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S/o finding study/intern/co-op abroad


RootAnn
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As a spin off from Innisfree's thread, what are some good resources for finding good quality "abroad" programs at universities other than your own. (Dd's U has a notoriously dismal study abroad office.) 

Second question, is the best way to find an internship or coop opportunity abroad to search & apply for one directly with 10-15 international companies or to go through a program where you end up paying to work for someone?

Third question: summer or semester abroad? 

Edited by RootAnn
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I wish I had some searching advice for you. Both of mine connected with programs through their schools.

Summer vs Semester probably depends a bit on the student's major requirements. My engineer would have had a hard time taking off during the semester (and would have been reluctant to miss out on regular school activities anyway.)

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First question: aeons ago when I did this, I knew I wanted to be in the U.K., but my home college only had a few exchange slots available. I found that simply researching universities over there and directly applying to the one which interested me was an option. I liked being completely immersed in the local system, not among a group of other Americans. My school accepted the credits without quibble. It does look like costs have increased, not surprisingly.

Third question: a year was great. I wouldn't have wanted to come home sooner, and would have prolonged it if that were possible.

No clue about the second question.

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12 hours ago, Innisfree said:Third question: a year was great. I wouldn't have wanted to come home sooner, and would have prolonged it if that were possible.

I have no idea about the first two as DD went through here school. But I definitely agree with Innisfree, the longer the better. Initially DD did a Winter session program which just gave her a taste for her country. The following year she was well into a year long program when she was forced to come home early. The year long program allowed her to commit to the school and the country, get involved with the locals, and take longer trips because she was not restricted to weekends. 

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@J-rapNot really. She is studying three languages (Spanish, German, Russian) but is not adverse to adding a fourth (Czech is an interest, for example). It will be difficult for her to leave her friends & "home" (college) during a semester, but IMO, it is doable with the right timing.

She's wanting just traveling vs study abroad but since she would have to plan & fully fund that option, it will likely not happen. 

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We always started out looking directly into what organizations were linked with the school because that just made the process easier, and school scholarships would often transfer over then to help pay.  Also, you might want to look into other scholarships the school offers.  For example, one of my dd's discovered that her school had a scholarship for studying abroad in a program taught in French with a particular focus.  They covered a huge part of her program, plus transportation back and forth.

One of my dd's went through CIEE.  It was linked to her school though, so it did make everything transfer over super easily.  It seemed like a very reputable organization.

A couple of my kids did an abroad experience where either nothing or very little actually transferred over as college credits, but they knew that ahead of time and were fine with that.  Is it necessary for the experience to transfer over as credits for your dd?  Will she need to get credits for specific courses?  Is money an issue?  You mentioned an internship type opportunity as well...  Is that something that would need to count as an actual internship in order to graduate?  Or perhaps count toward classes?  All of these things would affect the choice.  I think whether you do a regular semester or summer would just depend on a variety of things.  Either could certainly be a great experience!

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My DD went through her school for study abroad. She was able to pick up an internship through her program while abroad. The internship was not officially connected to the study abroad but she was connected by the program. 
 

At this point, DD graduates in May and is looking into fellowships, internships, and jobs, both domestic and abroad. Of course, there are the well known programs like Fulbright but she has also gotten leads from her advisor and alumnae of her college. We have no idea where she will land but it is exciting to watch her explore her options.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Too late for this summer, but my dd is going to apply for this next summer for Japanese. It is fully funded! --

I’m writing today to tell you about an exciting, full-funded summer opportunity: the Critical Language Scholarship. Based on your interest in Japanese, you could be a great candidate for the CLS program!

Sponsored by the US State Department, the CLS offers intensive summer language institutes abroad in 15 critical and less-commonly taught languages, including Japanese. After eight weeks of these international language immersion programs, students return to campus with a full year’s worth of language skills. I encourage you to attend an info session hosted by the Office of Scholars and Fellowships on Thursday, October 15 at 4:30pm ET (register here). 

CLS is also hosting virtual info sessions for each of its individual language institutes throughout the months of October and November. Please visit https://clscholarship.org/events to register.

The deadline to apply is November 17. Students must be U.S. citizens to apply (unfortunately, permanent residents are not eligible). More information can also be found on the CLS webpage: https://www.clscholarship.org/. You can begin an application today: https://clscholarship.org/apply

The Office of Scholars & Fellowships is available to provide feedback on your application materials; we will also be hosting several application workshops in October and November. If you plan to apply and would like to access our resources, email us atfellowships@richmond.edu

We look forward to helping you on your CLS journey!

 

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I will also add that the program my ds was supposed to do in the Netherlands this summer got cancelled because it's impossible to make travel plans with Covid right now. My dd's school has recently decided not to offer any study abroad programs this summer either. We have been told that part of this has to do with how our state is handling restrictions, so it may be different elsewhere.

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@Mom0012CLS is great, but let your dd know it is extremely competitive. She needs to put a lot of effort into her application essays. If her U has a national fellowship advising office, she should really make an apt with them to discuss the application and process.  Semifinalists have been announced for this yr. Finalists should be announced next week. (Dd was a finalist last yr and is a semifinalist this yr.)

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On 1/31/2021 at 1:10 PM, RootAnn said:

@J-rapNot really. She is studying three languages (Spanish, German, Russian) but is not adverse to adding a fourth (Czech is an interest, for example). It will be difficult for her to leave her friends & "home" (college) during a semester, but IMO, it is doable with the right timing.

She's wanting just traveling vs study abroad but since she would have to plan & fully fund that option, it will likely not happen. 

For Spanish she should  consider coming down here to Colombia. There is a reason why the national and international networks have Colombians for their "on air" personalities. Everyone can understand Colombian Spanish.

With regard to Russian. Several years ago when my DD applied for the NSLI-Y program that was a primary interest of hers. Russian is a "strategic" language and there are opportunities for that that depending upon the program might be fully funded, as NSLI-Y.   In the case of my DD, she applied for a Summer program and I think that was for the year after she graduated from High School and before she began in University.  She competed and I believe she did fine but not good enough and looking back at all of the things she needed to do before she went to the USA to UNC, I don't see how she could have done the NSLI-Y program that Summer and everything else. 

There are some good universities here in Colombia. Not of the quality of a school like UNC but good and I believe some of them have exchange programs with schools in the U.S.A.    I remember in particular, this was some years back, and involved Texas Tech, I believe their School/College of Engineering requires a semester abroad. One of the schools as I recall was a university in Barranquilla, Colombia (Shakira is from Barranquilla)

Bogota, being our largest city, has the most universities and I believe several of them are considered quite good.  It is a gigantic city with many things to see and do but also with horrible traffic.  Best to not drive in Bogota.

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On 2/20/2021 at 12:07 PM, 8filltheheart said:

@Mom0012CLS is great, but let your dd know it is extremely competitive. She needs to put a lot of effort into her application essays. If her U has a national fellowship advising office, she should really make an apt with them to discuss the application and process.  Semifinalists have been announced for this yr. Finalists should be announced next week. (Dd was a finalist last yr and is a semifinalist this yr.)

Thanks so much for that information! We didn't know that. I will pass your advice along to her.

Edited by Mom0012
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Depending on the country of interest, it can be difficult to just apply for internships with foreign companies and have something fall into place.  Work visas can be difficult to get and time consuming for the company.  They will usualy work with people that are part of a program that will make that process easier.  Sometimes there are opportunities through the US embassy within a country of interest

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