Study Abroad Not Considered "Serious"?

[Xenops]

I am thinking of studying abroad in Ireland while completing science pre-reqs. However, I am concerned as to how ADCOMs would view this: would they see it as a good opportunity, or a lazy way to finish science courses while "having fun"? I am under the impression that when many people study abroad, they don't really study.

So would it just be better to stay home and finish science courses and travel to said country when I can?

Also, I emailed the study abroad advisor at my university, and she said that foreign credits WILL transfer as A-F graded credits, and thus counted towards my GPA.

Thanks!

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[BigBear123]

Personally I think study abroad is awesome. I didn't personally get the chance to do it, but I think it shows that you are willing to get outside your comfort zone and like meeting new people. And it expands your cultural boundaries or w/e. If you really want to study abroad in Ireland, I think you should definitely go!!!! In any case, you should live your life for you, not for ADCOMs. 😉

 

[Barcu]

Like every other activity on your application, study abroad is what you make of it.

If you go, you can have a good time but also learn a lot. If you can convey that in an interview, it will be much more helpful than taking science classes back at your ugrad.

But having an A-F grading system really sucks. Are there programs where you don't? Part of it is because you want to have fun, travel, and not worry about grades. But it's also because many foreign systems grade differently, and I knew people who were screwed when grades came around. Programs will say that this doesn't happen, but it does (unless it is all Americans and American professors but then that just kind of sucks).

 

[deep122]

I studied abroad, but didn't take any science courses as none were offered. It was easily the best four months of my life.

 

[Slack3r]

No, they're not viewed as serious. Study abroad is for getting blasted and banging foreigners. Doubtful anyone will knock you for it though...

 

[StuartManor]

No, they're not viewed as serious. Study abroad is for getting blasted and banging foreigners. Doubtful anyone will knock you for it though...

🙄 seriously considering doing study abroad now 😀

 

[LittleDandelion]

I think I read somewhere on the AAMC website that they prefer you take your pre-reqs at a U.S. institution.

 

[semicharmed]

I think I read somewhere on the AAMC website that they prefer you take your pre-reqs at a U.S. institution.

Eh, 2 of my bio classes were taken during kind of a study-abroad spinoff as part of an abroad research field seminar. My adcoms thought that was pretty cool.

 

[BABSstudent]

I studied abroad for a summer. Definitely one of the hardest things I have done. Internship for 4 hours a day, 3 hours of commuting a day, and another 4 hours of class. On the weekends we had service projects.

I never had much time to get blasted or bang the natives. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen occasionally.

 

[Tappinfool66]

No, they're not viewed as serious. Study abroad is for getting blasted and banging foreigners. Doubtful anyone will knock you for it though...

I disagree. And it's a shame if you did study abroad and that's all you got out of it.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Study abroad is great. Don't do it for adcoms, do it for the experience. Go to scottland sometime while you're there. I went there for 4 days last weekend, and it is the most beautiful place ever. The city of Edinburgh is always super cool.

 

[Lil Mick]

You could take the science classes at your university and take other classes abroad. Study abroads vary according to country. My cousin did one in Australia and wound up in classes that were the equivalent of US grad school classes... Avoid winding up in a situation like that with your science classes.

 

[45408]

don't take your science classes overseas, but if you can do it and want to do it, I would. I wish I had.

 

[NickNaylor]

I'll give you my opinion from both sides. As a fellow student, I would strongly encourage you to go. It's a fantastic experience that you may not have the chance to do again. As an interviewer, however, study abroad trips are useless. I will sometimes ask about a trip if an applicant went somewhere interesting, but in terms of real value on your application it's very little in my opinion. Because let's be real: study abroad programs (unless you're doing something prestigious like Rhodes) are essentially vacations. Again, it's one thing if you're doing intense non-profit work in the prairie villages of Africa. It's quite another to go to Ireland and spend your weekends traveling across Europe for fun.

I don't think it'll be a negative for your application, but the reality is that it simply isn't very valuable unless you do something unusual (i.e., not just taking classes in another country).

(sent from my phone - please forgive typos and brevity)

 

[Renaissance Man]

Study abroad is great. Don't do it for adcoms, do it for the experience.

