There is a lot of planning and research that goes into picking where you want to go an when! For me, the "when" was easy. I knew if I wanted to study abroad, I would have to go this summer. The reason being because next summer the University of Cincinnati is switching from quarters to semesters which will only allow for a 6-7 week summer and with this small time window, it would make it had to find a program that I could attend in it's entirety.
A common misconception about study abroad is that you can only be a transfer student at an international university. This is totallyyyy wrong! There are soo many possibilities. Just to name a few, there is traveling aboard through the university with a professor or multiple professors, switching or swapping schools with an international student, and choosing study through an outside planning company. Traveling abroad with university faculty is normally through your program or major. An example of this is E-Media students have an opportunity to study abroad in Munich, Germany led by a faculty member of the University of Cincinnati. The second option is swapping schools with an international student. This is similar to an exchange program, but the great thing about it is you pay your tuition at your University and the student you are exchanging with pays their tuition and then you literally trade places and enjoy a quarter abroad. The third option, happens to be the option I chose, going through an outside program that has already planned trips for students to study abroad.
I chose this option, simply because it was the best option for me! I talked to my study abroad advisor about all of the three options mentioned above and because of my time restrictions, a four week program would be a time I could fit in my summer schedule to study abroad.
There are many of these companies throughout the United States and world, just to name a few: USAC, CEA, IES, and AIFS! Acronyms galore! However, the program I chose was USAC. They had an affordable price, the destination I wanted, and GREAT reviews! I could not be happier with my decision because they have made my first time travels a breeze. USAC stands for University Studies Abroad Consortium and its central office is located out of University of Nevada, Reno. By choosing this program, I was given multiple academic and financial advisors as well as an online log in account (called "My Gateway Account") to track all of the information concerning my trip that has been given to me. Which is SUPER helpful because I would not know what to do if I lost any of these documents before departure and while I was abroad.
Now for the GOOD stuff! Why I chose SAN SEBASTIAN! I chose San Sebastian because I wanted to go to Spain. I have always wanted to study abroad in Spain because it is in Europe and it is a Spanish speaking country. Typical, but I specifically chose San Sebastian because it was a smaller spanish city and I would have a better opportunity learning the language and culture because not many people speak english there! Not to mention, I chose San Sebastian because I heard about all of the WONDERFUL FOOD! (P.S. I may talk about food ALOT in my blog! No worries, I will update everyone with all of the new food I try!)
Here are some links to the different programs I talked about and of course the UC International site which you should all check out if you are interested in studying abroad! Check them out and see all of the AMAZING programs they have to offer!
- USAC: http://usac.unr.edu/ (MY FAVORITE =) )
- CEA: http://www.gowithcea.com
- IES: https://www.iesabroad.org/IES/home.html
- AIFS: http://www.aifsabroad.com/
- UC International: http://www.uc.edu/international.html
Also Check out the other student travel blogs on the UC International Site!
Lauren
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