Study Abroad

Study Abroad
#1

Our student will be a college freshman this fall. Her top choice college does not offer the study abroad options that the other schools offer. That said, she is likely to choose her top choice school.

We believe she could take a semester break for study abroad and not have her FA package effected. She is wanting to experience Ireland (Trinity), Scotland (St. Andrews) or an excellent school in England. She is a ChemE major.

What programs would you recommend for a student who is applying to become a student overseas for a semester (and not doing study abroad through her college)?

#2

So this is a known org for it. There are others. Maybe look at what your local universities use just to get some ideas.

https://studyabroad.sit.edu/

My daughter did this program through the state department but Itā€™s competitive and not a semester but itā€™s free if accepted with intense language learning.

https://www.clscholarship.org/

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#3

Just be aware that it will likely add time to graduation to go abroad.

My chem e did a Maymester abroad because there was no way to do it in the school year and still graduate in 8 semesters. Too many course sequencing requirements.

If this is important to your D, I would talk directly to the chem e department at her top choice to see if itā€™s doable/allowed.

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#4

Study abroad, especially a full semester, will be tough for a Chem e.

#5

Thank you! I will check these out. My DD applied for the NYSLI program but did not get accepted last year. She definitely is fascinated by language.

#6

At her top choice school, taking a semester off should not effect her scholarship - as long as she does not use/choose to go with one of their study abroad programs - which would use her aid package.

She is aiming for four years. It may require a class or two during the summers.

Thanks for the reminder on checking with her ChemE department. She was going to dig deeper with the schoolā€™s study abroad office, but yes, needs to also check with the ChemE department. She should have about 1 semester worth of credits accepted as an incoming freshman, maybe more, but she needs to talk this through with an advisor soon.

#7

My D started with so many credits that she was considered a second semester sophomore. Still doesnā€™t help her to graduate early and most of the required chem e courses arenā€™t offered in the summer because the profs donā€™t want a compressed timeline for the foundational courses.

I hope your D can get all her questions answered so she knows what is possible and what isnā€™t.

#8

My son was able to get some credits out of the way while in France. This was for a minor. Heā€™s in engineering but not Chem eā€¦

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#9

Yes, I get that. I was mentioning credits that would only be applied to ChemE. I should have stated. Our student will technically be a sophomore as well. I think itā€™s likely she will tack on a minor.

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#10

The SIT program you mentioned is getting ready to offer a webinar series. Looks like a great resource. She is taking Spanish and French and also has ASL. I think she is pretty set on England, Ireland, or Scotland, but who knows! Thanks for the great resources.

#11

My daughter also won a CLS scholarship, sadly cancelled due to COVID. It is a very prestigious program and only accepts the best applicants who have shown proficiency in their chosen language, (with some exceptions), but none of them are going to be for English speaking countries.

There are organizations outside of colleges that sponsor study abroad programs. I would ensure that her university accepts the credits before paying for one. Iā€™m surprised that there are still universities that donā€™t offer study abroad. Back in the day, I studied in the UK with BUNAC. I donā€™t know if they are the same now as they were then, but I did like that I could work and study at the same time. https://www.bunac.org/

#12

They do offer study abroad, they just do not offer access to the schools she would like. She needs to do some more research, but I just thought Iā€™d ask a few questions here.

I am sorry for your daughter. Covid has definitely offered up some disappointments. Mine had hoped to get NYSLI for Arabic but was not selected. She was applying for their first year virtual program.

She has some dietary constraints which plays into what sheā€™s able to consider.

Good luck to your daughter.

#13

My daughter did her study abroad with them through her school. They were very organized etc

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#14

I rememberā€¦ But my daughter told me that she thinks you will be offered it for this year. She was considering it but decided sheā€™s not going to Indonesia this summer since they still need to get their Covid act together. She graduated last spring also. But sheā€™s eyeing on Taiwan and teaching English since they are really organized and under control. Hope things work out for your daughter.

#15

Alas, too late. D is working full time now, as she has graduated. But things happen for a reasonšŸ˜€

#16

Having a semester worth of credits may not mean she has a ā€œfreeā€ semester to do other things. Because of her comfort with heavier course load, course prerequisites, scheduling conflicts, frequencies of course offerings, and/or limitations on class sizes, she may not be able to take the courses she wants at the rate she is comfortable with. Study abroad is a luxury that not all students can afford if they want to graduate on time or if they want to take more higher level courses in their majors. BTW, there isnā€™t much to be gained academcially as a chem e major by studying abroad.

#17

Yes, lots to consider. One of the reasons we are so intrigued by her top choice school is it sounds like they offer many of the ChemE courses both semesters every year. This should help on scheduling, but she will not know until she speaks to an advisor. One can hope!

She has also been accepted to the Honors College and knows that those classes will have to take precedence (along with the research she is hoping to do) over study abroad. She is open to letting it go, but is going to do her best to make it work.

It may also simply land on summer and be more geared to research or a trip with a professor, but sheā€™s going to try her best for a semester of study abroad.