+1. Sometimes you can't do something (or not do something) based upon how future medical school admissions staff will see it. That is no way to live, especially in your late teens/early 20s. I would do it.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I disagree. And it's a shame if you did study abroad and that's all you got out of it.

Get off your high horse. Of course you learn other things while studying abroad, but the main purpose is to enjoy yourself. Especially if you're going to a place where they speak English, the point is just to have a great time experiencing another country. If all you did get out of it was drinking and sleeping with people, still totally worth it IMO.

 

[littlemage897]

I am thinking of studying abroad in Ireland while completing science pre-reqs. However, I am concerned as to how ADCOMs would view this: would they see it as a good opportunity, or a lazy way to finish science courses while "having fun"? I am under the impression that when many people study abroad, they don't really study.

This can be so variable. It depends on your goals, the program and the overseas institution. For example, I took ~30 credits of only science (no 'main' prereqs, but did take biochem and almost all my upper levels) abroad at a top uni (with USA grade conversions through IFSA - very important). I made it a big part of my app and secondaries, and it was certainly considered serious. Also didn't have to retake anything and all courses were accepted by medical schools across the board.

At the time I was abroad, I admittedly wasn't considering medical school, but it worked out. Highly recommend the experience in any case!

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

You could take the science classes at your university and take other classes abroad. Study abroads vary according to country. My cousin did one in Australia and wound up in classes that were the equivalent of US grad school classes... Avoid winding up in a situation like that with your science classes.

It really differs between colleges though. When I was taking a graduate neuroscience class at my university with a few other undergrads (required to get honors at my university) most of us felt at home with the material since it was just going into much deeper detail about stuff we already knew. One girl who had studied abroad and had taken her core neuro classes at her Irish university though had a hell of a time making it through that class because she hadn't been exposed to any of the stuff that our university went over in our classes. Poor kid had to study the equivalent of two of the hardest classes in our major just to begin to understand the material in the grad class. This was a pretty prestigious Irish university too, so it was surprising her education in this area had been so anemic.

Anyway OP, while med schools might accept your credit without issue, I wouldn't risk it. Take your pre-reqs at your home university in the US and just take a bunch of basketweaving courses at the foreign university (which, as a side bonus, will give you plenty of time to get blasted and bang foreigners). You should totally do study abroad if it doesn't interfere with anything though. Everyone I knew who did it (even that girl I talked about earlier) always claimed it was their best experience in college.

 

[LitLover]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I don't feel like starting a completely new one is really necessary. I know this isn't any reason to study abroad (as in, doing it to "look good"), but wouldn't intensely studying a foreign language while studying abroad be considered serious? Like for example, if you take the language for a couple of years at your university and then go to the country and take classes in a foreign language and become fluent? That certainly isn't something that seems easy to me, and I would be surprised if a lot of people thought that to be non-serious.

 

[Xenops]

I'll give you my opinion from both sides. As a fellow student, I would strongly encourage you to go. It's a fantastic experience that you may not have the chance to do again. As an interviewer, however, study abroad trips are useless. I will sometimes ask about a trip if an applicant went somewhere interesting, but in terms of real value on your application it's very little in my opinion. Because let's be real: study abroad programs (unless you're doing something prestigious like Rhodes) are essentially vacations. Again, it's one thing if you're doing intense non-profit work in the prairie villages of Africa. It's quite another to go to Ireland and spend your weekends traveling across Europe for fun.

I don't think it'll be a negative for your application, but the reality is that it simply isn't very valuable unless you do something unusual (i.e., not just taking classes in another country).

(sent from my phone - please forgive typos and brevity)

Thank you, everyone, for your input, and especially to NickNaylor. I think what I will look into is doing a study abroad during the summer, that way it won't mess up with my science classes. Also, I am amused by how many of you find "banging the natives" a chief priority. 😛

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I don't feel like starting a completely new one is really necessary. I know this isn't any reason to study abroad (as in, doing it to "look good"), but wouldn't intensely studying a foreign language while studying abroad be considered serious? Like for example, if you take the language for a couple of years at your university and then go to the country and take classes in a foreign language and become fluent? That certainly isn't something that seems easy to me, and I would be surprised if a lot of people thought that to be non-serious.

