Incoming freshman, would like to do a study abroad some time during my time at A&M.

Any suggestions? What were y'all's favorites?

Probably go with Slovenia, Slovakia, CR, France, Spain, Portugal, Aus/NZ or Scandinavia.

My son went to Granada, Spain and loved it.

He earned 18 hours, and it was about 2 grand less than A&M tuition and fees at the time.

My study abroad was " go across town and get a job"

Kids today……….

Italy or Spain.

One of the best experiences I had in college. Made lifelong friends out of it as well. My children will do it once they are college age.

I was in Dijon, France, but can't go wrong with basically anywhere in Europe.

Find a good chunk of money somewhere by whatever means necessary and live it up.

Don't go low budget on this because life happens and you may not get another chance.

Trust me on this.

went to chile. it was increible

Went through the marketing department for a month to 6 different countries. Was amazing

Seems like the consensus is "anywhere in Europe" lol

Anybody do Asia/South America/Africa?

I'd look at Singapore and Japan. You'll have zero problems as an english speaker in Singapore.

I'd also look at Colombia.

What is your major in?

I know my son's TAMU sponsored a class in Italy that was led by a TAMU professor.

TheTexian said:

---

Seems like the consensus is "anywhere in Europe" lol

Anybody do Asia/South America/Africa?

---

you didnt read the thread very thoroughly did you.

dude everyone said Europe aside from the one guy who said Chile

I worked in Glacier National Park for 4 summers during undergrad as a backcountry ranger and also a research assistant. Not really abroad, but not a bad place to work as a college student in the summer. If it were me today, just spin the globe and take any opportunity you can.

An alternative to studying abroad or a "study abroad" trip is to do an internship abroad through ILAP. They offer internships in Chile, China, England, Singapore, and Spain.

https://ltjordan.tamu.edu/programs/ilap/countries/

In general A&M offers:

1. Full semester study abroad at a foreign university
2. Summer semester study abroad at a foreign university
3. Cultural exchange trip aka the marketing trip and others usually led by a department or student organization.
4. Internships abroad

Depending on what you're looking for any could be a good option.

Thank you! I'll look into that

We had friend's kids enjoy studying abroad this summer in both Greece and Strousburg, France. Great experiences.

My wife did this in Segovia, Spain.

Though, why do I keep thinking of the movie "Taken" when I read and write these comments?

Niece did Madrid Spain and loved it

depends on a lot of factors. but the default answer is going to be Europe and the most popular countries are probably Italy and Spain. But dont sleep on France or Germany. I did an internship in France and really enjoyed it, though Spain is my favorite country in Europe and maybe the world.

South America is cool too, I would check out programs in Chile or Argentina.

Australia is cool but there are better options IMO.

Go for a semester if you can. Summers are too short.

I didn't study abroad but I've been to some pretty cool places.

Do you want to have fun and be comfortable and see cool stuff? Go to Europe. France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain. Anywhere in Western Europe or Scandinavia will be awesome (depending on time of year).

I'd for sure look into parts of Latin America if I were you. Chile, Ecuador, Para/Uruguay, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico could all really great places and if you have some Spanish skills you'll only add to your experience.

Knowing what I know and what I like to see most, I'd probably try to swing Singapore or somewhere in SE Asia, once you're over there it's super cheap to travel around (although Singapore definitely ain't inexpensive). but I think I'd rather just take a semester (or summer) off and bum around over there. I learned more about myself in the months I spent backpacking around there than any other stretch of life.

India, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Colombia, Indonesia, western China...where do I sign up?

In 9th Grade, I got to take a field trip to Kenya and another one to Western Saudi Arabia. In 10th Grade, I didn't just do study abroad in Texas, we moved there. It was quite the culture shock.

In Texas, their English was pretty good so it wasn't that hard to understand them but man, the obsession with High School Football was something else.

At Texas A&M, I got a field trip to Diboll and Evadale and another field trip to Snook. Pretty cool stuff.

Aggie Band trips to New Jersey, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Virginia, California, Tijuana, El Paso, Juarez, Galveston and of course, Lubbock.

Army ROTC trips to Fort Lewis, Washington, Fort Hood, Texas and the most miserable I've ever been for a five day stretch thanks to Rudder's Rangers, Camp Swift, Texas.

Sadly, they didn't really have study abroad during my era, not that I could have afforded it anyway.

Outside of Texas A&M, I did send my Class of 2017 daughter to Puerto Rico for a month to attend a Spanish Language School. That worked out pretty well even though I didn't realize ahead of time that the drinking age in PR is only 18.

Good luck with your study abroad but if you're a lolpoor like me, Army ROTC and the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band can provide some decent travel opportunities. Of course like all work travel, you don't get to pick where you want to go or for how long but, they do pay for it.

Did the ILAP summer in the Dominican Republic during my time at A&M...it was awesome, made lifelong friends that I still see to this day, and it was nice to be with other Aggies. So so fun. Definitely worth considering

rocketman1806 said:

---

Went through the marketing department for a month to 6 different countries. Was amazing

---

I did this program as well. England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands. 1 month, traveling by bus. Lots of partying mixed with great studies. I think I received about ~6 hrs credit that went towards my Business minor.

TheTexian said:

---

Incoming freshman, would like to do a study abroad some time during my time at A&M.

Any suggestions? What were y'all's favorites?

---

My sister did one in Spain (specifically San Sebastin) and loved it. I personally never studied abroad.

I attended two different study abroad programs in the UK during the summer of 1986. The dates worked out so that I could attend A&M's program first from May-June and then British Studies at Oxford from July-August. The A&M classes were archaeology, history, and Shakespeare. BSAO classes rotated every year to a different period in British history, and the focus my summer was on medieval England. We had seminars in Arthurian literature, Beowulf, Magna Carta, monasticism, Gothic architecture, etc.

I still have amazing memories from that summer. Between the programs, I even had time to take a week long trip up to the Isle of Skye on my own. With a BritRail pass and a B&B list, you could go anywhere in Great Britain on the spur of the moment. Besides classes and field trips to castles, cathedrals, and important archaeological sites, I also managed to attend the British Grand Prix Formula 1 race, took a full day racing class at Brands Hatch, hiked around Mount Snowdon, played golf in Scotland, had pints in the favorite pub of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and saw multiple West End shows in London.

England may not be as sexy a destination as others in Europe, but American history, language, and culture will forever be inextricably linked with England. It should be high on the list for any student wanting to study abroad.