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This may be an option for me (going to study in Tokyo over the summer). I was wondering if anyone had any experience with studying abroad and wanted to offer any opinions. I'm trying to weigh costs and benefits for it, and I thought I'd get Hatrack's input (and also possibly get some interesting stories out of it). Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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I haven't studied abroad, but I'm whole-heartedly in favor of everyone having the experience of living abroad at least once in their lifetime. If you can afford it and it doesn't disrupt higher life priorities, I say "Go for it!"
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I haven't had any experience doing it, but I sooo wish I had. That doesn't help you make your decision, I know, but my (uninformed) opinion of it is, go for it!
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Well one of the programs I'm looking at is roughly $5000, although that most likely doesn't include airfare and it may or may not include the housing. So it may be a costly thing, but at the same time, my student loans have been really small thus far because I've been on a fairly large scholarship. Maybe I could afford it. I'm not sure. As I said, I'm trying to weigh costs and benefits.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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I'm really, really in support of staying out of debt. That said, education is a fair reason to go into debt.
Don't spend your adult years remembering how you could have studied in Tokyo and didn't take the opportunity!
Posts: 1522 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I don't like debt (which is why I'm happy my loans have been really small for school), but again this may be a once in a lifetime experience. Plus it sort of works in with my growing interest in Japanese History (I'm starting to think I may write my senior thesis about it).
I keep hoping someone will have had experience with studying abroad though. The only person I've heard from about it gave a sort of negative report.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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I don't know specifics of the negative report you mention (of course), but travel abroad is entirely what you make of it. I was abroad for two years as a missionary (Brazil) and two years in the Airforce (Korea). For most people I traveled with it was a greatly enriching experience. For a handful it was a terrible time of homesickness or negative attitudes for everything that wasn't American. In short, you have to consider the source and the specifics of negative reports.
That is, criticisms of a specific program, school, or teacher might have some validity, but a general negative opinion about studying abroad is almost certainly a product of individual bias.
That said, $5k is a lot of money, but it's also purchasing something that you can never lose. It's also something that won't be the same later in life (for good or bad) and will flavor your later life experiences.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote:I keep hoping someone will have had experience with studying abroad though.
What do you think specifically studying abroad would entail that other forms of long-term living abroad wouldn't (aside from studying)? I'm asking because it seems that the "studying" part would depend very much on the specific program and what is expected of you in it. In other words, it could change dramatically based on the program, instructors, course work, etc., right? Is there anyone you know who has done the specific program you're looking into? That would be the most valuable source of opinion, I'd think.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Woo! I studied abroad! In fact, two years ago today I was in Greece. I think we might have been on a field trip through the Argolid, but really, I don't remember. Studying abroad is mostly a big blur for me
First and foremost, the only advice I can give you is this: DO IT. Run, do not walk, to the study abroad office and sign up now. I wouldn't trade the worst day I spent abroad for the best day I've had back in the States for anything. At the very least, you'll get the experience of being somewhere completely different, somewhere where you can't (probably, I'm not sure about your skills in Japanese) get around easily - and you'll really learn who you are. I know it sounds trite, but it's true.
I'll be back with more stories, if you want to hear them. I have lots... Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I'm studying abroad during the summer! I'll be spending 11 weeks in France at the Chateau de Pourtalles. They'll take us to the Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles!!!! *So excited*
Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I spent two semesters in London (2002 and 2004), and those were undoubtedly the most awesome semesters of my life! And I really wish I could do it again...I'm planning on moving to London someday. As soon as I figure out how I'll get a work visa, that is.
It will definitely open your eyes to other cultures and perspectives - I'm sure this'll be even more true for Tokyo than it was for London - and it'll highlight things about your world at home that you might not have realized before. And you'll become more self-sufficient and more confident too - for example, I grew up in a cornfield and I'm really shy, so after living in a huge city full of strangers, moving by myself from rural IL to NY for grad school was a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. And when you come home, you'll have tons of great stories and pictures and memories. *gets warm fuzzies thinking about London*
I think your experience really depends on your attitude and expectations going into it. Culture shock is pretty much inevitable, especially if you've never traveled out of the US before, but how you handle it is up to you. I've seen some people end up having a bad time because they focused on the differences in a negative way and got all upset about it not being like home, which just made me want to shake them and scream, "But that's the whole point in going!" Or they went with this chip on their shoulder and these preconceived notions that everyone would hate them because they're American, so they interpreted everything through that lens, or they somehow expected it to be like a giant theme park catering to their whims or something equally silly. But those people were in the minority, and otherwise everyone else had a great time and learned a lot about themselves, their home country/city, the rest of the world, etc. You just have to remember that you're going to a real place with real people who have real lives, and respect it all accordingly since you are the foreigner. I'm sure that sounds obvious, but a lot of people forget that. And yeah, there'll be bad times, but the good ones make up for them 200%.
