Esther Kang is an undergraduate student at Scripps College majoring in human biology on the pre-health track. Aside from her passions to improve access to healthcare and higher education, she collects and sells secondhand clothing online, as well as going to the beach at sunset. – She will be writing weekly blogs from her perspective about being involved in the Summer 2024 Pitzer Costa Rica Summer Health program at ICADS
Final Week!
There are hundreds, or if not maybe thousands, of study abroad programs out there.
How do you decide which one(s) are perfect for you?
There may be multiple programs out there that may be a great fit, but maybe your time to study abroad is limited to a summer, semester, or quarter. Especially if you have a packed class schedule, it’s ideal to not only know what kinds of classes you want to take to meet your graduation requirements and learn more about a topic you’re interested in but also what options for classes there even are.
To narrow down your options, I would encourage you to think about when and how long you want to spend your time abroad. If you don’t feel like spending an entire semester abroad, consider a summer study abroad, whether that’s ten weeks, eight weeks, or as short as four weeks! Consequently, such programs will be more intensive, meaning that you’re spending more time in class every day. If you are looking to pursue other opportunities during the summer and don’t plan on being abroad for a long time, an intensive summer program may be right for you!
Longer programs definitely have their benefits, especially with time–if there’s an opportunity to do fieldwork or an internship, you will likely pursue it longer than you would during the summer, which equals more experience! You also have more opportunities to explore the surrounding areas, practice the language more in context, etc.
If you need to take year-long classes in your home institution and you are looking into longer programs, definitely have a plan for completing such sequences before or after you study abroad.
If you made it this far, I’m glad you’re exploring the opportunities within studying abroad, as well as exploring the opportunities to study abroad in the first place–¡buena suerte!
Esther