That is my impression, since you are trying to learn another language.

 

[BABSstudent]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I don't feel like starting a completely new one is really necessary. I know this isn't any reason to study abroad (as in, doing it to "look good"), but wouldn't intensely studying a foreign language while studying abroad be considered serious? Like for example, if you take the language for a couple of years at your university and then go to the country and take classes in a foreign language and become fluent? That certainly isn't something that seems easy to me, and I would be surprised if a lot of people thought that to be non-serious.

That's the difference between studying abroad in an English speaking country and one that speaks a foreign language. If you study abroad in England or Ireland, it may seem like you just wanted an excuse to travel Europe. You go to class, go to your dorm, hang out with friends. Not really that hard. You probably won't even be taking a full course load. To top it all off, you leave a first world country for another first world country. Wow, you definitely are roughing it.

But seriously, you would have it way easier than another person who went to a foreign language speaking country.

Trust me, speaking a foreign language 16 hours a day is no easy task. Definitely gave me headaches some days. Having to convince a kid to come over so I could give them a shot in a foreign language is very difficult to do. They always had the same look on their face: Time to do an eye test on kids who have just started learning the alphabet. Wait, you said C did you mean S or do you really think that is a C? Time to bust out the paper and pencils and teach the kids the alphabet real quick just so we can know if they can see or need glasses. Oh, now I have to explain these medications to another patient and if I mess up they can damage their liver. Don't worry, the directions are written on the bottle... oh, they can't read... that is going to make it difficult. I want you to repeat the directions to me to verify that you heard correctly. I will even add a star and a frowny face to help you remember what to do and what not to do.

Add in being in a third world country and having to learn a whole new culture, definitely makes it harder. Did I speak correctly all the time? Nope. I was telling people to suck on their medicine instead of chewing it and just swallowing. I can tell you from looking at the kids' faces that antiparasite medication does not taste good.

I know people who went to Australia just so they could drink since they were not 21 yet. Same with Ireland. Sure I drank when I was abroad, but that was not my reasoning for going. I saved most of it for chilling on the beaches for a few days after my program ended. I went to volunteer for a summer and intern in a subcentro de salud, all while improving my foreign language skills.

 

[Ellabelle]

Studying abroad is a once in a lifetime opportunity so don't miss it!
My school has a huge study abroad program and I know a bunch of Pre-Meds who have done it. I'm also studying abroad this Fall.
Trust me, you are not going to regret it!
I don't understand why it would considered unimportant or less serious. You are trying to explore other cultures and grow as a person. I don't think there is anything wrong with that!

 

[NickNaylor]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I don't feel like starting a completely new one is really necessary. I know this isn't any reason to study abroad (as in, doing it to "look good"), but wouldn't intensely studying a foreign language while studying abroad be considered serious? Like for example, if you take the language for a couple of years at your university and then go to the country and take classes in a foreign language and become fluent? That certainly isn't something that seems easy to me, and I would be surprised if a lot of people thought that to be non-serious.

If you are a US citizen, the Department of State has a program with this exact purpose. My understanding is that it's pretty competitive and you're limited to languages that might be called "strategically useful" (in other words, not countries to the east of western Europe). The programs are high intensity programs designed to get you adept at a language quickly, and everything is paid for. You might want to check it out if you're interested in learning a language.

(sent from my phone - please forgive typos)

 

[NickNaylor]

Studying abroad is a once in a lifetime opportunity so don't miss it!
My school has a huge study abroad program and I know a bunch of Pre-Meds who have done it. I'm also studying abroad this Fall.
Trust me, you are not going to regret it!
I don't understand why it would considered unimportant or less serious. You are trying to explore other cultures and grow as a person. I don't think there is anything wrong with that!

This is true, but, again, it's highly dependent on what you do. Going to western Europe isn't going to be significant no matter how you cut it. Going to Kenya and living with rural villagers, on the other hand, is more meaningful, and you could actually talk about being exposed to cultural diversity without getting laughed at.

(sent from my phone - please forgive typos)