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Yes, two of my children took this route: one in France; one in China. It was absolutely worth it for them. My family also hosted a foreign exchange student. It was a life changer for her as well.
Of course, if you find yourself in an all-American social clique, you will have wasted the money/opportunity.
More like all-international student clique.
Even the internationals in my college hung out with one another.
Have you ever seen Chinese TV? It's ALL subtitled, with Chinese characters, because the language varies so much over the regions of China. Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to learn.
It was life-changing, and therefore worth it, but I do regret the debt. However, China is a hot place right now economically, and speaking Chinese and knowing the culture could really be a benefit in the future. Just don't be one of those American students who only hangs out with other Americans and never really learns the language. You have to avoid the temptation to just hang with friends from your own country and go out and make friends with Chinese people and talk to everyone. It takes a lot of assertiveness and some courage to make study abroad really work for you, and many Americans end up sitting around for a year complaining to each other about how lame the locals are and how much better the US is.
Does anyone have any experience with study abroad programs? I'm looking at a program that will take me to Xi'an China which will not only help me fulfill my language and "cultural" requirements for my major, but it's also a study program I actually find fascinating. However it is rather pricey and while I can absorb the cost if I don't go crazy with money, it's not an amount I can just throw down lightly. Who has done study abroad before, was it worth the money?
"Studying Aboard" is really just a semester long vacation where people just take a few BS classes.
If you can deal with the cost do it, but MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR STUDENT LOANS LATER!
I am a recent college graduate and I saw people living WAY OVER THEIR MEANS in college and are complaining about their loans now. They took the money, had the fun, brought their merchandise, now PAY IT BACK!
My undergrad was done in Scotland, at a uni popular with both full time and study abroad Americans. (St Andrews) The study abroad Americans, with sad regularity, immediate just went out with their fellows from their home university. As they were on a pass-fail basis, they got drunk 2-3 nights a week and frequently travelled. I am a huge proponent of travel for any reason, but there is a time to work/learn and a time to play. More than a few who go abroad don't seem to even partially appreciate it.
In my study abroad experiences, the ones who didn't particularly seem to appreciate it or want to take advantage of many of the opportunities also happened to be the ones who weren't paying for it themselves. It's a lot easier to take things for granted on someone else's dime.
My undergrad was done in Scotland, at a uni popular with both full time and study abroad Americans. (St Andrews) The study abroad Americans, with sad regularity, immediate just went out with their fellows from their home university. As they were on a pass-fail basis, they got drunk 2-3 nights a week and frequently travelled. I am a huge proponent of travel for any reason, but there is a time to work/learn and a time to play. More than a few who go abroad don't seem to even partially appreciate it.
I'm sure, each and every one of them behaved that way!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TabulaRasa
In my study abroad experiences, the ones who didn't particularly seem to appreciate it or want to take advantage of many of the opportunities also happened to be the ones who weren't paying for it themselves. It's a lot easier to take things for granted on someone else's dime.
I disagree. We paid for our kids' educations because we wanted to and we could. They each did a short study abroad, 3-4 wks. They still appreciated it.
I had to take out loans to study abroad and I also had worked overseas. For me personally, it was well worth the investment. I would do it again, but choose a more marketable language like Chinese. If you can reasonably afford it, go for it. I did majority of my international traveling at that time: it is still an experience very few Americans take advantage of.
My only regret from college was NOT doing a semester abroad because I didn't want to spend the extra money. It wasn't that I couldn't afford it, but that I didn't want to spend that extra.
I would absolutely go if there was any way to do it financially.
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