Study Abroad Bloggers

Rail Passes in Europe

Part 3 - Continuing from "Traveling within Europe" - By Anne-Marie D Talking about Rail passes, it's absolutely worthwhile to check out the possibilities. Most travelers know about the Interrail pass, which is excellent, but there are so many good alternatives, especially for local travel. The last time I traveled to the UK I just needed to be there for 5 days, and I would only be traveling on 3 of these days. Sorting out train prices in the UK is pretty baffling as they vary according to what time of day you travel but also according to how far in advance you purchase your ticket. Same-day purchases are prohibitively expensive but I could not control my schedule so it was to commit to a certain train. Low and behold, I find a train pass that was almost as cheap as the cheapest possible tickets and gave me complete flexibility! Yay for BritRail! One word of caution, you do need to be outside of Britain when you purchase your pass. To be continued...

Flying

is not always the quickest option Part 2 - Continuing from "Traveling within Europe" - By Anne-Marie D When you map out your trip, look at the alternatives. A good guide book is fundamental as it's not always obvious and even locals might not know all the options. You need to take into consideration things like costs and time involved. Are there high-speed trains? Are there low-cost carriers flying between the destinations? To give you an example; You are in Utrecht (the Netherlands) and you'd like to go to Frankfurt (Germany). Now, you may like to fly. You will encounter the following problems; first, there are no low-cost carriers. So it's likely that you'll end up spending 300 Euro for a 1 hour flight. And your misery doesn't end there. As Schiphol is a terribly big airport you need to be there early, so your trip will likely take you about 5 hours. Whereas, if you'd take the train from Utrecht to Frankfurt, you'd do it in 3 hours and for less than 100 Euro (and that's when you don't have a student discount card, Interrail or other Rail Pass). To check on train times and prices, I recommend the German Rail website for trips ending in or originating from Germany, http://www.TheTrainline.com for the UK and Tren Italia for Italy. For other countries, just type in 'Train' and 'Country' (the country of your choice, of course) in your search engine and you'll be directed to a train site for that country. The ones I've used all had English versions, so monolinguists need not fear.

Traveling within Europe

Part 1 - By Anne-Marie D So, there you are, safely landed in London/ Paris/ Rome/... (fill in your (favorite) destination) and although it's fantastic where you are, while you're in Europe you'll want to see a bit more of the 'Old Continent', or not? Here are some tips about how to make your Euros, and your time, go a long way. First of all, rethink public transportation. In the United States, public transportation, at least outside of the biggest cities is 'limited' to use the understatement of the month. And truth be told, inside the biggest cities it ain't no picnic either... At any rate, most parts of Western Europe are served by excellent public transportation systems and using a combination of flights, trains and buses you can get everywhere.

Negatives about Studying Abroad

Part 3 - Continuing from "Why Study Abroad" - by Elizabeth G Now that you've thought about the pros and have been asking yourself some questions about going, you also must consider the cons. So, what are the three biggest drawbacks to studying abroad? 1. Potential problems with credit transfer if you choose a program that is independent from your university. Always speak with your advisor to make sure your credits will in fact transfer without any problems. This drawback is not always a problem. 2. Culture shock - especially if you've never been out of the country. Remember that culture shock is not permanent, so you need not let this be the sole reason for not going abroad. If you know that it may happen then you can prepare in advance. 3. Risk factors - With the way the world is today, you never know what can happen. However, if you are smart and do a little research before you go you can avoid the problem areas. A good suggestion is to talk to past participants and make sure they felt safe in the location. Ultimately, it's your decision. Once you get out into the working world, you may never have the opportunity to spend a significant time overseas. Make sure you make the right choice.

Why Study Abroad?

Part 1 - by Elizabeth G So you're on the fence about whether or not you should "waste time" away from your campus to embark on a semester abroad. You may be asking yourself, "what are the benefits?" or more importantly, "do the pros outweigh the cons?" For the sake of argument, let's assume that you have enough money in your budget to go anywhere you want for a semester. We'll look at the pros and cons (from a general standpoint - keep in mind not all may apply to you). From my experience, these will be the most common reasons for going or not going. We'll also answer some most commonly asked questions. Let's look at the top 3 benefits of a semester abroad first: 1. Second Language Acquisition - Yes, you too can learn a second, third or fourth language or improve upon the skills you already have in that language. 2. Going somewhere new - seeing and doing new things many times is one of the most rewarding experiences in life. You will expand your horizons and grow as an individual on so many levels. 3. It will change your life! - Perhaps this is the most important benefit of studying abroad. There is a great article here that gives some fascinating statistics and good quotes from past participants Source

Conclusions on University Sis. in Europe

Part 5 - Continuing from "University System in Europe" - by Anne-Marie D It's baffling to me how the European Union plans to unify its university diploma's and levels of education- in Germany you need to follow 8 years of accelerated secondary education before even being admitted to University, and then after 4 years (most often longer) at a Fachhochschule you obtain a Bachelors degree, while in Spain you have only 2 years of dedicated university-preparatory education and in 2 years you can obtain a Doctorado. And then I'm not even starting about the Babylonian speech confusion that arises from 'Doctorados' having nothing to do with 'Doctorates' and the mysterious 'Firsts' actually referring to a sub-qualification of a Honours-degree which is only really a Bachelors degree just with a certain grade average. Oh how do I love 'diversity'...

