Studying abroad during college is a phenomenal experience. Having the opportunity to explore a new country, culture and perhaps a new language is something everyone should experience in their life. But, is studying abroad in community college a good idea?
I say yes and no. If you're planning on studying abroad for a winter session, summer session or in between transferring colleges, then I say yes. However, if you're thinking about studying abroad during an entire fall or spring semester at community college, then I say no. In this post, I'll show you why I think studying abroad during community college is not a good idea.
You're Time In Community College Is Critical
If you're like most students, you would like to transfer from community college to a respectable university. For some of you, that may be a quality local or state university. For others, it might mean transferring to NYU or and Ivy League school. Whatever your goals are, you only have 3 semesters at community college before you have to apply to university.
Three semesters is a fairly short period. In that time, you need to secure a high GPA through stellar grades, strong relationships with classmates as well as professors. At any school, this takes time. But, at commuter schools like community colleges, it requires a bit more effort.
Taking an entire semester to study abroad in Europe will take away from your time to build your academic record and relationships at community college. In my community college guide, I show you how to become the top student at community college. This is really only possible if you are attending community college for all 4 semesters.
It's Better To Study Abroad After Transferring
Let's say you don't study abroad in community college, but then you transfer to an Ivy League school using my guide. Now, you have the chance to study abroad as an Ivy League transfer student. This way, all your transfer applications and everything is done. You can really focus on your academics and the study abroad experience and take everything in. Who knows, you might even try paid medical trials to contribute to science while you're abroad. Pharmaceutical companies such as GSK are constantly looking for healthy volunteers 18-80 to participate in the development of future medicines. They pay an honorarium of up to $3000 for each trial. Volunteers on the register can participate in up to four clinical trials a year, so if a student participates in the maximum number of trials per year, they stand to make $12,000. That could pay off a big chunk of you study abroad expenses! (Honestly, I would probably never do it though lol).
There's a lot to experience and take it. Studying abroad will be a great experience regardless of whenever you decided to do it, but it'll probably be better if done after transferring from community college.
When do you think you'll be studying abroad? Has this post changed your mind about studying abroad in community college? Will you still go for it? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!
This post was inspired by Sally Shaws:
Sally Shaws writes about volunteering for paid medical trials. You can visit GSK trials for more information on taking part in these trials or to register as a volunteer.
