My wife handed me her phone and says "it's your daughter".

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rayinpenn

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I was sitting in my easy chair on the second glass of red wine; it my first week back to work after two and half months (TKR). My wife handed me her phone and says "its your daughter" I think OMG what now. "She is thinking about spending next semester in Australia". I think wow nice. My college junior daughter discovered hard work in college and has done exceptionally well. She stresses over every grade but somehow manages to pull down a 3.8. As a parent she's an autopilot kid; unlike her HS Junior brother who requires an inordinate (IMO) amount of guidance. I'm inclined to finance her adventure as kind of a reward for all the hard work and as an opportunity to broaden her perspective. My daughter thinks the cost will be the same - I know better and am budgeting $10 grand extra.

I can't help but think back to my college days - community college then state university. Every dime was hard fought for and on me. Student loans, grants, couple hundred dollar VW bug and lots of worry (a wing and a prayer comes to mind). It was the only way of life I knew. My daughter has my old CRV, a season pass to the local ski mountain and not one dime of debt. I must say her top 100 university is a great deal at about $22 grand a year. ( as a point of reference -the local Villanova would be over $60 grand.)

I thought some more about it and thought - I WANT A COUPLE MONTHS IN AUSTRALIA. I have visions of a tan, sun glassed, shorts clad me fishing at the Great Barrier Reef.

I told a couple of colleagues and they said "Dad can I go too?"


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I spent my junior year abroad in Germany and it was a truly amazing year. If either of my children were interested in such a thing and had proven themselves to be hard-working responsible college students, then I would be delighted to help them get there if it wasn't prohibitively expensive.

For me, the extra expense really all came from the flights and the travel/short trips I took while there. The way my university handled the exchange was that we continued to pay tuition and fees to it (UNC-Chapel Hill) and a foreign student paid the tuition/fees at their school and then the two students merely switched places one-for-one. Student housing was pretty similarly priced in both places and as part of the exchange we were guaranteed a spot in a dorm.

Travel like that and the true immersion into another culture is such a broadening experience. For me, it was also a great way to really improve my German.

I hope it works out for your daughter. I assure you that she'll enjoy those memories and experiences her whole life.



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My niece studied abroad. She did a semester in Turks and Caicos and took two J term classes, one in Antarctica and one in Australia. She managed to stay within budget and graduated college in 3 years with $45 in her 529 account.

I think it's a great idea to spend time in another country, especially when you're young.


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"My wife handed me her phone and says "its your daughter" . "

Does your wife often talk that way? Sounds like she was either quite angry; suffered a TIA, talks in tongues or suffers from Tourette's syndrome. (But, keep in mind, these are just guesses, I'm not an MD).
 
Both of our kids spent a semester abroad - DD in east Africa, DS in Hong Kong. The cost was virtually the same as a normal semester (they were both in private colleges). The only significant extra expense was the trip that DD and I took to visit China while DS was there - well worth it.
 
Be careful, I know of a guy who went to Oz as a student back around '75, then quit school and stayed behind as an illegal alien. He lived there for about 6 years before he got into some minor trouble and got deported back to VA. I have to admit, if I was in college and got that opportunity I might do the same. Not saying that's what your DD would do, of course, but you could always end up with an SIL who talks funny.

Seriously, I think it would be a great opportunity for her. It sounds like she deserves it. Good luck to her. Btw, I suspect your estimate on the cost is closer to hers.
 
It does sound like a great opportunity for your daughter. The added cost would be travel/flights - which to Australia are significant. I would also look at whether the coursework is directly applicable to her degree - or does it extend her studies by a semester (a hidden cost). If you can afford it and understand the expenses... I'd go for it for her.

I hear you on the non-autopilot son thing. I'm struggling with my HS freshman on this issue.


redduck said:
"My wife handed me her phone and says "its your daughter" . "

Does your wife often talk that way? Sounds like she was either quite angry; suffered a TIA, talks in tongues or suffers from Tourette's syndrome. (But, keep in mind, these are just guesses, I'm not an MD).
Click to expand...

