<p>Perhaps. First of all, the advance prep. At Smith (just for an example), they require two full years of language study in advance, plus a course in lit/stylistics. Their language programs are reputed to be stellar (and I know some, including my alma mater Williams, where language study was at best mediocre.) The result is that students (at least in the Florence and Geneva programs) are qualified for internships as soon as they arrive, and they have decades of experience in doing internship placements - in Geneva, with financial institutions and NGOS, in Florence, with Regilio Emilia schools. Secondly, again because of the long history, they have the most experience in working with the family placements (some have been doing in for 30 years). So expectations might be clearer, and they have more experience in dealing with difficult situations/conflicts. I imagine the academics are the same - except the majority of programs I’ve looked at only require one year of language, and courses are conducted in English (which, to me, seems to defeat part of the purpose - it would still seem worth doing, but the benefits wouldn’t be quite as great.)</p>
<p>So much better? Don’t know. (Kind of like asking Cornell vs. UChicago, or Harvard vs. Stanford, dontcha think?) But I do know that we visited some places (Yale was the best example) where foreign study was clearly discouraged and few students did it, and others where the on-campus language programs were fair to middlin’ (as above), and some where they had none of their own programs, quality of advising was haphazard, and getting into a program was catch-as-catch can.</p>
<p>If it is a low priority, then, no, it doesn’t make much difference. But if you are looking at 10 institutions of relatively similar academic strength, and you really want to go abroad and have a good idea where (and in what language), I would think it could be a dealmaker/breaker. And, if you require significant financial aid, and will need that aid to study abroad, it could make a HUGE difference, like all the difference (as in, you couldn’t go otherwise.)</p>