Too soon to study abroad

Freshman year can be a difficult but incredible experience. Although some certainly adjust better than others, most freshmen are able to get to know their school and the people in it pretty well. Imagine, however, if this adjustment had to take place during someone’s sophomore year.\nAs more universities are sending students abroad in their first year it seems it will be the fate of more and more freshmen to spend a year enrolled in a university without really knowing how it fits them. Syracuse just announced a new “Discovery Florence” first semester study abroad program; the University of Mississippi is offering freshmen the option to spend their whole first year at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland starting in 2008; and nearly 200 New York University students start their college careers in London, Paris and Florence. \nWhile this new option still only exists at a handful of universities, growing talk of internationalization has other schools wondering whether they could try to emulate it – a move that could have dire consequences for many freshmen.\nSupporters of the programs claim that it helps universities attract different kinds of students and many suggest that some students don’t study abroad because they get too settled into campus life; something a first-year program could obviously avoid. Spending a first year abroad, advocates claim, can help to expand a student’s independence and worldview. \nSuch arguments largely miss the point. Freshman year is a time to connect to your school and get a sense of community. As much as some may scoff at the programs IU puts on during Welcome Week, it is hard for many to imagine college without that opportunity to meet people. \nSome students who spend their first year in London will probably have the skills to adjust to life back on campus, but will they want to? Will they want to try to penetrate the cliques that have already been established? What if they find that the school isn’t a good fit?\nIt is strange to see Florida State use offers of in-state tuition as a carrot to attract students to its freshman Panama City and Valencia programs. When universities use these programs to lure students, they make it unlikely that the students are basing their choice of school on how much they like the actual university. \nOverly ambitious freshmen – the kind who join everything from student government to the accounting club – have enough ways to overexert themselves right here in the U.S. of A. It is easy to imagine how some freshmen, all too eager to prove themselves, could end up burning out because they thought they needed to start college on another continent. \nIU doesn’t pitch any freshman study abroad programs – unless you come in with enough credits to beat the system. This should not be seen as a lack of investment in study abroad programs. Universities should offer an extensive range of overseas study options, but they should only be open to those who are ready.