Spain Universities

Part 4 - Continuing from "University System in Europe" - by Anne-Marie D To be accepted into the study of your dreams (or anyone for that matter) in Spain, you need to not only have a Bachiller but also take an entrance exam. You take 1 of 5 possible exams, each linked to certain fields of study. You will have prepared for these exams during your 2 year post-compulsory Bachillerato. The Bachillerato can be studied at the same institute as where secondary education is provided but there are also specialized Bachiller-preparation schools dedicated to just that. University here prepares you for either 'Doctorado' titles, which you obtain after successfully completing a 2-3 year program, and you're 'Licenciado' when completing a program that takes 4-6 years. Conclusions to follow...

Germany University

Part 3 - Continuing from "University System in Europe" - by Anne-Marie D In Germany, you need the 'Abitur' to be admitted to higher education. You achieve this diploma after taking examinations following a 3 year preparation course (soon to be 2 years in most Bundeslaender) to which you can only be admitted if you have the proper qualification. This in reality means that children as of grade 5 on have to be on the 'fast-track' to be able to pass Abitur and study at University. Once the Abitur is passed, a student can apply to Universities, but also to Technische Hochschule and Fachhochschulen. 'Hochschule' are more practically oriented and always include an internship as part of the curriculum whereas universities are more theoretically oriented. After finishing your course, which can take from 4-6 years, you'll be awarded the 'Diplom' title. Germany is trying to convert to the more international qualifications of 'Bachelor' and 'Master' but to make it easy J it depends where you study if the former Diplom will be a Bachelor (graduates from Fachhochschule) or a Master (graduates from Universities and Technische Hochschule) in the future. More to follow...

United Kingdom

Part 2 - Continuing from "University System in Europe" - by Anne-Marie D British adolescents prepare for admission into University by taking 2 years of preparatory education after the compulsory schooling has ended (at age 16). This is called 'sixth form' and is finished by taking exams in select subjects, the GCE A-levels. Higher education in the UK can lead to a variety of degrees, but most students study courses at 'honours' level. Honours courses typically last for 3 years and lead to a Bachelors degree. They are called 'honours' courses but in reality you need to achieve a certain academic level to be awarded a 'first', 'second' or 'third'. Apparently you can also obtain a 'pass degree' if you do not achieve a high enough standard for an honours degree. So you see, in Britain one BA or BSc is not necessarily the same as the next. The UK also knows Masters degrees, and these can be awarded either after taking a short (usually 1-2 years) course after having completed an honours degree, or after following an extended undergraduate program that last, typically, a year longer than honours degree programs. At Doctorate level, the system is the same pretty much everywhere. More to come....

University System in Europe

by Anne-Marie D I don't think I'm the only one who finds it very difficult to 'translate' my European university degree to an international setting. Words like 'Master' and 'Bachelor' are thrown about but usually mean very different things in different countries. Now I thought there would be an end to this when European leaders convened in 1999 to speak about the different educational systems in Europe. Unfortunately, the result, the Bologna Process does not aim to harmonize national educational systems but rather provides tools to connect them. The European Diploma Supplement (DS) is one such tool. It aims to describe the qualification a student receives in a standard format that is easy to understand and compare. This is one step in the right direction but in the meanwhile, it seems that we'll have to deal with many different systems, levels and qualifications for a while longer. That's why I thought I'd give a bit of an overview for those of you who are looking to Study Abroad in Europe and a little confused regarding what 'First', 'Diplom' and 'Licenciado' mean. To be continued..

El Camino de Santiago, Spain

Part 4 - continued from "Best Kept Secrets from Spain" - by Anne-Marie Dingemans El Camino de Santiago is a pilgrim's route, or more truthfully, a collection of 7 routes, that lead to Santiago de Compostella in Galicia in North-Western Spain. The 'French route' is the most popular; starting in Saint Jean Pied-de-Port low in the French Pyrenees and running for 800km across Northern Spain to Santiago. Existing since the year 950 and once a rival to better know pilgrim sites such as Rome and these days, 'El Camino' is becoming more and more popular as a nature hike, and not so much as a spiritual exercise. With many people walking only parts of the route you may have trouble finding a bed in the 'albergues' (hostals) along the route. It's not very surprising that this pilgrim route is so popular, as it leads one through some of the most beautiful country side in Spain, as well as interesting cities such as Pamplona, Burgos and Leon. Doing a part of the route, with a stop or two in the bigger towns along the way, can make for a very interesting alternative nature/culture vacation. Of course, you can also bike or take your car.

Navacerrada, Spain

Part 3 - continued from "Best Kept Secrets from Spain" - by Anne-Marie Dingemans Did you know you can ski on less than 60km distance from Madrid? Well, you can! Granted, these are not Spain's best, most interesting, or longest pistes, but just the fact that it's so close to Madrid makes it an interesting day or weekend-trip for people staying in Madrid in the winter. It's very easy to reach, you just take a 'Cercania' (Regional Rail) or bus from Madrid for a couple of Euros and you're there in under an hour. It's also a very beautiful area for hiking in the Summer.