D did a six week summer abroad program. It did cost extra money but it worked out very well.
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That was what we had thought he would do. A winter study session abroad.
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D24 likely wonât be doing study abroad unless she figures out a way to get a part time job and save up thousands of $$ because the Bank of Mom & Dad canât afford to pay for study abroad AND pay for 2 kids to be in college at the same time. If she wants to travel to a foreign country, sheâll have to do it the good old fashioned way and save up some dough.
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D24 is in a similar boat, with options limited by prescriptive requirements for multiple concentrations (physics+math joint concentration and philosophy secondary/minor). Maybe theyâll head overseas for grad school to give us a good vacation destination!
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Fortunately, the study abroad programs sponsored by D24âs university cost the same amount as the tuition/fees to remain on the home campus and any financial aid that the student receives in the US can be applied to the semester or year abroad. So there is no extra cost to me. Still I am not sure if D24 wants to study in another country for a full semester. She did do a study abroad language program this summer (which was fully covered by her financial aid), but there was the expense of lost summer earnings since she couldnât find work beyond babysitting in August when she got back to the US. However, she picked up more hours at her term-time job this semester and that helps.
D22 felt too busy with classes, activities and various summer internships to try a study abroad program, but I think she regrets in now that graduation is around the corner and once out of school, it will likely be harder to find opportunities to live in another country.
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Did you confirm this with her school? Most schools donât charge extra for study abroad and it can even be cheaper
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Yes. The Jan Term 3-week study abroad options sheâs interested in cost $4000-7500 not including spending money youâd need while overseas.
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ahh, yes at S24s school winter term study abroad has a fee too. It seems that a regular semester of study abroad can actually be less than home school tuition (except that S24 is looking at a full year program sponsored by his school, so no savings there!)
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S24âs school is on the quarter system, and heâs hoping to study abroad during spring term next year. Heâs a bio major getting all his pre-med requirements done, planning to take the MCAT, and possibly applying to med schools next year â so Iâm not sure how realistic itâll be, even with the flexibility of the quarter system. Itâs definitely going to be tricky to make it all work.
That said, studying abroad is really important to him. At one point, he even thought he might want to go to college overseas for the full experience, so missing out on at least one term abroad would be pretty disappointing.
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Same deal for our (belated) premed, who has related summer plans.
We always told him that not doing study abroad was the biggest regret both of us had after college, but we get it, on certain paths it is really a year-round thing these days.
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I am excited that both of my kids currently are planning to study abroad. D24 is applying for a program in Geneva, which works very well with her Government major, and she is just trying to get a little ahead on credits in her second major. S24 is looking at programs in Italy. He is a Finance major, but came in with 32 credits so he is on track even with study abroad. I am excited for both of them. Spending a semester abroad was one of the best things I have done in my life and I learned so much outside of the classroom.
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I note the integration with both graduation and major requirements seems very good many places these days. In fact, my S24âs planned major, Classics, has a capstone requirement, and one of the ways to fill it is with (approved) study abroad.
Obviously there are other ways too (senior honors thesis, directed research, or a special project in a 4000-level seminar), so heâll be fine. But I can see lots of colleges are trying to make study abroad a viable option for as many kids in as many majors as possible.
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D24âs only chance for study abroad would be to land a co-op overseas, which she has no interest in trying to figure out, or else to do either a summer course or a regular-semester course with some sort of alternative spring break travel component.
I think the required co-op blocks (2 summers and 2 full semesters) are going to be daunting enough, I donât see her doing the heavy lift to figure out how to get another travel experience in there. In looking at where a lot of the Chem-E majors have landed for co-ops in the past, my guess is weâll be visiting her somewhere random and domestic (Indiana, Texas, South CarolinaâŠ) in lieu of an exciting overseas vacation.
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Ha! My Dâs co-op placements were GA, OH, and CO. Colorado was the best!
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D22âs friend did a year at Oxford and loved it!
While D22 had a fantastic study abroad experience in Budapest, S24 isnât planning on studying abroad. And itâs a bummer for me! We had a great time in Budapest last year visiting.
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D22âs semester long study abroad ended up being cheaper because we paid cash for her apartment in Budapest, where she cooked her own food. And that was a significant savings over the cost of room board at her LAC.
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Do you remember what their major was? I think it would be amazing but so hard to figure out if it will be practical
D20 had a friend who did the full year at Oxford (she was a math/econ double major). Had a wonderful experience, currently getting her PhD at McGill University.
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Econ & something else (I think Poli Sci). Itâs definitely a âbring your tuxedoâ kind of experience. You are fully immersed in Oxford culture.
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The e pictures on instagram are amazing. I guess it is worth going the next step!
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