Stupid money, stupid university, stupid overseas trip...

The BBQ Pit
1

I am in pain.

I want to go on University trip to Australia, which nets me credit for 2 specific classes. Oddly enough, though I really want to go on the trip, the credit is what’s most important to me. But the cost…

Has gone up a LOT since they first gave out an estimate. In fact, their first estimate was about $2000 less than the current one. Ouch. I was accepted into the program, though.

Well, my finances are not quite what I was hoping for. For some reason, I’m not getting the hours I hoped for at work. I’m applying for several scholarships/grants, but they won’t bother to tell me whether I get any money until well after I comfirm I will be going. Except…

The University decided it wants $750 of my money now, no waiting, just hand it over please. It is non-refundable if I don’t go on the trip. So… I’m thinking, “Now what?” The whole trip, unless I can get some more money, will wipe me out and leave nothing for my next (full) semester! And then, what the hell am I going to do aboutgetting an actual job?

This sucks. Is being an adult nothing but constant worries about money, money, money? FUCK!

2

Well, not to sound bitchy, but all of the trips I’ve ever seen my school offer were not only not necessary for graduation, but generally seen as vacations that had school credit attached to legitimize the school expense. If it’s going to wipe out your finances to go on this trip, just don’t go. It won’t kill you.

3

Well, they certainly don’t want to you to be miserable (I can’t deny I was looking forward to seeing Sydney and Brisbane), but it was serious classtime.

4

That depends. If you simply must have everything you see, conceive, or imagine — and have it right now — then yes.

5

Really? My advice would be the exact opposite. International experience is crucial in an increasingly global environment and it will give you a competitive edge no matter what your field. My greatest regret in college was not studying abroad. I was accepted twice into the Chile program but too sick to go. By the time I finally got to Latin America, I paid out of my own pocket to volunteer in Mexico, and don’t regret a single cent. I posted a thread here about my financial conflict, and the overwhelming response was, ‘‘Are you fucking kidding me? Go abroad!’’ Remember as you get older your life most likely won’t accommodate sudden jaunts to other countries. I think travel is on the same level as formal education – falls under the category of ‘‘good debt.’’ Are you not getting student loans? Where I went to college, studying abroad cost no more than a regular semester in the U.S. and we received grants and loans and scholarships in exactly the same way we did for regular school. I am confused as to why you’re being charged extra for this.

6

It’s really too bad that your school doesn’t have a good study abroad program. My undergrad had a great program - I studied abroad for eleven months and got a great education, both inside the classroom and out. I actually ended up earning more credit than I would have had I stayed in the US, because I spent two months doing a for-credit intensive language thingy. (Ironically, my *parents *thought I was on vacation the whole time. When I was about to leave, they told me that they’d decided to front me the money to go to Cairo because they wanted me to have that opportunity before I came back to the US. I told them I couldn’t go because I had finals. They asked, “Well, can’t you skip them?” NO, I CAN’T SKIP FINALS, MOM AND DAD. I kinda want to graduate!)

I say go. It sucks about them not giving you the right information up front, but I can almost guarantee you’ll be glad you did in the end.

7

I you can’t go another time, go now. You may be strapped for a while but like someone upthread said, it would be good debt in the long run.

I still regret not spending a year abroad in Paris and that was partly because I didn’t know the same scholarship and financial aid sources I had available in the States could have been tapped to pay for some of the time abroad.

8

I disagree. I would be surprised if most interviewers gave a crap if you studied overseas for a semester or two.

9

I’ve never been asked, and my job involves a lot of traveling now.

All they care about is whether I will get on the plane now.

10

Yeah, there is some value in study abroad experience. But a 2 credit study abroad trip is, at best and in my opinion, a vacation with some credits attached. If you were going for a semester, that’s a different story. Breaking the bank for 2 weeks in Oz wouldn’t be worth it to me.

11

If you want to visit Australia for cheap, even without the college credits. Seasonal fruit pickers are in big demand down there and it’s common for people to spend a summer traveling around staying hostels, and financing their travels picking fruit.
IIRC you can get a working holiday visa for up to a year to do this. The biggest cost is you have to have health insurance the entire time you’re down there.

I could dig up the information about this if this sounds like something you’d be interested in.
Edit: by “summer” I mean Australian summer; our winter.

12

The odd part is that if I got a couple thou in the 3 scholarships/grants I was applying for, things would be fine. But none of them will tell me anything until well after I have to pay for the trip! :rolleyes:

13

I’m from Australia, and think it’s a great place, but i really don’t think that spending a semester there taking a couple of classes is going to constitute “crucial” experience for the average American college student, nor is it likely to give them a “competitive edge” in “an increasingly global environment.”

For all of our funny accents and our backwards seasons, Australia isn’t that different from the United States, and a few months in an Australian university won’t be that different from three months in an American university. This is not to say that it wouldn’t be a great experience, and i’m sure the OP would have a great time. But it’s not going to make or break the rest of his career.

Before i came to live in the US, i spent a few semesters as a TA for my undergrad university in Sydney, and i had a total of about 15 US exchange students during that time. They all seemed to really enjoy themselves, although the main attractions seemed to be (a) the weather and the beaches (quite a few of them were from U. Wisconsin, and Cornell, and other cold places), and (b) the fact that the legal drinking age is 18. I know that quite a few spent most of their semester lying on the beach in an alcoholic stupor.

To the OP:

I’m surprised that the price for your trip has actually increased recently, because the Australian dollar is again very weak compared to the US dollar. When i was back in Australia in July, the Aussie dollar was strong and the exchange rate was almost 1:1, but now the Australian dollar is back down around the US67c mark. Even with the exchange rate, though, Australia’s a pretty expensive place, especially big cities like Sydney, and if you want to go out to bars and restaurants it can eat into your finances very quickly.

