Talk to me about study abroad

[JanetC]

My daughter wants to find a school where she can study abroad. I was looking at the study abroad options for a couple schools on her list when I realized that the options were almost identical. Most of the trips were from third party providers and consortia, with only a couple actually run by professors at the particular school.

 

If your student wants to study abroad, are there advantages to using a program run by the school you are attending, or is going to any school that subscribes to a large study abroad group good enough?

 

[bettyandbob]

When dd and I research schools we look at study abroad options. A number of schools we've looked have faculty led summer, winter and spring break programs. They also have close agreements with foreign universities to do semester and year long exchange programs. They also have third party options. However, I like to look at the programs the schools are directly involved in because there shouldn't be any question about the courses and credits taken. I did summer study abroad in ancient times which was through a program run by my university. A friend of mine did a whole year exchange through a partnership program our university was involved in. Neither of us had to worry about transferring credits.

[Cammie]

I studied abroad through a consortium.  My university (GWU) had teamed up with a number of other universities for the South India Term Abroad (SITA).  They rotated who would send the supervising professor each year.  Each school could send 2 students.  It was a great program and no problems with credits back at my school.

 

I would think if the Study Abroad Office of the school has approved the program  - there shouldn't be a problem with credits.

[Annie G]

Study abroad programs can vary so much- it would probably help if your dd knew what she'd like to get out of a program. Our kids have had friends study abroad for two weeks in London as a theater class, tour Europe for a semester, study in Chile for a term, take an internship in Australia, spend six weeks studying Russian in Latvia, etc.  

 

Is she hoping for a short term study abroad or a semester or more? 

Does she want faculty from her own school as the guide or would she prefer to be more independent?

Is she looking for a program that is part of her field of study or something entirely different that will just be a fun adventure?

 

Ds plans to go to Latvia next summer like a friend has. The program is very structured and that suits him.  It's a summer study abroad session so he won't miss a semester of school but he gives up most of his summer. 

Dd is currently living in Kobe, Japan as an exchange student. She's there for five months and living in an apartment, attending classes at the university but other than that negotiating the culture on her own.  Two completely different programs but each suits the kids.  Dd wanted to see if she really enjoyed living abroad and this fit her needs.  Ds has no desire to be on his own in a foreign country- he's just interested because it's a way to learn more of the culture and language in an area that speaks Russian. 

 

Defining what a student wants to get out of it is a good start- one friend toured Europe and saw a ton of countries but many they only stayed in for a day or two. Whirlwind!  No time to really get a chance to enjoy the country or meet the people or anything. But she's now married and a farm wife and will likely not travel abroad again so for her, it was a good experience. For my kids, not so much. 

 

 

 

[MBM]

My youngest is thinking of going to the London School of Economics his junior year while he is at Northwestern. From what I understand, the grades and credits that students get wherever they go are then applied to the NU transcript. Students just have to make sure they meet the requirements for graduation.

 

NU recently received a huge chunk of money -- about $101 million -- from Roberta Buffett Elliott to create the Buffett Institute for Global Studies. It allows all kinds of study abroad opportunities for students and faculty. Nice.