Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[rutsber]

A few of my teachers and peers recommended that I study abroad while in college, so I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with this. Thanks in advance.

[Svarte Troner]

I wish I could say that I have had such experience. Hopefully in the coming years I will, since I'm just starting college this year. ptw anyway.

[KaelGotDwarves]

Do it.

As someone who could fill an entire post with study abroad experiences, let me write a bit more.

DO IT.

[ed boy]

I heavily recommend doing this. I can practically guarantee that you will consider it one of the best things you'll ever do.

However, I can give less generic comments if you would mention where you are, what destinations are being looked at, your subject, etc.

[Svarte Troner]

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but would applying directly to a foreign university work or has anyone tried that? I was thinking of trying to apply to a Finnish university, which offers free tuition, but living expenses are what I'm worried about because it would probably be hard to find a job there. Or would it just be easier to go as an exchange student?...

[LordBucket]

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but would
applying directly to a foreign university work

Just speaking in general, would I expect it to depend largely on the target country. Legal requirements and what is or isn't practical is likely to vary. For example, foreign students in the US are generally charged a great deal for tuition. Using my own local community college as an example, california residents pay $14/unit and non US citizens pay $250/unit.

a Finnish university

http://www.studyinfinland.fi

but living expenses are what I'm worried about because
it would probably be hard to find a job there.

Do you speak Finnish?

http://www.studyinfinland.fi/faq_on_living_and_working_in_finland
http://www.studyinfinland.fi/living_in_finland/before_your_arrival/cost_of_living
http://www.studyinfinland.fi/living_in_finland/working/during_studies

would it just be easier to go as an exchange student?

Going as an exchange student doesn't necessarily mean you pay nothing. Third parties that connect students with host families generally charge for the service. Quick check of a couple services and I'm seeing upfront fees in the $500 to $1000 range. Though presumably if you have already have a penpal or a friend or know somebody who's willing to host you then you'd be able to get around that.

Also, specific to Finland:
http://www.studyinfinland.fi/living_in_finland/before_your_arrival/residence_permits

"When you are applying for the student residence permit, you need to show the authorities that you have enough funding to support your everyday living expences in Finland. Currently, non-EU/EEA citizens are required to show that they have at least 6000€ per year / 500€ per month at their disposal annually."

[Svarte Troner]

http://www.studyinfinland.fi

I've actually had that page bookmarked for like 2 years now. And yeah, it has pretty much everything in it. In other words I'm dumb.

Do you speak Finnish?

No I don't. I've been passively trying to learn it for the past 2 years, and I figure if I were to go there it'd be a hell of a lot easier considering you'd be way more immersed in it. The problem is (although it's a good thing at the same time) is that a majority of the people over there do speak at least passable English (except the old people of course), I've even talked to one Finn who said he knew a few Canadians living there for years who barely knew rudimentary Finnish.  at an age where I'm just at the cusp of the language acquisition phase (what), I hope it would give me an advantage in learning the language and such. Though I do realize it would be incredibly prudent to do so [now] if I were to stay there for a while.

Going as an exchange student doesn't necessarily mean you pay nothing.

I was under the impression that you'd still be liable to pay for the school you're attending at home although you're in a different country... I meant easier as in, they'd pretty much take care of most of the room and board/food stuff for you.

Hopefully I can get in with one of my aunt's Finnish co-workers relatives, she sent me salmiakki so I must be half-way there or she's trying to kill me

[rutsber]

I'm not in college yet, so I was wondering how much more it costs to study abroad compared to going to college normally. Thanks for the answers. That was also a good question to ask Svarte, thank you for asking it.

[ed boy]

I'm not in college yet, so I was wondering how much more it costs to study abroad compared to going to college normally.

I can't tell you without knowing your current location and your destination. Depending on those (and sometimes your subject), or could range from a lot less to a lot more.

[ChairmanPoo]

No I don't. I've been passively trying to learn it for the past 2 years, and I figure if I were to go there it'd be a hell of a lot easier considering you'd be way more immersed in it. The problem is (although it's a good thing at the same time) is that a majority of the people over there do speak at least passable English (except the old people of course), I've even talked to one Finn who said he knew a few Canadians living there for years who barely knew rudimentary Finnish.  at an age where I'm just at the cusp of the language acquisition phase (what), I hope it would give me an advantage in learning the language and such. Though I do realize it would be incredibly prudent to do so [now] if I were to stay there for a while.

