Should I study abroad?

Question

I just finished my freshman year with a 3.7 gpa, i am a business major with a minor in econ and i was thinking about studying abroad next spring. I was thinking about going to Amsterdam for a semester. For a couple reasons. First it would be extremely fun (weed). Secondly i can have a lot of fun becuase for the Amsterdam program my school gives pass/fail grades so i only need s c- or better.

However i have a couple reservations.

Would it look bad when applying for jobs becuase it is Amsterdam vs somewhere like London or Tokyo or something.

Second is it worth it?

So should i study abroad or not?

Answer 1

I highly recommend you study abroad. However, as the previous person said studying in Amsterdam is not that impressive. Amsterdam is a fun place to visit. I suggest you consider Spain. I studied in Spain and it was a great experience. Leaving  in Spain will provide you with the experience of a life time from improving your Spanish to learning a new culture.  Plus Spanish love to party.

Answer 2

You sound exactly like me, a year ago.

I am currently studying at the ISCTE business school in Lisbon, Portugal.  It is the best thing I have done so far in my life next to donating bone marrow to my younger brother to save his life.

Go to Portugal or Spain.  They are both relatively inexpensive and spectacular places to study.  Everyone understands that if you go to Amsterdam, that its for the weed.  Vacation there while you are in Europe, you should be able to get a flight there for less than 150$ round trip and free housing through couchsurfing.com.

I go to University of Delaware and hadn't been outside the country until January 16th, 2008.  Since then I have been to Portugal (Lisbon, Porto, and Lagos (almost as beautiful as Hawaii and only a 2.5 hr bus ride form Lisbon)), Britain (London - Really, really REALLY expensive), Bulgaria (Sofia, the capital city), Italy (Rome - visit here!), Czech Republic (Prague), Germany (Berlin), and Spain.

I went to Spain over spring break.  I visited Madrid, Valencia, Nerja (a beach town with caves), Granada and Barcelona.  If I had the chance to study abroad again, I would probably sudy in Granada.

I did not speak a word of Portuguese before coming here.  It has not hindered my fun in the least bit.  I took 4 years of Spanish in High School and that helps me immensely with reading.  When people speak to me in Portuguese they chop off the beginning and end of every word and I don't understand it.  I opted out of the language course (yes, I should learn the language, but everyone I deal with speaks in English) and am taking 4 biness courses.  My current major is Finance with a minor in Management Information Systems and I will be picking up an additional major of Computer Science when I get back home.

While over here all of my courses transfer, and the grades too, but I'm sure you could work out a deal with your school to not make the grades transfer, my scholarships require me to have grades.  I also lost no time while here, I'm taking courses I would need to take anyway for my major (really all business students can use  the courses I'm taking here except one) and I conducted three internship phone interviews (using Skype at 1.7 euro cents per minute!!!) , the last one in my boxers, and I got an offer at the last one for a very very nice monthly salary with the possibility of continuing it past just summer.

My courses are hit or miss, 2 really good, one normal, and one bad, but the workload is laughable, the parties are great, and of all the countries you listed, Portugal is the only one where you can legally drink in the middle of the street!

If you have any questions read my PG rated blog at glentravel.blogspot.com, and email me at [e-mail] for more information (including the non-pg rated blog) I am more than willing to share information about the experience that has really changed my life.

Regardless of what country you want to go to, GO.  Studying abroad is one of the best things you will do in your life right now.  As an honors student on almost full scholarship with a gpa > 3.5, I can tell you that this is an experience you do NOT want to miss.

Answer 3

Personally, I wouldn't be so impressed if you went to Amsterdam. You're not going to be learning the language there, the program doesn't sound very rigorous and Amsterdam isn't famous for much aside from liberal public policy. If you did a neat internship there, like working for a politician, an international business or at The Hague, I would be more impressed. It wouldn't look bad, but if you were up against someone from a good school like Wellesley who got fluent in French studying in Aix-in-Provence, she would have a leg up on you.

Studying abroad is always worth it, though. Unless you waste all your time hanging out with homesick Americans who have nothing but negative things to say about the Dutch and the Netherlands while holding American-only get togethers to drink and smoke weed.