You could consider The Tao’s Revenge’s suggestion of a working holiday (here is the one that applies to US citizens), but you will need to show evidence of health insurance, a return plane ticket, and at least $A5,000 to support yourself. They can, and often do, ask for evidence of this money before they let you in. These Work and Holiday visas are not designed as proper work visas, and you’re not allowed to work full-time.

Also, while picking fruit might sound like fun, most agricultural labor is pretty backbreaking work. I spent a bit of time working on cotton farms when i was in high school, and i have friends who’ve done work like cherry picking, and it’s all pretty physical labor. And, in fruit picking at least, you get paid by the amount rather than by the hour, so if you can’t keep up the pace you won’t earn much money.

14

Yes, if you always live on the edge of debt. Money may not bring happiness, but it sure as hell brings peace and security. As someone who got stuck in debt for years – don’t go there. You’ll spend months and years up at night worrying sick about debt, until you get rid of it. At the same time, the more money you save, the more worries roll off your back and makes your life a whole lot more pleasant.

You don’t want to go to Australia with this weighing on the back of your mind. Save your money, and go on a real vacation after graduation.

(Incidentally, my relative went to Australia partially on her credit cards for a semester to earn credits too. She graduated college having to pay $1000 a month, for the next 40 years on student loans. She got in huge consumer debt. She’s got a high-paying job, but still cannot survive without mom. She’ll be chained by the decisions she made for a long, long time.)

15

:dubious:

My university did have a great study abroad scheme (they have extremely close ties to Stanford, for one), yet I’m not going to agree that spending a couple of weeks in Australia is really going to be all that life-changing, nor is it going to be all that important to employers.

16

I went to Australia for a month the summer before my senior year. I took out loans and went a bit into debt for it, but I had very little in student loans prior to that, so it wasn’t massive. Just like you, I was trying for grants and scholarships for it, but there wasn’t enough to go around and I didn’t get any. That said, I had a fantastic time, learned a lot, saw a ton of cool stuff and have the scrapbook to remember it, got eight credits for it, and the classes I took helped me decide on and fill requirements for a minor (I was required to have one).

I do not regret it at all, but if you feel you really cannot afford it, I would pass. My loan debt is relatively small and the benefits were worth it to me. My college has a program for alumni trips abroad. See if yours does, this might be a better idea to do when you’re more financially secure, and you don’t have to write papers!

17

When faced with similar circumstances, I dropped the course. It was a course in 18th century English literature, and a field trip from Canada to Bath, England, was part of it.

Being the airhead that I am, I went and dropped the wrong course. Rather than dropping the 18th century lit course, I dropped a 17th century lit course, thinking that it was the 18th century lit course. I attended every class of the 17th century lit course, wrote all the essays, and wrote all the exams. At the end of the term, I ended up with no credit for the 17th century course, for I had dropped it. I received a 0 for the 18th century course, for I had not written any essays or exams in it, thinking that I had dropped it.

All in all, it left me feeling quite dumb. Well, let’s face it, it proved beyond a doubt that yes, I was quite dumb.

18

Wow, your university admin must either be incompetent, or assholes, or both.

I’ve worked in an admin capacity at universities, and also as a teacher.

If someone sat in a class all semester and did the work, but later was found not to be registered for the class, then we made sure they got registered and got credit. And if someone was registered in the course yet did not attend a single class or do any of the written work, we would make sure that they were able to remove the course. And if someone did both these things, and it was all clearly a mix-up, then everything would be fixed in short order.

Any system that can’t or won’t fix these sorts of basic admin errors is fucked up.

ETA:

Also, at the last place i taught, the administration would, in the middle of the semester, send around an enrollment sheet for each course. Teachers were asked to look over the sheet, and to check that it conformed to the people who were actually in the class. If someone was on the sheet, but had not been attending class, or if someone was attending class but was not on the sheet, we were asked to bring this to the attention of the registrar so they could chase up the students and fix any discrepancies.

19

I could see myself doing something like that. Honestly though, that is just hilarious. I also find it funny that I know without a doubt that you appealed to the school to give you credit for attending that class and doing everything but filling out a form correctly. I also know that given the beaurocracy of a university they barely even considered it.

20

And for almost every single important career-or-education related job I’ve ever applied for, my experience with other cultures and my consequent ability to speak a second language have factored hugely, and has in fact taken up the majority of the interview time. I get paid more than other people who do my job just because I speak Spanish… and I don’t even speak it all that well. In my field (social work/nonprofit) it definitely gives you an edge.

The key is how you use your study abroad time. It might be viewed neutrally if you just do it to do it, but if you integrate it with your overall career goals and spend your time abroad doing something job-related, it’s a tremendous bonus. It indicates a willingness to take risks, an ability to adapt well to new environments and the capacity to maintain a strong sense of focus in stressful situations. I went to Mexico to ‘‘teach English’’ but I was really there for a very specific purpose… to learn more about how emigration trends have impacted the state of Jalisco, particularly the agricultural sector. I lived in a hand-built house on an isolated ranch where people tie their horses to a post in the middle of the downtown plaza. I taught an entire community of people and in my spare time I read books on Mexican politics and talked to the locals about their experiences trying to make a living. I got as awesome an education as I was looking for and the experience has never failed to be a huge asset both personally and professionally.

mhendo, point taken. Knowledge of a second language and experience with a somewhat different culture are pretty crucial components of my argument. Muffin that is one painful fucking story.