We know the feeling.. Summer is over; you're back in school, but instead of studying,
you're watching travel vlogs on YouTube
counting down the days until graduation when you can take off on your big adventure.
But don't worry... traveling the world doesn't have to wait for graduation.
Studying abroad can be one of the most enriching
experiences of your life, and there are tons of scholarships
to make It no more expensive than your current tuition.
We're going to be making a follow up video with information about scholarships, grants, and fellowships.
But this video is going to get you inspired about all the places you can study abroad.
Before we get started, it's important to ask yourself the following questions:
First and foremost: where does your school offer study abroad programs?
Every school partners with different universities overseas, but your study abroad office can tell you
specifically where you can go.
Next ask yourself these questions:
What is your major? What's your budget?
Are you learning a foreign language, and
can this experience help you get a job after you graduate?
No matter where you choose, one piece of advice applies everywhere:
If you're going to spend the time and the money to move abroad,
avoid the familiar and go to the place with the most
culture shock that you can handle.
The more you pop out of your comfort zone, the more you'll grow,
the more this experience will help you in the future.
Even if you do choose a popular destination like Italy or London,
remember to limit your time with other foreigners
and try your best to integrate yourself in the local culture.
You'll make connections that will last a lifetime.
If you have not already, make sure you subscribe to Vagabrothers; turn on notifications;
Give this video a big thumbs -up, and share with your classmates.
And if you've studied abroad already, leave your own tips in the comment section.
Now remember this is not a lecture.
There's not going to be a test,
but you may want to take some notes.
These are the best places to study abroad.
The most popular study abroad destination in the world is.. you guessed it
Italy.
The prospect of spending a semester enjoying "La Dolce Vita,"
indulging in the Mediterranean diet,
Signore??? Va bene.
and learning Italian in the arms of a local lover
is all quite enticing, and the schools are good, too.
Mi piace.
Take Rome, the Eternal City with over 2,000 years of history.
Milano, the fashion capital of the world.
Florence also known as Firenze,
the birthplace of the Renaissance,
Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and all of the other Ninja Turtles.
But if you want to go deeper, consider these universities:
Bologna, Padua, Napoli, or Torino in the north.
These are some of the oldest universities in the world,
and they're off the tourist trail.
For English speakers and English students, the U.K. is an understandably popular destination.
Synonymous with sophistication and full of dream schools like Oxford,
Cambridge, and the London School of Economics,
who wouldn't want to study in the U.K.?
And if you haven't travelled much,
the U.K. is a really great first time destination.
London is the obvious choice
with plenty of prestigious schools, loads of students and no
shortage of things to do in your free time.
In Northern England, you have Manchester,
home to the top-ranked University of Manchester
with a music scene that produced bands like Joy Division,
Oasis and The Smiths.
In Scotland consider studying in the gorgeous capital of Edinburgh,
an historic hilltop town with loads of students, great nightlife, and a castle.
It's basically the closest thing you're going to get to studying at Hogwarts.
Next up: Spain, which will teach you that there's a lot
more to being a student than just studying..
Leisurely lunches,
conversations over cafe con leche,
and all-night parties will make you never want to go home.
Plus it's a great place to learn Spanish with the proper Castilian accent.
Castellano better than Castilla.
Madrid Is the obvious choice,
as is Barcelona.
Both are great cities to study in,
but there are tons of foreign students,
and it's easy to get lumped in with rest of the Guiris.
Spelt G-U-I-R-I-S
is Spanish slang for foreigners.
Dive deeper by studying in Salamanca,
the university town in Castilla Leon,
the heartland of Spain.
Also consider San Sebastian or Bilbao in our beloved Basque Country.
You can also check out Santiago de Compostela, the holy city in Galicia,
not to mention Sevilla, Granada, Malaga.
There are so many beautiful cities in Spain,
and all of them have great universities.
If you already speak Spanish, why not challenge yourself to learn
some of the local languages like Basque, Catalan, Gallego?
The options are endless.
Public service announcement:
Did you realize over two-thirds of U.S. students study abroad in Europe
with over one-third studying in Italy, Spain, and the U.K. alone?
By comparison only 16% studied in Asia, 12 % in Latin America.
Africa, the Middle East, and Australia were all in the single digits.
So on that note, let's think more broadly than Western Europe.
