I promised myself that I would use this last blawg post as a public service - to help potential 'exchangers' decide whether an exchange program (or study abroad more generally) is worth their time and money. My answer is too nuanced to say yes or no - as I will explain, I feel that there are certain people in certain situations who should probably not go abroad and those who definitely should (and those in between). Where appropriate, I have drawn out specific examples from my various study abroad experiences, and have tried to differentiate between shorter-term stays and semester/year-long exchanges. I try to discuss exchanges and study abroad programs generally when I can, rather than limiting the discussion to my Erasmus trip - however, this is mostly about my Erasmus trip... I have tried to structure this by starting with a "Things to Consider" section then moving to the "certain people, certain situations" schema.
Things to Consider
Money
I can't pretend like this doesn't matter. I have the good fortune of having supportive parents who have subsidized my study abroad addiction (this was my third trip abroad for study purposes). Some of the costs are relatively minor, or at least should not otherwise preclude a trip. I refer here mainly to fees associated with acquiring a residence permit (if you're doing an exchange). There is, of course, the cost of your flight - which depends on where you're going. My flight was approximately $1200 roundtrip. That's what you can more or less expect for a trip to Europe on average. Tuition, at least in the case of my trips, matched the rate at my home university (for Erasmus, I paid FSU my tuition money at the normal rate). Programs that are not associated with your home university will complicate matters, and you'll probably end up paying more than you should. For this reason, I suggest as a general rule sticking with programs offered at your home university. Unless you're going on a very structured, abbreviated study abroad trip (as in my Munich Thanksgiving Break trip), expect the biggest unanticipated expense to be discretionary travel. I haven't added up the total cost of my trips during the exchange, but between the travel itself (plane, train, bus, etc.), hotel/hostel stays, travel at the location, souvenirs, and the added price of eating and drinking out for every meal on a trip, your full travel expenses over the course of a semester will likely get into the thousands (if you're actually making good use of your time abroad). Lastly, unless your program includes housing as part of the tuition, you will have to pay for that as well. My housing in Rotterdam ran at 540 euros/month (~$730/month) all inclusive. That's very similar (actually less than) what I was paying overall in Tallahassee for a 1B/1BR (though in Rotterdam, I 'functionally' shared the apartment with 3 other people - more on that later).
Time and Effort
I have to admit, procuring a residence permit from the Netherlands was one of the most frustrating experiences I can remember. I had to retake my visa photo four times before the Dutch authorities approved it. Also, there was a palpable lack of communication between FSU and Erasmus, which complicated the process. This problem became particularly pronounced in figuring out whether both sides had the paperwork they needed to move forward. The lack of communication also nearly made me rescind my application early on, when it was unclear what courses I could take (Why would I go abroad to take something like Law and Economics? More on that thought later). It took a number of back and forth emails to figure out how many courses I had to take, which ones were available, what qualified as an equivalent course for FSU purposes. I should specify here that my complaints do not relate to FSU law school's procedures; my hassle was always with main-campus FSU and Erasmus's international offices. To be fair, as far as I can tell, some of the problems relate to the ill-timed staff turnover in these offices. However, bridging the communication gap sapped a lot of energy out of me. Of course, another source of time and effort is the application process itself.
Living abroad
I imagine this is a matter for debate. Some love it; some hate it; I'm somewhere in between, closer to the love it side. Living abroad has its advantages and disadvantages. First, homesickness. No way around it - this sucks. There were times when I just wanted to hop on a plane and go back to South Florida to be with my wife. (Disclaimer: the rest of my thoughts here apply to Western Europe, since it is the only geographical location in which I've lived abroad.) With regard to the Netherlands, the biggest difference in my mind is transportation. In the United States, travel occurs primarily by car. In the Netherlands, unless you're an obstinate person like me and walk everywhere, people get around by bike or public transportation (tram or subway). If you read any given post on my blawg, you know how I feel about bikes. Easy public transportation intra-city translates to easy inter-city travel. Buses, trains, and low-cost airlines will get you from A to B for pretty cheap rates. I am a stereotypically-cheap Jew (let's say frugal), and took the cheapest options within reason. This meant 12 hour bus rides each way for London and Berlin, but those tickets were under $100. A train ticket to Amsterdam from Rotterdam cost 15 euros each way. My most expensive trip (Barcelona) was under $250 roundtrip by plane. Aside from travel, lifestyle differences are bound to surprise you (in a good or bad way). For example, the Dutch only work 4 days of the week on average. This leads stores and restaurants to have strange schedules, like one store being closed on Tuesdays and the one next to it being closed on Fridays. Moreover, stores in the Netherlands close quite early in general. Going out after 6pm is basically a crapshoot. The Dutch also seem to eat out for an inordinately large amount of meals. In addition, living arrangements themselves can be a hassle. I had a dispute with my landlord over who had to bear the cost of a major plumbing repair (hint: I was subletting the room; I'm a law student, and he's a dirtbag landlord) that resulted in him threatening to kick me out. I also lived the last two weeks (the exact time I was trying to write on to Law Review) WITHOUT HEAT IN NORTHERN EUROPE IN DECEMBER. While I lucked out with friendly and overall pleasant roommates (I had minor misgivings about cleanliness and noise levels at times, but hey, who hasn't at some point), it is almost impossible to anticipate if your roommate will be Mother Teresa or Amanda Knox. One of the pitfalls of living abroad has to be that you are very limited in your ability to be picky, whether regarding roommate, location, overall acceptability of the place, etc. This can come from lack of local knowledge, no local contacts, financial constraints, few avenues for communication - and on that note, clearly another thing to consider is language. I lucked out since the Dutch are in the top 3 globally of non-native English fluency (many spoke it better than people I know in the States...). However, if you want to go someplace where you cannot speak the language at all, even if the courses are taught in English, you need to factor this into your decision. Lastly, time differences make communication with friends and family in the States very difficult. Skype is your friend. But your sleeping patterns will likely take a hit.