I looked into Finland while checking out the requirements for doing medical residencies abroad. They require to be fluent in Finnish or Swedish to access the slots.

Now, it might be different as far as going to university is concerned, but even if a majority of the population does speak English... have you any certainity that the classes you apply to WILL be in English?

If I were you, I'd limit my applications to countries which I was already fluent in their native tongue.

[Svarte Troner]

No I don't. I've been passively trying to learn it for the past 2 years, and I figure if I were to go there it'd be a hell of a lot easier considering you'd be way more immersed in it. The problem is (although it's a good thing at the same time) is that a majority of the people over there do speak at least passable English (except the old people of course), I've even talked to one Finn who said he knew a few Canadians living there for years who barely knew rudimentary Finnish.  at an age where I'm just at the cusp of the language acquisition phase (what), I hope it would give me an advantage in learning the language and such. Though I do realize it would be incredibly prudent to do so [now] if I were to stay there for a while.

I looked into Finland while checking out the requirements for doing medical residencies abroad. They require to be fluent in Finnish or Swedish to access the slots.

Now, it might be different as far as going to university is concerned, but even if a majority of the population does speak English... have you any certainity that the classes you apply to WILL be in English?

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let me even try to take a class in Finnish/Swedish if I don't know the language. So that's out of the question. And I'm still not even sure of what I want to study in general.

If I were you, I'd limit my applications to countries which I was already fluent in their native tongue.

No other English speaking countries really appeal to me right now. Although studying in Finland is probably very daunting to a foreigner, I still have to at least try. There's a lot of pessimists out there on the subject, but I don't think it's impossible.

[i2amroy]

Do it, especially if you haven't ever really been to foreign countries that much. As someone who's family has hosted over 7 exchange students, and been to other countries fairly often, it's really worth it. I do suggest that if you pick a country that you don't speak the language well, that you really start cracking down on learning it. From what I've seen the better you speak the native language in your new country, both the easier it is to adjust and the more fun you have. Once you get their constant speaking of Finnish will help you a lot to learn the ins-and-outs of the language, but the bigger base you have before you go the easier it will be.

1)Go.
2)Learn as much of the language as you can before you go if your serious about this. It will help immensely and every minute of learning you put in now will save you 5 minutes of confusion when you get there.

[Svarte Troner]

hello friends
 i have no experience about it but my sis is going to abroad for study

Welcome to the forums linkbaiting! Say.... Nope, that's not suspicious at all.

[Bdthemag]

hello friends
 i have no experience about it but my sis is going to abroad for study

You seem like a completely trustworthy and legitimate person.

[Myrkky100]

Funny, I've been playing DF for under a month, just registered for the forum and immediately stumbled upon this thread.

Studying abroad in general: I've spent a semester in an university in Ireland and frankly found it the single most boring and useless experience of my life. But apparently I'm in a tiny tiny minority about this since the consensus seems to be that it is one of the best experiences you can have while in school.

Studying in Finland as a foreigner: As a rule, Finnish universities arrange enough courses in English for foreign sutdents to get enough credits without ever learning a word of Finnish. Such courses will be clearly indicated and the university will have staff advising you down the details, if need be.

On the other hand, integrating exchange students into the university community as a whole is somewhat limited. The number one problem is that because the university finds the exchange students flats, enclaves of foreigners are created. While that lessens the time you interact with Finns, on the other hand you'll find people facing the same little problems as you. Also, exchange students party even more than Finns and if the cops show up, the standard procedure is for everyone to pretend they don't know any Finnish and very little English.

And socialising with Finns is not impossible, you just have to make a bit of an effort to find and attend the clubs and language learning schemes the universities organize to get locals and foreing students together.

Language: Finnish has a reputation for being a difficult language but apparently that is because the structure is different from most European languages. The vocabulary greatly differs from English and stuff that most European languages do with prepositions is done by modifying and adding to the word (famous example: Istahtaisinkohan? = I wonder if I should sit down for a while?) That means that getting the hang of it is difficult at the beginning but once you get going, everything follows the same rules. However, unless you are very good with languages, you'll most likely learn just the very basics during your stay.