Any suggestions for a good/affordable international summer program for a current college student?
February 9, 2006 7:27 PM   Subscribe

Anyone know of any good international summer programs for current college students that are both affordable and well respected?

A friend and I are both currently freshmen and we would like to do something exciting and productive with part of our summer. Furthermore, we both enjoy international travel and culture. Both cost and the reputation of the program are concerns. We don't want to be trapped by one of those commercial "enrichment" programs that are more or less glorified vacations. While this is not a prime motive, something that would look appealing on a resume would be a welcomed addition. A program below the $1500 mark would also be a plus. We both hold a grade point average above a 3.0 and, if this matters at all, go to well respected academic institutions.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: Thailand, London, Japan, Venezuela, Argentina, France and Spain.

Academic disciplines of interest include, but are not limited to: Political Science/International Relations, English, Business/Economics, Asian Languages and Civilizations.
posted by jne1813 to Education (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
You don't mention Germany, but there are some very enriching and respected programs there -- sometimes with scholarships.

The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) has some amazing summer programs, in German and in English. I did two of these back in my day. The professors were outstanding, and the experiences entirely rewarding.

The Goethe-Institut has programs that can lead to internationally recognized credentials and are highly respected -- and there tends to be a very international mix of participants.
posted by sueinnyc at 7:53 PM on February 9, 2006


Second the DAAD - they have all sorts of programs, actually, including ones for graduate students, for people who've just graduated college, etc. My father spent part of grad school in Germany through DAAD, and I've been considering applying to one of their programs as well. You'll probably find this DAAD link a little more useful - there are actually several offerings which might work for you.
posted by ubersturm at 7:59 PM on February 9, 2006


First, find out if your school offers any funding for study abroad programs. My college gave me a couple thousand in travel grants, and they even wrote me a check for the amount of one semester's scholarship (since I was not doing a program affiliated with my school and, as such, was taking a leave).

Really, though, and this is from my experiences investigating abroad programs approx 5 years ago, I doubt you are going to find anything that would cost less than $1500 total- there's international airfare to think about, remember.
posted by elisabeth r at 8:00 PM on February 9, 2006


I never studied abroad in college, but one of my best friends is prolonging her time in college now, having discovered that she can get scholarships to do ethnographies with hejiras in India, take political science classes in China (in English), & go on Semester At Sea (a very cool semester-on-a-boat that docks at about 14 different countries for three days at a time, and is a phenomenally cool experience for people who are young &/or new to traveling--after the fact, she realized she could've done a whole overland trip through Asia for less than the amount SAS cost; on the other hand, she had an amazing experience & met a lot of very cool people). She's had amazing luck finding university scholarships that no one seems to take advantage of, but part of that is that she applies for ANY scholarship, no matter how small, and they add up.

I know the Fulbright program offers undergrad fellowships for international travel as well.
posted by soviet sleepover at 8:11 PM on February 9, 2006


Speaking as a study abroad advisor, I love having students come in my office who are expressly not interested in a "glorified vacation." Have you talked to someone in your university's study abroad office? They might be able to recommend something that will fit in well with your academic plan and your school's credit requirements, as well as telling you about any scholarships/financial aid that would be available to you. $1500 is a pretty small budget (many programs I can think of off the top of my head have fees closer to the $3000-6000 range) but your school might be able to help you find something in that range.

You might also think about doing a short-term work abroad program like BUNAC or CIEE too - it's not necessarily a mainstream corporate career-building exercise but people have gotten some pretty interesting jobs and any international experience can be valuable to employers if it's spun correctly.

Volunteering abroad would be another option - it might be cheaper than study abroad but you might not get academic credit for it. Talk it all over with your study abroad advisor or an academic advisor!
posted by srah at 8:22 PM on February 9, 2006


Response by poster: Ah, academic credit is not an issue. My school has an open curriculum and as such, does not grant outside "hours" for any work outside of campus (beside study abroad during the academic term) and over the summer. Also, we both go to two different colleges so appealing for any special program exclusively for the university would nix the possibility of us going together.

Thanks for the responses so far and keep them coming if you can. If any more information needs to be provided let me know.
posted by jne1813 at 8:30 PM on February 9, 2006


I was totally in your position and everything worked out brilliantly, but I had to get creative.

Idealist helped me find a volunteer placement. It took a while to separate the wheat from the chaff, and while I ended up with an organization I'd never heard of, everything I was promised in their contract (housing, transport, etc) was accounted for and fairly provided.

I talked to the community studies/community service coordinators at my university, who helped me get academic credit (which you said you weren't concerned about) and, crucially, financial aid, as my placement counted as an "independent study" class like any other class offered during the year. If finances are an issue, I imagine you can work to get some kind of loans or grants to cover it.

Talk to your school's politics/economics/international relations departments; they might help you hook up with a professor willing to create a class - perhaps you conduct a field study about the conditions of the health clinic/school/conservation area/archaeological site where you volunteer, which you then use to teach a seminar-type class on the area when you return? Just one place you can go.

One caveat - sometimes schools try to fit you into their very academic-classroom-based study-abroad programs, so keep in mind that even if your school doesn't technically have a way to do this, professors and researchers are probably always looking for research assistants, so you can still have the type of experience you're looking for (though maybe not this summer).

E-mail's in the profile if you have more questions. Good luck!
posted by mdonley at 9:26 PM on February 9, 2006


Possible check this out as well.
posted by AwkwardPause at 9:34 PM on February 9, 2006


A very good friend of mine went to Romania last summer for this program.

His department paid 75% of the costs, which are pretty low to begin with. He loved it and met people from all over the world, not to mention Beautiful România!
posted by vkxmai at 7:47 AM on February 10, 2006


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