Take for example China.
You may be asking yourself why China?
Let's take a little moment to think hmmm
With over 3,500 years of written history,
it is the oldest continuous
civilization on earth with the widest spoken language and the second largest economy in the world.
In short, China matters and
studying there is probably a good call for your future career.
Hong Kong is the softest landing for many westerners because it's a former British
territory that speaks English and blends east and west like no other place on earth.
But if you plan on learning Mandarin,
you might want to choose Beijing or Shanghai
because in Hong Kong the primary language is Cantonese.
Shanghai is another solid choice for China.
Like Hong Kong, it's a global financial hub full of expats,
locals, and students alike.
If you're trying to beef up your resume,
it's hard to think of a better place to do it than Shanghai.
Beijing, China's massive capital, is ideal for those of you looking to dive into the deep end.
With over 21 million inhabitants and over
3,000 years of history,
Beijing is the beating heart of rising China, and it would be a great place to study for a semester.
If China seems like too much culture shock,
consider Singapore, a prosperous
city state founded by the British that today Is a global hub of finance and trade
with some really great schools to match.
National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technical University are both in the top 40 worldwide.
Beyond that, the population is a mixture of Chinese,
Indians, and Malay, which creates a very unique cultural experience, not to mention the food is
incredible and its location right at the tip of Southeast Asia makes It the perfect place to base yourself
to explore more of the region including Thailand, the Philippines,
Indonesia, all of these countries are a hop skip and a jump away from Singapore.
Moving back to Europe we have France,
a classic choice since the Days of the Enlightenment
because Paris is always a good idea, especially when you consider schools like the Sarbonne and Science Po,
and H.E.C. Business School, just to name a few.
In terms of learning a language
French is still a really great choice,
not as popular as Spanish or Chinese,
but spoken by 220 million people worldwide.
Very handy for getting around Africa, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific.
If you want to get beyond Paris,
check out Bordeaux in the southwest, wine country, the Mediterranean melting pot of Marseille,
the student city of Montpellier or
Grenoble, a skier's paradise nestled in the Alps.
Another great place to learn French is Montreal in Quebec,
a bilingual city home to the excellent Mcgill University and the
Université de Montréal. It has more post-grad students than any other city in North America.
In short, it's smart, sexy, and sophisticated ,and a great place to live for awhile.
Another alternative is Vancouver,
Canada's third largest city nestled in the beautiful
forests of coastal British Columbia.
Vancity Is a great place to be,
and it's within striking distance of
Whistler Blackcomb Mountain,
one of the world's best ski and snowboard destinations.
While we're in North America, how about the USA?
The United States still has some of the world's best universities
and unparalleled student life.
Take Boston, quintessential New England, home to Harvard and M.I.T.
and some epic nightlife.
Or New York.. packed with great schools, tons of young, single people and
things to do, plus plenty of great ethnic restaurants that are so cheap,
they won't break your bank, even if your rent does.
In California, the Bay Area has Berkeley, Stanford, and many others.
While in Los Angeles you have my alma mater UCLA,
one of the top destinations for international students.
And my school UC Santa Barbara
voted number one party school in the world by Playboy.
Lastly.... Boulder, Colorado.
Not only one of the most educated cities in the country,
but also some of the wildest party life and
incredible surroundings, the Rockies.
Back in Europe, let's check out the Netherlands,
which has a large English- speaking population.
And if you're going to learn Dutch,
it's actually the closest related language to English.
In the Netherlands you can literally bike everywhere,
not to mention it's extremely well connected
to Europe via trains and airports.
Plus weed is legal.
So when you don't feel like studying, you can do that.
Amsterdam Is great and has plenty of universities,
but the oldest in the Netherlands is the
University of Leiden,
not to mention Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
For students looking for sunshine and good times,
what about Australia?
If you speak English or want to learn it,
Australia has some great options.
Sydney combines the best of Oz's beach vibes
with the urban sophistication of one of the world's most dynamic cities.
Melbourne, Australia's bohemian second city,
is consistently ranked one of the best places in the world to live.
And Brisbane with three major universities, two million people, and one of the highest student
ratios of any major city in the world.
It's also the gateway to the Gold Coast, which is a great option for sun seekers.
Not far away is New Zealand, which is
perfect for those of you who feel like a more chilled version of Australia and those of you who love nature.
