Perks of Short-Term Study Abroad

By Maggie DeBlasis on September 17, 2013

Scenes like this are common when studying abroad.

Though the school year has barely begun, the sense of summer hasn’t quite left yet. The temperatures still hit the mid-seventies during the day and the sun is bright in the sky. Yet students are still planning ahead for winter, spring and summer breaks. When you desire to study abroad, it takes a lot of preparation.

The Stamp Student Union recently held its annual Study Abroad Fair, and while there were the usual Semester at Sea and Maryland-In programs present, there were also programs like FREN399X and SPAN448E, which are short-term study abroad options.

Despite semester and full-year study abroad terms being the most well-known program choices, there are still alternative programs that offer to send students abroad during winter, spring and summer breaks. These programs usually involve fewer people, but are overall a little less competitive to get accepted to because they aren’t as popular.

By studying abroad during the winter, spring or summer terms, you don’t have to worry about missing out on football games and other fall-based activities. Campus life is less vibrant once final exams are done. Classes don’t start for a week or two and the only thing going on on-campus is construction.

Short-term programs also tend to last a few weeks, which means that for the short time that you’re there, any courses you take are much more intensive. But since it’s so short, the cost is significantly less than a semester abroad and certainly an entire year. In the summer, there’s also the possibility of having an internship or a job or even summer classes lined up once you return, seeing as the trip only lasts a few weeks.

Since the programs are short-term, you can convince yourself that going on more than one short-term excursion is the equivalent of studying abroad for a full semester. Going to Point A in the winter and Point B in the summer is about the same price as going to Point A for an entire semester, except for the fact that you get two different experiences for pretty much the price of one.

No matter the locale or the program, the length or the cost, you’ll still be going abroad. It’s one of the things people look forward to in college: living and breathing a different culture that will change you; meeting new friends; having new adventures; seeing things that your friends back at home will be jealous of for months to come. If nothing else, at least you’ll have an interesting answer to the expected “what you did over break” question.

If you’re interested in studying abroad through the university, visit http://www.international.umd.edu/studyabroad for more information.

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