<p>Holy cow! Lots of responses here!</p>
<p>Since nobody suggested this, I will. If you can afford to pay $5000 for a semester instead of $15,000 (or $20,000 or more)…go on your own. Do it independently. Universities and language schools all over the world have programs for international students and compared to the cost of the US programs, they’re really cheap!</p>
<p>Figure this out: if you go on you’re own, you don’t get financial aid. But, you also don’t pay $20,000 – instead, you pay $5000. So if you can afford to give up $10,000 in student loans for a program that costs $20,000, and just pay $5000, you might want to consider it! It’s what I did–I just didn’t have the money to study abroad, so I did a lot of research and found that there were all sorts of programs in the woodwork. I actually studied abroad several times independently.</p>
<p>“oh no! I won’t get credit!” If you go on your own, getting credit can be done a few different ways. “Independent learning contract,” “standardized tests”, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t know what you want to study. I studied abroad for languages, so those are the types of programs I know best. If you want to study hydraulic engineering, though, you’re going to Holland and you don’t have many options.</p>
<p>Here’s a link for some info on getting credit independently (for languages) – if I type all this info my hands are gonna get cramped and end up like chicken…feet, or whatever chickens have:</p>
<p>[Getting</a> Academic Credit for Study Abroad at a Language School](<a href=“http://languageschoollinks.com/navpages/academic_credit.html]Getting”>http://languageschoollinks.com/navpages/academic_credit.html)</p>
<p>The whole credit thing is–well, it seems complicated, no matter where you study abroad. Someone should make a website that just deals with credit for study abroad!</p>
<p>Re: Host families–surprisingly, I have not heard bad stories about homestays. I don’t know how programs screen the families, but they seem to do a good job. You’re right though–student apartment or dorm = more freedom.</p>
<p>Re: Spanish. If you’re going abroad and you’re not learning a language, you are missing out on one of the best investments you could make in yourself. And if you’re not going to learn Chinese, Spanish is THE language to learn. Another link for you (same site as above, but for Spanish schools). </p>
<p>[Learn</a> Spanish in Spain, Mexico, South America or Central America](<a href=“http://languageschoollinks.com/navpages/learn_spanish.html]Learn”>http://languageschoollinks.com/navpages/learn_spanish.html)</p>
<p>btw, learning a language abroad is nothing like learning it at home, at college or in high school. It’s a heck of a lot more fun and I’ll be darned if you don’t learn fast! There’s something about being in the culture where they speak the language – your brain just switches on a part that it never really uses, and you absorb, absorb, absorb…</p>
<p>Happy hunting! Do lots of research!</p>