Hello! I am currently a freshman at UA in the Culverhouse College of Business. I’ve recently been looking into the study abroad programs offered here and am strongly considering studying abroad this summer. I’m feeling the pressure to go this summer because 1) I tend to get super committed in jobs and extracurriculars, and have such FOMO I don’t think I’d enjoy a whole semester abroad 2) Culverhouse strongly stresses having an internship your sophomore year summer. This seems to be my last summer to choose my own path, and studying abroad has always been a dream of mine.
I am also here on the National Merit Scholarship, which means I have 10 semesters of tuition. I’m struggling to decide if I do a shorter 4-6 week study abroad program and get it covered by external and study abroad scholarships, or use one of my extra semesters on a longer 8-10 week program. I’m hesitant to use one of my extra semesters as I’m holding them as backup, but currently plan to graduate in 4 years. I also don’t feel like a shorter program would be as immersive, and if I used one of my semesters, I would want to be abroad as long as possible and take 12 credits. However, I would miss my family and disappoint them by leaving for the majority of my first summer home.
Do I use the extra semester or not? Is 8-10 weeks enough time, and is it worth it for what I’m paying? I’d love to have a home base in Italy, but one of the programs that seems to be matched well with what I’m looking for classwise is based in Athens, is that a good study abroad base? Thanks in advance!
Are you sure you can use the Semester scholarship for a study abroad?
I’d talk to the study abroad office.
I agree that longer is better in the sense you can do more (school, travel, etc.) but do what you can do.
If you are NMF, I assume you walked in with credits so you’d be more likely to graduate in less than four years than more.
What would you need the 5th year for?
It’s a personal call and I don’t know your budgets, etc. but I’d first ask about if you can even use it in the Summer.
Don’t forget, they give you $4K a year extra * $2,000 one-time allowance for use in research or international study (after completing one year of study as an undergraduate at UA)
Having an internship is nice. After 2nd year may be tough and if you didn’t have one, you’d still have a chance after Junior year. It would be nice after 2nd year but it’s not easy.
Disappointing your family by being away, taking advantage of an incredible intellectual and cultural experience seems like a feeling you’re going to need to get used to as you become an adult.
It was a thousand years ago- but I did a semester overseas during my junior year, then stayed for the summer because I got an incredible job opportunity, and although my family missed me, the experience changed my life.
Don’t shortchange yourself. If you honestly want the shorter program because it’s a better fit with your interests- great. But if you’re trying to soften the blow to your family by cutting the timeframe….
Take advantage of opportunities to study abroad. These chances will be very few and far between after you leave college, and the experience is like nothing else. Don’t worry about disappointing your family, honestly - they’ll get over it. And if they want what’s best for you, they won’t be disappointed at all. My D (currently a junior in college) has done two study-abroad programs: a short term (three week) course in the summer and a full semester right now. Of course we miss her. But we couldn’t imagine asking her to sacrifice the amazing experiences she’s had for the sake of our personal comfort levels. Her absence is temporary, but what she’s gained from these stints abroad will stick with her forever.
Talk with someone in the study abroad office, and do consider whether a semester abroad will disrupt your program so much that it costs you an extra semester (but if you’ve got the extra funding, why not use it?). They’ll have the knowledge to point you to programs that are compatible with your major and timeline for graduation.
I think a summer abroad is a great use of the “extra” semesters of the scholarship. As I understand it, if you choose a program that isn’t run by UA, you will get the full amount of the tuition scholarship to use. If you go with a UA run program, the tuition will be covered. So, it’s more bang for the scholarship-buck to use a non-UA program, as the tuition will cover more, especially if you are out-of-state. If you are on Facebook, the National Merit group has a lot of good information on using the scholarship for study abroad to the maximum value.