LOL

I think it has to do with the subject field not handling/parsing quote marks the same as the body.
 
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If you have the money I'd say go for it. I did a summer abroad to Mexico and it did help me in my degree (Spanish Language and Lit). The cost was about the same as the projected costs of attendance for a summer session back home. Very good experience for me and led to two additional long term fun trips through Mexico of 6-7 weeks each.

Academically, I'm not sure it would make much of a difference unless there's something special about Australia that you can't learn here in the US (biology related topics on local species??). But it'll still be a culturally enriching trip.
 
Travel is great for broadening the experience. Son was in college and asked for a ticket to Japan, so he could visit over the holidays. He was working and had spending money. I bought him a ticket. Can't remember the cost, but it wasn't cheap. I've never regretted that.

He lives and works down under, so PM if you need anything.

And yes, if you have two, there are two different situations in most cases...
 
Sounds like a nice opportunity.

Just hope she comes home. One my nephews meet a girl in Africa and never came back. Makes it hard for my DWs sister to visit the grandkids.
 
I'm still trying to figure out why you used that title for your thread.
 
I'm available for adoption.... Semester in AUS/NZ would be great! ;)
 
My son studied a semester abroad;
All his world history, art, languages, etc. 25 countries he traveled through. Instead of reading about Michaelangelo's David, he visited it. Instead of studying German, he spent time in a library translating manuscripts and with a local police department in Hamburg. And so on. The cost was a near wash with the semester actually a bit cheaper than if he had stayed as a resident at the university he attended. For example; cancelled auto insurance, no dorm and meal fees, etc. but did have air fare.
He came home a much more mature adult than I could have imagined if he had stayed on campus state-side. Nothing like sitting in a Turkish coffee lounge bargaining over a lambskin jacket to drive home world economies and currencies. Ha! Or a train ride from Budapest to Moscow where the Russian military patrolled the cars with their Kalashnikov's. Just to buy the ticket, standing in line, making change, recognizing you are being insulted because you are a 'stupid american' for being in the exact change line and not having exact change. He's got more education than any classroom could have hoped to provide. A better understanding of how the rest of the world thinks and feels about America and it's citizens. We are of Swiss decent; blond and fair skin. His nickname in college was 'Q-Tip' because he has such light colored hair. He called me from Switzerland and when I answered he told me, "I'm HOME". Everyone looked just like him. No one treated him like American unless he opened his mouth. Ha!

He now lives in New Zealand and has permanent residency. One of his three children was born there. DW and I now automatically qualify for permanent residency since we are first blood relation. That is impossible to do at our age otherwise. NZ is now always an option for us. Who would have thought a semester abroad would have brought that about?
 
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My youngest did a semester in New Zealand in 2012 and I think the only extra cost was a R/T plane ticket to Los Angeles. They were even given a stipend for a week off in the middle of the semester. His only extra expenses were for non-class activities and to cover costs when he extended his stay for 2 weeks (about 2/3's of the group did so), which included a side trip to Fiji with a classmate. Those costs were on him. Thinking back, tuition that semester was about $2,000 higher, essentially the plane ticket from LA to NZ.


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My daughter spent a semester in Northern Ireland during her Junior year. The cost was about double her normal expenses.

We told her we would cover the extra cost if she would plan on graduating in 3 1/2 years instead of 4 since we were already planning on paying for 4 years at the state university. She went into college with 23 college credits from AP classes so she was already a semester and a half ahead anyway.

It was a good solution to getting the experience she wanted and staying within budget.
 
I have a niece who spent a semester in Ireland working in a hospital(nursing student). She loved it and later decided to have her wedding over there. I think it's great to let a child spend a little time abroad.

I've got a lot to see here in the U.S. before thinking about going overseas. But Australia and NZ have always been high on my list of countries to visit. Hope to do it within the next few years.
 
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