No, I didn’t appeal – I was so embarassed that I let it stand. I had more than enough credits, and even with the F my grades were good enough to get into the grad school of my choice, so the F still sits there on my transcript.
As far as bureaupcracies go, I ran into a doozie when I transferred from one school to another. My new school said that I needed a Shakespeare course. At my previous university I had taken a Shakespeare course from Frye and another Shakespeare course from Dixon. As far as Shakespeare courses go, that’s like taking courses from God the Father and his son Jesus Christ. I was surprised when the new school said that they would have to look into it further.
Time went on. By convocation two years later, they still had no answer on whether I would be granted a Shakespeare credit. At Convocation they sat us by subhect major. I was at the end of the line for my class. They went down through the line and called up every single member of my class, then skipped over me, and continued along the line to the class of another subject major. I figured that this meant that I would not convocate due to the Shakespeare issue. Needless to say, I was terribly disappointed, and humiliated over this taking place in front of my family.
Then after all the other Arts students were taken care of, they called me up and gave me my diploma. It turned out that I had a slightly different major (Hons. B.A. rather than 3 or 4 year B.A.) and had won something, so they saved me for last. All’s Well that Ends Well.
Well, the OP said it was 2 credits, not 2 weeks. I’m a little unclear on exactly how long the trip would be. I was imagining it would be about six weeks. Obviously, that would be a big factor in deciding whether or not it would be worth it.
My program required that we paid our fees directly to our host universities, and mine were nearly identical to those at my home university - I had financial aid and just kept the same package. It did end up being more expensive, because I traveled around a bunch, but not insanely so. It was certainly worth it, but it was…you know, eleven months. I got a lot out of the experience.
I agree. What will you gain by a few credits and all the money they charge you? Usually the main benefit of paying a large amount of money to study abroad is to learn a language. Well, are you willing to spend all this money only to learn Australian?
Yes, but why go through the university.
Why volunteer? When I finished my masters I wanted to get out of the U.S., so I called up a former USIS center in Barranquilla, Colombia, and within a week a had year contract to work there training local English teachers. In fact, I took back more money than I took with me, because we had so little time for vacations. (Why did I go there? Because I liked the music from that region.) A recent undergraduate could have done the same thing. I say wait until you get your degree and then use it to get work abroad. Don’t just hand money over to the university.
How cool. My grandmother taught English in Barranquilla for a year. She took my then-teenaged Aunt with her and they had a ball.
I volunteered because I like volunteering. It doesn’t get much deeper than that. I actually waited until I graduated to go, not because I wanted to wait but because it was the first time I was healthy enough to go.
I see your point about the advantages of working abroad, but sometimes the only chance you really do have is during school. Relationships, children, and secure jobs might spring up and take precedence as you get older… you never know what adult life has in store. I was going to volunteer again in Mexico this summer, but I changed my mind because I’d actually like to spend some time with my husband this summer, plus I will need to prepare for grad school and handle some other obligations. That’s more or less why I think undergrad school is the perfect time to do it. Most people are almost completely free of responsibilities to other people at that age.
dollars to donuts if you try to pay the $750 a week or two after the deadline then your university will still take your money. The only big constraint for them would be if the program is full, but these are lean times so I’m guessing a few other people will have backed out as well. And finding another seat mostly just means finding another host family or dorm room for you, which probably isn’t too hard.
I do agree though, if you just want to go to Australia and there is nothing terribly special about the classes you would be taking, then you can probably find other cheaper ways to get there. It is actually a common a complaint of students who do study abroad that they end up always doing vacation stuff and hanging out with other Americans. Not because they’re lazy party animals, but just because when you’re on tours and in classes with your program all day then you don’t really have natural opportunities to make local friends .
I’m sure they did! That was the funnest time of my life so far, even though the work hours were demanding. Did she tell you about Barranquilla’s carnavales? Second biggest carnaval in the world after Rio, and makes Mardi Gras look tame. It effectively begins a month before the final celebration, and then when we got Monday-Wednesday off with pay (plus the previous weekend). The business of the whole city shuts down in the name of a five-day-long party and musical celebration. Interestingly, the only non-Colombian I’ve ever met during los carnavales was a guy from New Jersey, and I think he was there because his wife was from there.
Yes, during or just after getting a degree is a good time to go. I didn’t have any family or commitments, and just had to put all my things in storage. It’s great that you went as a volunteer, especially since you were teaching English, and there are opportunities to teach for pay in Mexico, where, as in Colombia, the cost of living is comparatively low to the U.S.
As for smiling bandit, however, I don’t think anyone in Australia is going to hire him/her to teach English. I wonder what kind of credits (only two, after all) are only available in Australia. Maybe his/her major is Australian archeology, or something like that, but otherwise I’d say that these are two pretty expensive credits, that probably can be gotten at his/her States-side school. If smiling bandit just wants to go to Australia, then he/she can probably find more economical ways to do it.
Muffin, that was my worst nightmare when I was in university. I’m so glad I didn’t hear this story till I graduated, or you would be responsible for me feeling compelled to check my student account at 3 a.m.
I took a 6-week course in Germany, in German language. I enjoyed it, though it was stressful to be in class all day, 5 days a week. It didn’t leave as much time for sightseeing as I would have liked.
I found, however, when searching for a program that there is a huge disparity in prices - because my university didn’t have it’s own program abroad (which I liked, because there were students from all over in my class, not just the students I had studied with before transplanted) I had a choice of several approved programs, and I chose the cheapest. The different was several thousand dollars, about 500%. The ones administered by American universities were generally the most expensive.
I also liked working holidays a lot more; it’s just so much less stressful. And you meet a lot more natives of the area (unless you end up like my friend, who worked at a touristy Scottish pub that played Runrig on an endless loop and had no Scottish employees, just Australians and Canadians.) I’m sure you can find a way to go abroad, and you definitely should.
Oh, and a friend of mine studied abroad for a year in Australia. As a Canadian historian, I think she found it really useful to take Canadian history from an Australian professor, and she studied Aboriginal issues there to compare to the Canadian situation. So not all students go for the beach and the barbie.
Really? Because for me the most comforting thing about a language class is that daily routine of showing up and participating, five days a week–none of the drama of a big paper building up at the end of the term.
And a well-prepared language course would connect your language studies with sight-seeing. That’s obvious. After all, that’s the major reason why you’re there–to implement your language learning with a native-speaking population.
That is quite a bit different than what you originally said:
Sure, there are numerous positions where speaking two languages and having a rich cultural background would be a competitive advantage, but there are just as many, if not more, where it doesn’t matter one lick. I can’t imagine running into somebody in my field who doesn’t speak English, and all of my travels abroad would be spoken of only in the lunchroom, if that.
It’s a great experience, don’t get me wrong, but career building doesn’t happen in two weeks. If the OP wants to go, it should be considered a vacation; although I would recommend trying to go for a longer period of time, personally.
Another possibility – if you are going on to grad school, look into the possibility of having a trip funded by your university once you are in grad school.