy, and there was no dorm vacuum to be had (no RA’s were back from break yet). I made my H & D leave while I worked like crazy to get the carpet decent using D’s little Bissel (no beater brushes) before we moved everything in. It would have been nice if we’d been warned that there is NO cleaning between students if they move in mid-year & no vacuum available, either. I would have brought the good one from home. </p>
<p>A girl D knows who was also studying abroad got put into a suite with 3 other girls who had already been together. She doesn’t know them & was feeling pretty apprehensive.</p>
<p>Obviously, I have nothing to offer regarding off campus, since that’s only a pipe dream for my D.</p>
<p>Most kids that I know have sublet their apartments while they were gone. A good solution would be to find another study-abroad student who is going at a different time, and split the spot in an apartment if possible. If my son can’t arrange it ahead of time, he’ll just have to get on Craigslist or something like that when he returns to find an available room in town.</p>
<p>My S is in a frat, so he lives in the house. He and a friend/frat brother decided before he left in December that they would room together next year, because the friend’s current roommate is a senior. Bonus - the friend has “squatter’s rights” in his current room, so S was able to leave some stuff there (floor lamp, etc) instead of bringing it home.</p>
<p>When S filled out the paperwork with his college that he was going abroad, one thing he had to fill out was a housing preference choice for next year, since they know he won’t be here for the housing lottery. He was able to put down that he’ll be in the frat house and that was that. But for kids living in dorms, the colleges have plans to deal with it. And they won’t charge you a housing fee for a semester you’re not there. (At least S’s college didn’t).</p>
<p>A friend’s D was in an off-campus apartment for 4. They worked it out with a total of 5 girls. 3 were there all year, one was abroad in the fall, and one was abroad in the spring. The study-abroaders just swapped spots.</p>
<p>I think it varies considerably by campus. My nieces who went abroad had no problems with housing but at my kids’ school, I have seen ads trying to sublet when folks will be having a term abroad. It’s probably a good question to pose to housing & the study abroad programs & see what answers you get.</p>
<p>Both my S and my D sublet their apartments when they were abroad. It did cause some stress, because had they not been successful in finding sublettors we would have been on the hook for rent as well.</p>
<p>My daughter’s looking into going to Seville. Anyone have any experiences there? (Of course as her mom I’m wondering about safety…) She is fairly fluent in Spanish and wants to live with a family. Thanks for any info!</p>
<p>I found this link earlier, and it seems to reinforce my impressions from reading LOTs of literature on study abroad programs in Spain (API, ISA and Wells programs in particular).
[Rate</a> Your Study Abroad - Study Abroad Reviews - Home](<a href=“http://rateyourstudyabroad.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=9&Itemid=62]Rate”>http://rateyourstudyabroad.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=9&Itemid=62)</p>
<p>One of my DDs lived in her Greek house the year she took a term abroad- some girls were gone in fall & some in spring, so the house seemed prepared to deal with that.</p>
<p>willsmom, we could have used that link a year ago, when S was beginning his research on where to study abroad. I stayed completely out of it, he made all the decisions. I’m a little disappointed to see that his program’s rating is not at the top (but at least it’s not at the bottom, either!). But reading the actual evaluations, only one is truly negative and it doesn’t seem to terribly well thought-out, more complaining about the other students than the program itself. The fact that the kids say the academics “are not challenging” doesn’t bother me too much, because S’s grades WILL translate back to his GPA at his home school. He didn’t really go to Europe to challenge himself in his major - he went to expand his horizons, which he will mostly do by traveling, and by being taught by non-American professors (even if the classes are in English and held at the IES center, they’re taught by local professors). If he has less homework and more time to explore and travel, I consider that a plus. He’ll get plenty of challenging academics during his 7 semesters at his home college.</p>
<p>Lafalum, I was happy to have found the link before my S had completely narrowed his choices. I agree with your view of “challenging academics”-- I am mostly concerned that the program has good support available and some cultural opportunities to see other areas of Spain than where the actual classes are located. I don’t want him holed up in the library studying the whole time he is there-- some time outside at a cafe would be a much richer experience! That is where the students’ comments and ratings have been the most helpful.</p>