<p>I was wondering if any student on this forum has actually taken advantage of the NMF travel scholarhip and in a nutshell what their experience was like? I’ve seen some of the listings on the UA site about overseas opportunities, but was hoping for an insider’s review? </p>
<p>Thanks. </p>
<p>Bikedad</p>
<p>My son plans to take one of those study abroad trips next summer, as he wishes to study in Belgium or Sweden. This year, he will be going with the Alabama Action program to Costa Rica.</p>
<p>how much does a trip like the one to costa rica cost? will he get credit? is that covered by scholarship?</p>
<p>i dont think my DD will be able to to AA or OA before school starts as she plans to rush, instead.</p>
<p>momreads- I can’t speak to Belgium, however I would recommend Sweden in a heartbeat! We have been several times (family in Stockholm). It is a beautiful country. My brother teaches at the Royal University in Stockholm (Architecture). He is an expat and we have quite a hard time getting him to come back to the states to visit! The only time he travels here is when he brings his students here on study visits. :)</p>
<p>His NM scholarship does not cover the cost of the 10-day trip to Costa Rica. It runs about $1500, including the airfare. He and his classmates will spend several days doing service projects for one of the local tribes and teaching English to their children.</p>
<p>He earns three University Honors credits for the class, but this class was one with “varied” credit, meaning a student could sign up to take the class and earn 1 to 6 credits. The student chose the number, based on how it would fit into the course load – so that a student, who could not go over the 17 hours allowed by his NM scholarship, did not have to worry. The class instruction was quite interesting – from basic Spanish (he had taken four years in HS and currently takes additional classes at UA), to Costa Rican history, traditions and culture. One night, his professor had the class over for dinner, a traditional Costa Rican dinner.</p>
<p>My son also mentioned that there probably would be another Alabama Action abroad trip next year. I told him to start savings now…</p>
<p>Momreads: that’s good to know about next year. D seemed interested in the Costa Rica trip, but of course, she’s not there yet. And $1500 seems reasonable, especially since she has the NMF scholarship. </p>
<p>I thought it was only up to 16 credits on the scholarship? Or is your son grandfathered in under an older one?</p>
<p>RobD: My son is grandfathered under the old plan, which included up to 17 hours. Perhaps when he returns in late May, I can convince him to post something about the trip, so prospective students/parents can read his observations.</p>
<p>My D definitely plans to take advantage of the NMF travel money. Ideally she wants to go to Africa. She bought a Swahili language book last year and started teaching herself. It turns out that 3 years of Latin is no help with Swahili. . .</p>