<p>My kid’s school liaise with the host college and they advise their students on what courses are transferrable. They charge 2500 for administrative work. When D1 went to Sydney, I did the leg work and was able to place D1 in a residential college rather than staying at the international dorm with all other internationals. D1 had more of a local experience. D2 is now applying to a college in London, and I will do the same again for her - to get her a dorm room at the college. I am just amazed how little other countries’ college tuitions are compared to the US.</p>
<p>My 10th-grade daughter is spending a semester in Spain and loving it. She is staying with an older couple who have grown kids and small grandkids. She is immersed 100% in Spanish. She has gotten to go on one field trip up into the mountains, where they hiked for six hours and saw the “white towns” - gorgeous. She got to go to the Cadiz Carnival, an event that is planned for all year. She really enjoys school, although it is very challenging for her. I’m not sure how the grades will transfer on her HS transcript, but I don’t really care. There are no other American students at her school, although there is a young lady from Germany she has befriended.</p>
<p>My DS spent a semester in Luxembourg during the fall of his junior year. Being in ther center of Europe he was able to visit 13 countries during the semester. He spent his “break” week in the Canary Islands (a Spanish territory off the coast of western Africa). When he came back and started on-campus interviewing for internships, the fact that he didn’t do his study abroad in one of the usual places like London/Paris/Madrid was noted by several of the interviewers. </p>
<p>Vienna! Wonderful city full of history, music, art and pretty darn nice food. I’ve visited 3 or 4 times over the past 40 years and have always enjoyed it. See Don Giovanni at the Staatsoper or the Volksoper. Schönbrunn Palace, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, even the Uhrenmuseum. Visit the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum and see the car Archduke Franz Ferdinand was riding in when his assasination started World War I. Stephansdom in the center of Vienna is beautiful and nearby are the burial vaults of the Austro-Hungarian emperors IIRC. And of course the Hotel Sacher for dessert.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Can I give you a virtual “smack in the head” without being accused of abuse? **Don’t worry about what’s popular!!! ** </p>
<p>Austria could be very interesting. Vienna is supposed to be a beautiful city. Having the opportunity to teach foreign hs kids is an awesome experience! (My son did that in a medium-sized city in Italy, not Florence or any place you have likely heard of)</p>
<p>I would much rather be seen as being in a unique situation than being viewed as “Oh no, here is another American college student here on extended Spring break”</p>
<p>We visited him (of course) and toured the country, and when we got to Florence you couldn’t walk a block without tripping over several American students. </p>