elegantlion Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Ds will sit down with the study abroad coordinator at school probably next year, yet I wanted to get a feel for timing. He will be attending a regional state college with current plans to transfer to an engineering school after two years. He also wants study abroad to be a part of his experience, as he wants to live abroad after school. The state school does not have an in-house program to the country he wants. They do have outside affiliations. I'm not sure about the engineering school. Would it be difficult to spend a semester or year abroad while completing an engineering program? Would he better off trying to study abroad while registered at the state school? Let's assume the finances fall into place and he's already planning on at least 5 years to graduate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I would try to do the study abroad program while at the state school, and use it to cover some of the gen/ed requirements. The course credits that go with study abroad programs usually focus on language & culture (history, art, literature, etc.), so I would look into trying to match the credits available in the study abroad programs with the breadth requirements at the engineering schools he's interested in, and use that year to knock out some of those requirements. ETA: I would think you'd have a hard time taking off one semester while in an engineering program, because there is often a very specific sequence of courses that need to be taken in a certain order, and taking a semester off would mess that up. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 ETA: I would think you'd have a hard time taking off one semester while in an engineering program, because there is often a very specific sequence of courses that need to be taken in a certain order, and taking a semester off would mess that up. This was my concern as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I would talk to both schools. Not admissions, the engineering dept. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 My roommate spent a semester abroad (Mexico) and took engineering classes there. They were challenging, but she did it. I am not sure how much (if any) it set her back (she was a 5 year student). I wouldn't think engineering classes anymore difficult than a literature class in a foreign language. I guess I assume nomenclature/units such as N, psi, etc were common. Math is done the same the world over, right? (I am probably showing my ignorance here). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 My dd is thinking of majoring in CompSci/Engineering and is also thinking she'd like to go abroad. Her first choice school (WPI) has options to go abroad built into the program. I know at least some of the other engineering schools she's looked at have some kind or go abroad experience, although I'm not sure how long they are and if they include a language component. That said, since he's transferring anyway, might be best to get it out of the way. I might look into the outside affiliations. I did a semester abroad in college, and I used an outside program to get the location I wanted, and it worked out great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I would do it while enrolled at the state school and during the summer if that's an option. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 My roommate spent a semester abroad (Mexico) and took engineering classes there. They were challenging, but she did it. I am not sure how much (if any) it set her back (she was a 5 year student). I wouldn't think engineering classes anymore difficult than a literature class in a foreign language. I guess I assume nomenclature/units such as N, psi, etc were common. Math is done the same the world over, right? (I am probably showing my ignorance here). That could work if the school has an actual exchange program. Some (many) of the study abroad programs don't require proficiency in the targeted language, and the student is not necessarily studying at a foreign university - often, home faculty travels with them and the credits are for the language and then culture and such. Study abroad does not equal exchange program; there are tons of variations. I agree that math/science/engineering should be no more difficult in the target language than any other course. If the school where he plans to study engineering has an exchange program, and he can gain proficiency by then, that might work out very well. It's just a bear to wade through all the choices, and I haven't found a quick or efficient way to do it. You just have to look at them one-by-one (at the schools you're interested in) and take notes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Yeah, he wants the full exchange, not just a cultural trip abroad. He really wants to do more than a summer and we've priced a few semester programs, which could work depending upon his financial aid. Because the country he wants to live in (currently) is the one he wants to study abroad in, we both feel it's vital to do more than a quick visit to see if that's really what he wants. I can see him wanting to do the cultural summer trips to other countries later if they work out. Thank you all for your input. I'll have him do a bit more research (I will too) and try to be armed and ready when he meets with the study abroad coordinator later this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*LC Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Does he know what major he wants within engineering? Does he know what engineering school he will attend? If so, he can look at their course schedules to see if there are any classes that have to be scheduled consecutively. A young lady from our hometown who went to the same big state u as my daughter ended up needing an extra semester to get in a two-class sequence that had to be taken in order in her engineering major. My daughter's eng major doesn't require any two-class sequences. If the school has old course schedules online, you can look to see if all classes are scheduled every semester. My daughter had planned to co-op while in school, but she learned that her major didn't offer many summer classes. So, she decided to do summer research & internships instead of a rotating co-op. Since her summers are now different, she now plans to study abroad next year. An up-side is she will have more time overseas. While she plans to complete a language minor during her study abroad, her school offers a number of engineering abroad options. So, I would check with the eng school to see what options are offered there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Some schools bend over backwards to find ways for engineering students to study abroad if they choose to. My ds's school, University of Rochester, does this. You could find out by checking with the engineering departments or the sudy abroad office. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 My dd is abroad now. She is at a big state uni, known for engineering but she is an international affairs major. Most of her friends are engineers, room mate included. All the kids *I* have heard of going abroad that she knows are humanities majors. Her school recommends study abroad during your sophomore year so most of your credits transfer back. The best way to get them to transfer back is to have them general eds. (Just repeating what she has told me.) DD chose her school based on the fact that they teach in English. It's in Germany so she had to prove proficiency in German. (Easy to do since she is minoring in German.) She went to "winter academy" which was supposed to get her (ad others) up to par in German. IT will transfer back as German 301. Then her other classes are all poly sci. (They don't have international affairs where she is and poly sci is the closest.) I don't know if they will fulfill anything for her major, if they will count as general eds or if they will come back as free electives. The whole transfer of schools anyway has me thrown. I can't help you there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 He currently has his eye on one school. He wants to do computer engineering right now, aerospace is a second choice. I have the engineering sequence printed out and we've started looking at what classes would transfer from the state school where is starting. I haven't looked at how tight the schedule is past the first year though. He's well aware that it could take 5-6 years to finish his degree, study abroad might push it to 6 for sure. He's more set on living abroad than engineering school, so I could see a study abroad turning into wanting to finish a degree as an international student. the logistics of that just make me want to pull my hair out though, so I'm not even entertaining that thought yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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