So you want to do a study abroad. But should you do a summer study abroad, or a full semester?
I unequivocally vote for a semester study abroad. Here are my reasons:
The biggest reason is that summer is when all the tourists are there. There are so many people, lines are longer, and ticket prices are higher, no matter where you go. It’s so much better to go during the school year.
You simply don’t have enough time.
- You can’t become a local. It takes 2 full months to really feel at home and start to know where everything is. if you only stay for the summer, then by the time you figure things out, its time for you to leave!
- I know most people don’t think “studying” is the most important part of a study abroad, but you are there to learn, and you really do get so much more academically from a full semester than you do from summer school. With a full semester, you have time to actually learn rather than squeezing it all into a month.
- You will be SO rushed on a summer abroad. To get the most out of it you have to be on 100% of the time, every weekend after school you HAVE to go and do something. You don’t have any extra weekends to laze around the park, you don’t have time to plan or to waste in case of strikes, closures, or bad weather. If you miss something, that was your only chance. That would be so exhausting.
Price- it’s actually more cost effective to stay for a full semester
- A huge chunk of cost is your flight, so why not make it worth it.
- Most colleges don’t offer exchanges over the summer (the cheaper and better option) they only offer the crazy expensive programs like IES, CIEE, and USAC.
- Its a huge hassle to get an apartment for such a short time and you’re going to end up either paying more for it to be such a short lease or having no option but to stay somewhere terrible AND expensive like the dorms of your foreign university.
Finding Eden 