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Best Study Abroad Locations...
- Thread starter DMacNeuro
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purely location-wise, Spain is pretty awesome. AND you can work on your spanish, which will make you an invaluable asset in today's health care system
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Wanting those specific science classes will limit you pretty substantially. Which is a shame, because going to Europe or an English-speaking country is incredibly cliche. Are you sure I can't convince you to go to Africa or perhaps China? Those places an unbelievable.
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Do you want to fall behind in your curriculum or advance in it? My university is extremely anal with regard to courses it accepts from outside sources. About a year to a year and a half ago we signed an articulation agreement with New York University. We have access to many of their study abroad sites, at our tuiton rate, not their's along with a plethora of classes. The only place you can go is London in order to stay on track with your curriculum. The affiliated university in London teaches organic and physics, both which are accepted by my University. You can, of course, get your electives out of the way but then your schedules becomes hellatious.
That being said... I have a friend that goes to American in DC. She traveled to Australia for a semester. Absolutely loved the experience. I would suggest Europe. However, with the current state of the declining dollar it may be rather expensive. I have a friend that travelled to London for spring break and pints were about 6 Euro, I believe. That's 9 dollar a piece when the conversion is done. Try cheap places relative to the United States such as the Latin or South American countries.
My advice is to go with a reputable university and not one of the contracted companies. I've heard too many horror stories.
That being said... I have a friend that goes to American in DC. She traveled to Australia for a semester. Absolutely loved the experience. I would suggest Europe. However, with the current state of the declining dollar it may be rather expensive. I have a friend that travelled to London for spring break and pints were about 6 Euro, I believe. That's 9 dollar a piece when the conversion is done. Try cheap places relative to the United States such as the Latin or South American countries.
My advice is to go with a reputable university and not one of the contracted companies. I've heard too many horror stories.
L
LikeClockWork
I loved my semester in London (though I took no science classes). It's a great place to get your feet wet especially if you haven't traveled much outside the U.S. The language and culture differences are very small so it's not hard to adjust and make your way around on your own. It's also a good place to launch from to take trips elsewhere in Europe. I hit Ireland, France, and the Czech Republic for much cheaper than I think I'll ever be able to do again.
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I studied in China for a semester my junior year -- it was wonderful. Not nearly as glamorous as Europe and (very) cold during the winter months, but there's plenty to do in a city like Beijing. Plenty of nightlife in Wudaokou, Sanlitun and Bei Hai. Everything is dirt cheap. I lived (extravegantly) in Beijing for 5 months on 1200 dollars, not including tuition. Tuition is usually a fraction of the cost of any American college, though. You can get a giant, incredible traditional meal for $1.50 US. You can get a train ticket across the country to the mountains for $30 US, if you like outdoorsy stuff. China is fast-paced and constantly busy, which made it really exciting to be there -- this was soon after they began construction for the Olympics.
Downsides are the harsh political climate and the pollution -- you'll have to workout strictly indoors. And you need to know how to ride a bicycle.
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Amsterdam is a good place if you like to smoke weed. It is perfectly legal in Amsterdam and it is readily available. You just walk into a weed cafe and make your selection and then light up.
Personally, I don't like weed and never use the stuff. I prefer going for a five mile run. But if you like weed, Amsterdam is the place to be.
Personally, I don't like weed and never use the stuff. I prefer going for a five mile run. But if you like weed, Amsterdam is the place to be.
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Oh man, don't you know you can do both? Just look at Steve Prefontaine.
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I double majored in college so I had a difficult time trying to study abroad. I must admit I sort of bought into the whole pre-meds-can't-study-abroad thing. Time definitely was a critical factor. However, now that I'm 7 months out of college, I can tell you not-studying abroad is one of my major regrets. I did however travel with my school to Beijing, China for a week as a representative of my school. That was pretty awesome but I really wish I had spent more time abroad. Luckily, I got accepted to an internship where I get to spend 5 weeks in Europe this summer. I would say for your first trip, go inside your comfort zone, but also a place where your dollar can go fairly far. Definitely don't be dissuaded from going abroad, you can do it without affecting your chances of getting into medical school.
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Haha... I prefer a 3.5 mile run. I have done it high, as well. Haha..
Seriously though, no more weed for me. I've smoked enough to last me a life time.
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I specifically looked for programs which I couldn't get in the US so not Biochem or Genetics, I was also a double major, and didn't want to get behind on graduating so I did a Summer program in Denmark (Healthcare in Scandinavia) which was a great experience we also traveled to Germany and Poland and other students went elsewhere after the program was over. I had been to Europe several times before so I didn't travel on my own. I will warn you though, I've heard most study abroad programs are a bit of a joke, as in American students are given light work so that they can "see the country" we didn't get that in Denmark it was rigorous and I would have liked more free time. But I learned a lot and the profs are great.
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I am from Oregon and Prefontaine is one of my personal heroes. I love that guy. I wear a "Stop Pre" t-shirt when I work out. Yeah, I am pretty sure Pre did his share of weed. He died at age 24 in 1974 in a car accident after a track meet in Eugene. He is kind of the James Dean of track and field. Man, I wish he could have run in the Olympics in 1976 and got that gold medal in the 5000 meters. He was sweet and forever young.
If he had lived, he would be 58 years old now, and a top executive at Nike with a 100 million dollars worth of Nike stock that he would have acquired in the late seventies. Phil Knight loved Pre.
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I d id a tour of 3 countries last summer and my 3 days in Amsterdam were PLENTY! I enjoyed the museums and the pancakes but as I am not very wild it wasn't my style. Also I got so lost cuz all the canals look exactly the same!
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Yay! Another DIS alumn. I did the marine bio program there a couple years ago and no, it definately wasn't the typical "easy" program (though I have to admit it was much easier than my home university). Worked out well for me since I was able to finish all my major electives abroad. Nice thing about Denmark was that the main language was foreign (Danish) but almost everyone spoke English so it was like having the best of both worlds.
To OP: they have bioinformatics and genetics, as well as some classes about drug development that look pretty interesting (plus medical practice and policy, which is really geared towards premeds). link
Ask if you have any questions, I used to work there so I got fairly familiar with the programs😉