As far as finances go, the school I went to is actually a sister school of my college, so my scholarship and financial aid were able to be applied to the London school as well, which definitely helped a lot. I wouldn't have been able to afford to do a summer thing because that was the only time for me to earn money since I didn't work during the school year, but your situation might be different. And I did take out some extra loans and rack up some significant credit card debt those semesters (which I'm still paying off), but it was absolutely worth it and I don't regret it at all. Probably at least half of what I spent, though, was on traveling around Europe on the weekends (we only had class Mon-Thurs). That's based on my spending money only, not including tuition and room/board.
I would check with your school's study abroad office and see if there might be any programs where there's a relationship between the two schools that might work well financially, or even just to compare all the different options - you may already have your heart set on that particular program, but there's no harm in seeing what else is available too.
I have lots of stories too, but I think I've gone on long enough for now, so I'll just say Yay studying abroad!! And if you have questions, I'm happy to help as best I can.
P.S. Studying abroad also looks awesome on your resume. Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Alt, I'm so jealous! I've been wanting to do a language intensive in France for years. What kind of program is it?
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Well I was going through programs listed on my school's International Studies website. I've found two (possibly three) that would take me to Tokyo. I have to talk to someone in the honors department though, as I am partly doing this out of an honors requirement (they say in your last 4 semesters, you either do an internship, study abroad, or take 12 more honors credits, but due to the weirdness of my education, I only have 2 semesters left for this so it's either internship, study abroad, or having no electives and all honors classes my last 2 semesters). We'll see how it goes though.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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Its for my art school, which means I'll be taking courses in art history and fine art. My major is Media Arts and Animation but it always helps to know about fine arts just as much as you'd know about animation. It's all art and I'm an artist, so I figure it ought to help me.
Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Many study abroad programs are considerably cheaper than $5000, when done through your school's department of global education(or whatever they choose to call it.) Of course, cost shouldn't be the deciding factor. An experience abroad can be intensely fulfilling--I spent half a year in Paraguay, and it was hands-down the most rewarding experience of my life, to date. Go for it.
Posts: 433 | Registered: Feb 2005
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Well I didn't write down the price of the second program I saw. The first was $4900, covering (*looks it up*) educational costs, housing, a commuter pass, and medical insurance. As I said though, I am trying to talk to people in the honors department about this, since maybe they know something I don't. At the moment though, I haven't heard back from them.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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No, I'll be there for 11 weeks. It includes flights and food too. Besides, I'll be staying at de Chateau de Pourtales and at some hotel rooms while we are in Paris, Frankfurt and London.
Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Ah, well that makes a little more sense. I think the one I was looking at factored in another $2750 to cover flights, personal expenses, meals, books/supplies, and local transportation.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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Oh, so the $12k is the grand total (minus personal spending) for the whole thing? I thought you meant that you still have to pay for tuition in addition to that amount.
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Mine was around $10k not including flight or personal expenses - tuition, books, room, field trips were all included. We also got our flights through STA and they were considerably cheaper - less than $550 per person from Chicago to Athens.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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Mine's looking like it will be roughly $8000 with either program (now that I've checked into it). That's not horribly bad, but it's also not money I just have laying around. Still if the honors program approves it and my parents approve, then it may be something I can't pass up.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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I agree, it's expensive, but considering all the places we are going to, I think its a fair price.
Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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While I think it's very important to weigh the cost of the program against its benefits, It's probably not a good idea to think, Ouch, $12k, I won't do it..
Last summer I went to Durham to study for six weeks. The program cost $6k and that did not include airfare, books, half of all meals, most local transportation, weekend travelling, and personal spending. But, you know what? It was probably the best experience of my life, and I'd do it all again even if it was double that.
If you CAN'T afford to go, then doing so would be frivolous and ridiculous. If you CAN afford to do it, but it'll be a stretch, then I say go. You'll never have this opportunity again. Once you enter the "real world," will you really be able to pick up and live in Japan for a summer? If you go as a student, you'll have all the fun of going as an adult without nearly the same load of responsibilities.