Learning abrad
Without a doubt, this depends on the program you choose. I've run the gamut on this. My Munich trip was entirely tour-based, with my UF professor leading us from place to place as our learning environment. My Brussels trip was taught in part by my UF professor and in part by a local professor. My Erasmus exchange was entirely taught by host-university professors. The bigger concern for you should be teaching style. This mattered to a surprising extent for Erasmus. In American law school, it is atypical to do anything for class other than read the day's assignment and take a test at the end of the semester. Classes are generally held twice a week in ~75 minute blocks. At Erasmus, the method is less clear. Some classes had one final written exam; some had oral exams; some had a final paper; some had a mix. Non-exam assignments were much more typical at Erasmus. For example, I had to do a "moot court" and legal memo assignment for my EU Internal Market Law class. It took a little bit of adjusting for this "problem solving," interactive approach. Some classes also tacked on "seminars" to supplement the lectures. This generally meant an extra day of class for that week (the typical pattern was 8 lectures, 3 seminars). On that note, Erasmus did not run on a semester system, but rather split each semester into two distinct "blocks." On the plus side: more subject area coverage, less overall class time (especially important when you don't like a professor very much). The downside: you don't get very in-depth with the material, everything moves very quickly, almost no correlation with the work your American counterparts are doing, double the textbooks (which luckily are cheaper than those used in US law classes), and double the final exams. This last part was a BFD (in the words of Joe Biden). I received a subciting assignment from a journal during my first set of final exams in early November (luckily, the editors were willing to accommodate me, but this ended up leading to a double-size assignment for the second round of edits). The second set of final exams happened two weeks into my spring semester! I still can't believe this was the "December arrangement" I was promised at the beginning of the program. Sure, I could take my exams remotely, but I had to do so after a month away from the material and after two weeks worth of new material. That's not even accounting for the shit-storm that was writing on to Law Review, doing the initial Law Review work, moving into a new apartment, and just generally trying to keep up with reading for my classes while prepping for exams. Unrelated point: don't try to finesse work experience or an internship while on an exchange. Just don't. I was accepted for an internship, but that opportunity fell through because of the work permit issue. However, I am so happy I didn't have to deal with the hectic schedule that inevitably comes from working and learning abroad simultaneously. You should use your non-school time to HAVE FUN. Lastly, did I mention that (at least for FSU's exchange programs) your grades don't transfer, the grading is completely pass/fail, and you only walk away with 12 credit hours towards the law degree? (A separate, specific complaint about Erasmus: most classrooms don't have power outlets, so if you end up with multiple classes on a given day and intend to use your computer, you will need to search for an outlet elsewhere.)
Opportunity costs
I feel like this is the most under-discussed category of considerations when deciding whether to study abroad, and you need to internalize these opportunity costs as best you can before you abandon them by going on exchange. I know that I didn't; I don't think I would have opted not to go abroad, but the opportunity costs definitely make it a closer call. For example, if you go in the fall, you will need to wait until next fall to take classes that are only offered during the fall semester. This seems obvious enough, but because I missed the chance to take Immigration Law this past fall, I am going into my summer internship at the Immigration Court without that substantive background. Though I took 12 credits of amazing coursework on international and EU law at Erasmus, the lighter course load put me slightly behind the credit-hour average required to graduate (which I am making up with higher credit-hour semesters going forward). Moreover, since you're taking classes that will not be Bar-tested, you may have to counterbalance your semester of interesting, relaxed classes with a semester of boring-yet-necessary Bar-related topics. I also missed the international law moot court tryouts, which kind of sucks. Perhaps the biggest impact is being knocked out of the groove you hopefully got into during your first year. You'll be learning in a completely foreign system (in multiple ways), and those efficiencies you developed over the course of a year will be thrown somewhat into disarray. Point being: make sure you're not going to miss something you will forever regret. If it really is that big of a deal to you, I don't see how you can justify passing that up, despite the amazing experience you would have abroad.
