Study Abroad. My Story.
Three-quarters of my university undergraduate credits came from courses I took while not physically in the city where my university was based. I studied in 5 cities in 3 countries and learned 2 languages. My degree took 3 years instead of 4 and cost less than if I had stayed put.
After 1 year at Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, I lived for one year in Ecuador through Trent University's Trent-in-Ecuador program. I spent 1 semester living with a host family in the capital, Quito, and 1 semester in the Amazon doing an internship with a human and environmental rights organization. I became fluent in Spanish with no prior exposure to the language. It was hands-down the best year of my life.
I transferred to Trent University because I fell in love with the teaching philosophy, and because Trent University is Canada's top school for my program, International Development Studies. After an incredible year surrounded by like-minded people and a top notch education, I still had some credits to go before I could graduate. Since I had some AP classes that transferred from high school, I decided to graduate a year early by taking intensive french courses in two different places.
After 1 year at Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, I lived for one year in Ecuador through Trent University's Trent-in-Ecuador program. I spent 1 semester living with a host family in the capital, Quito, and 1 semester in the Amazon doing an internship with a human and environmental rights organization. I became fluent in Spanish with no prior exposure to the language. It was hands-down the best year of my life.
I transferred to Trent University because I fell in love with the teaching philosophy, and because Trent University is Canada's top school for my program, International Development Studies. After an incredible year surrounded by like-minded people and a top notch education, I still had some credits to go before I could graduate. Since I had some AP classes that transferred from high school, I decided to graduate a year early by taking intensive french courses in two different places.
I studied in 3 countries and learned 2 languages.
My degree took 3 years instead of 4.
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I did the equivalent of a 1 full-year course in 30 days through Quebec's intensive, one-month long Explore Program. Due to a provincial bursary that everyone who applies receives, the tuition was free and the room and board was free. I explored Sherbrooke, Quebec, although I could have chosen to study from 10 different cities across Canada. I finished off my University degree by taking a final course in the French Alps, which filled up my credit requirements. This was through the Ontario-Rhone Alpes program, which allows students from Ontario universities to study in the Rhone Alps. Again, this $2,000 course was funded by the provincial government, apart from the flight. All in all, I graduated with exactly half of my credits counting as transfer credits from different universities. Not all schools are as flexible with transfer credits, but if you're creative, you too can make your degree as international as I did mine. One loophole for me was that the Ecuador courses counted as Trent courses since they were taught by Trent professors. In order to do my second year in Ecuador (it is normally a third year program), I spoke with my department head and professor to get special permission to take second-year requirements while in my first year. In order to fulfill the spanish requirement, I took an online "intro to spanish" class during the summer. |
People tend to think that they are not allowed to do things because nobody else has done them before. I've learned on multiple occasions that this is not true. If you don't ask, you'll never know. If you're polite, persistent, and find the right people to talk to, most in charge are happy to help. Bottom line: Go talk to people in the study abroad office at your university. Keep in mind that you can do programs that aren't directly offered by your university and transfer them back!
It cost me less than a normal
4 year tuition would have cost me.
The best part of all of this is that I was able to pay less than what the normal 4-year tuition would have cost me. Let's break it down. After my first year of paying $9,000 tuition at Queen's University, my year in Ecuador cost me $13,000 due to a program fee. Since living costs in Ecuador were much lower than in Canada, the flights ($800) paid for themselves, as I would have been paying much more for housing if I had stayed in Ontario. My third year at Trent was regular tuition at $7,000. Then, for my fourth year, I already had 3/5 courses taken care of due to high school AP credits. The 9-credit Explore program in Quebec cost me nothing more than a $200 deposit. The Ontario-Rhone Alps program cost me $300 extra for housing and food than I would have been paying at home, and the $1000 flight there and back. So, instead of paying $9,000 + $8,000 + $8,000 + $8,000 = $33,000 I paid $9,000 + $13,000 + $8,000 + $1,500 = $31,500. Since I had been awarded the Chancellor's Merit Scholarship from Queen's University, which I got $18,000 from, and different scholarships from Trent, my total undergrad cost $13,500... flights included.
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