If you end up going, I have some advice. Do all the touristy things you need to do, but try to approach them from a nontouristy angle. Keep a journal. Take lots and lots of pictures. Don't go with friends; instead, make new ones there. If you don't have a good time at first, don't automatically assume that the rest of the trip will be awful. Be open to change and try all the new things you can. I hope you have a great time.
Posts: 866 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Room and board, international flight all over Europe, food, aside from a whole bunch of places we're going to be taken to like the Louvre, the Museum of Modern and Fine Art amongst other things in London.
Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Ah, I'm overachieving as well (graduating a year early and all), so that's why it basically has to be this summer or never.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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I'm still jealous of you, Alt, but I'm glad I'm not the one paying for it.
I think one of my semesters (they were both the same price) cost about $12k for tuition and room & board, but I only had to actually pay about $3500 of that. (Thank goodness for scholarships!) I didn't have to buy books since all the textbooks were in the library, which was nice, and both semesters I managed to find plane tickets for Chicago-London for about $300, which was really lucky.
It's kind of sounding like everyone else did a summer program. Am I the only one who went for a semester?
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Celaeno has really good advice. Listen to her.
I'd also look into getting an ISIC card - it's an international student ID card that you can use for a lot of discounts on almost anything. They have country- and city-specific lists of all the places that accept it. It's usually just around 5%, but that adds up to a pretty good chunk at the end of your trip. Plus I think it's required for you to get the discounted fares on Student Universe.
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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You know, you can get many of the same benefits of studying abroad for a fraction of the price by visiting a country/countries on your own (especially if you bring along a friend).
Posts: 1068 | Registered: Aug 2000
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But at the same time, it's one thing to visit a country and an entirely different thing to live in it.
Posts: 866 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Nell Gwyn: Celaeno has really good advice. Listen to her.
I'd also look into getting an ISIC card - it's an international student ID card that you can use for a lot of discounts on almost anything. They have country- and city-specific lists of all the places that accept it. It's usually just around 5%, but that adds up to a pretty good chunk at the end of your trip. Plus I think it's required for you to get the discounted fares on Student Universe.
Thanks.
As for the ISIC card, t's not required for Student Universe (at least, I wasn't required to have one), but it will definitely be beneficial to havet. I saw lots of ISIC "stops" around England that members could go to and get help if they needed it.
Posts: 866 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it is financial aid that pays for all this, so I only pay around 1/3 of the cost. Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Independent traveling is indeed a wonderful thing, but I wouldn't say it can replace studying abroad.
The classes themselves were among the best things about my semesters. I don't really mean just the academic aspects of them. I mainly took classes whose topics were unique to where I was (statistics being the exception *shudder*) and that tended to involve field trips, but the thing that really made them special was that I was studying theatre, art, history, etc from another culture's perspective, which was really interesting. Sure, I could conceivably have done the same in a non-classroom setting, but it would have taken a lot more research on my part, and I don't think it would have been as effective because I wouldn't have known what I was looking for.
I also really appreciated the structure that being in school gave the experience. If I'd spend that same total amount just on traveling around, I definitely wouldn't have spent as much time staying in one place and I wouldn't have experienced life as a resident of London. Having an account at the local Blockbuster, or a favorite restaurant on a little side street, or a favorite duck in the park were just as cool to me as getting a ton of photos of famous things.
That said, I also fully encourage independent backpacking trips all over the world. Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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<shrug> I've just never seen the use in spending all that money. "Visiting" doesn't just mean popping in for six hours to see a museum and then heading to the next city. You can live in a foreign country quite independently of a study abroad program. If anything, such programs can be a detriment to getting to know the culture, as you are surrounded by students, professors, etc. who provide all the "comforts" of your home culture. If you're traveling, you have to get out on your own more.
Then again, maybe other people just have a lot more money than I do. Or have very different priorities on how to spend it.
Posts: 1068 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Well, the money isn't just for the traveling - most of the classes I took were electives that applied to my graduation requirements, two of them got applied to my minor, and two were for my major. Plus the scholarships and student loans take out a lot of the costs. If all I'd been working with was the amount I paid out of pocket, I wouldn't have been able to travel as widely or for as long as I was in Europe.
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I haven't studied abroad, only lived abroad (Sri Lanka), and I definitely agree with the others. If you can make it happen, do it. Do not hesitate - just do it! It's an invaluable experience.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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GO! GO! GO! I spent about 5 1/2 weeks working at an archaeological dig in Israel and all I can say is that it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. If you need money, ask your professors about research grants that you might be able to tie in to your travels. You'd be amazed at what's out there if you're willing to look for it.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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