Certain People, Certain Situations
1) You have a strong passion for international issues/law.
Unless you feel that one of the "things to consider" is prohibitive for whatever reason (such as lack of financial resources, overly high opportunity costs, specific language issues, etc.), go abroad.
2) You want to take classes that are not offered at your home school.
This is a strong reason militating in favor of going abroad. However, two things to remember: 1) your grades won't transfer (and relatedly, your transcript will not reflect course titles; almost everything will be listed as "Special Topics"), and 2) your willingness to study hard in a foreign environment can be substantially diminished by the desire to travel and experience the culture. As much as I loved learning about international and EU law, my will to "hit the books" was surprisingly low because I kept thinking about where to travel next or what "Dutch" thing to do with my time that I couldn't do in the States.
3) You want to work abroad, now or after school.
Pretty strong case to make for going on exchange here. You never know who you will meet. Since the law degree in Europe is an LLB (achieved at the bachelor level), you will have peers who are technically "lawyers." They might have connections, and even if they don't, they know where to look. Especially if you like public international law, the vast majority of work in that field is happening outside of the United States (you want to be in Brussels, The Hague, Geneva, etc).
4) You have a lot of disposable income.
Hey, why not? You can easily turn an exchange program into a semester-long vacation with minimal academic effort. I actually don't see a massive problem with this. Absorbing the culture, meeting new people, and experiencing life in a foreign place represent some of the most important reasons to go abroad. If you have enough money to do that with even the most minimal commitment to academics to distinguish the trip from a treatise on international hedonism, more power to you. Just don't spend all that money doing something you really don't want to do. By the way, donate to charity, you filthy animal.
5) You're lukewarm about anything 'international' but you kinda sorta like traveling.
As Robin Thicke would say, "I hate these blurred lines/I know you want it." This is a fuzzy category. If you have an "eh" level desire to travel and don't have particular interest in international affairs or life abroad, it's hard to see why you'd go. As I've been arguing, the program essentially has two components: 1) academic and 2) life abroad. If you aren't gung ho about learning the law you can only learn abroad, and you're not even that enthusiastic about spending four months traveling Europe, I have a hard time giving you the thumbs up here. However, studying abroad can easily "tip the scales" in favor of a more international life down the road. This is really a balance for you to weigh personally.
6) You really could care less about school and just want to travel.
See category 4... You can't get away with completely blowing off school, but even a baseline expectation of learning something and interacting with foreign peers makes the exchange different from traveling.
7) You have no interest in international affairs, traveling, etc.
Do you even need to ask? If you see the exchange as checking a box that says "not what I'm doing now," first - what are you doing in law school (or your program)? Second, why would you use so much time, effort, and resources to go abroad?
8) You think going abroad would be a cool thing to have on your resume.
Don't go. Sure, it's a nice talking point. But you are spending four months of your life in a foreign nation and spending a substantial amount of money (if you're doing it right). You should have a better reason than "It'd be nice to have a single line of my resume say 'Exchange Program' to really bump up how interesting my life outwardly seems."
9) You already have a job (and career) lined up domestically, and you're absolutely certain it's what you want to do with your life.
Just go on a vacation instead. The initial 'transaction costs' alone for preparing to go abroad would probably discourage you enough from applying anyway. However, the farther you get from certainty about what you want to do with your life, the more I suggest looking into the program.
10) You're low on income but you really do want to go abroad for various reasons.
Find a way to make it work. There are ways to make it work. I received a scholarship from FSU, and while it was unrelated to the specific act of going abroad, I used that money to cushion the blow of my travel expenses. There are myriad opportunities for funding, whether through the school generally, specific programs at a school, outside organizations, or friends and family.
11) I just got married, and basically ditched my wife to go abroad, but I really like EU and international law, so...yea...
Too soon...
I inevitably left things out. Please comment and ask me to discuss something if I have neglected to address it so far. I will update this post whenever other thoughts pop into my head.
Today's Dutch lesson: eind ("the end").
Thanks for reading.
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