Our dad is from New Zealand.
We are New Zealand citizens as well as American citizens, and I actually
studied abroad at the University of Otago in Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand.
It was one of the best experiences of my life.
The university life, the student life was great at Otago.
There were tons of parties, tons of great people,
and it was located very close to
explore lots of the wild nature in the South Island.
The University of Auckland is New Zealand's top school in the largest city.
But consider the University of Victoria in Wellington,
the coolest little capital in the world.
On the other side of the globe,
consider the alpine nation of Austria,
home to Vienna, one of the world's great intellectual cities.
Vienna is absolutely gorgeous,
very safe, and it's been consistently ranked one of the best places to live in the world.
It's also at the center of Europe just
a short train ride away from Budapest, Prague, Italy and the Alps.
Plus Vienna invented coffee houses as we know them.
So when it comes time to study, you're going to have plenty of coffee to keep you going.
Nearby Prague is a great place for students because
A: it's not on the Euro and B: beer is literally cheaper than water.
Prague has been home to creative such as Franz Kafka and Milan Kundera,
and it still is a great place for young creatives.
Plus it's centrally located within the continent of Europe,
which means all of that money you've saved on your beer fund,
you can use to travel to other places.
Also in central Europe is Budapest,
which like Prague is not on the Euro and therefore one of the cheaper places to study in Europe.
It's got a long intellectual history, some beautiful people, great nightlife and not to mention over
200 natural hot springs in the middle of the city.
So when you get tired from studying, go check out one of its many spas.
Moving to the North Atlantic, we do recommend highly that you check out the island of Ireland.
Now I don't know how good my Irish accent was.
I'd like to think it's ok,
but I will highly recommend that you study abroad in Ireland
because Ireland Is one of our favorite places to travel, period.
The Irish have incredibly good vibes. They are welcoming. They are friendly. They are fun.
The countryside is absolutely gorgeous.
You have the ocean; you have mountains; you have pretty damn good food, not to mention Guinness.
If you're going to study abroad in Ireland,
consider Trinity College in Dublin, a revered centre for learning
and home to the incredibly famous Book of Kells.
Dublin itself is a Unesco city of literature.
As pretentious as that sounds, it's actually pretty awesome.
Dublin has created some incredible writers and their
legacy Is visible all over the city.
Some would say that Galway Is a better call.
It's much more low-key located on the western Atlantic side of Ireland.
It's a great music city, plus you have the Cliffs of Moore
and most of the Wild Atlantic Way within day trip length from the city.
For Spanish speakers we recommend Argentina, specifically Buenos Aires
where they're nine reputable and relatively affordable universities.....
Plus so much more that this South American center can teach you.
Tango lessons anyone? The lifestyle here is great:
parties that go all night, dinners of asado washed down with some malbec,
not to mention plenty of mate tea for when it comes time to study.
But if you are coming to learn Spanish,
just keep in mind that
Argentinian Spanish Is the most distinctive all Spanish dialects.
It's not necessarily a bad thing,
but something that people will notice as you speak Spanish outside of Argentina for the rest of your life.
If you want to learn a more neutral Spanish, learn it in Mexico,
which is the widest spoken dialect of Spanish,
and it's understood across the continent.
Mexico City is one of the world's great cities,
full of history, culture, incredible architecture, great food,
and pretty amazing nightlife.
Only on the weekends though students, okay ?
Thursday, Wednesday party nights is not allowed, all right?
[Whispers] It's allowed. You should do it,
but don't tell your parents I said you can do it, OK?
Yeah.. you can figure that out.
For Americans it's not technically overseas.
But building relations with our neighbors
south of the border is always a good call, and I guarantee you it will help you find a job
when you move back to the USA.
Despite being the second most populous country in the world,
relatively few students choose to study in India, which is a shame that we hope this video can rectify.
India Is one of the most stunning countries on earth.
I had the opportunity to work in Mumbai for four months after graduation.
It was one of the best decisions of my life.
The colors, the smells, the taste, the food ,all incredible.. not to mention
English is widely spoken.
Locals are super curious about foreigners, and it's
guaranteed to push you out of your comfort zone.
There are schools all over India, but
Mumbai has it all. It's the most
globally connected city in India with great schools and plenty of things to do.
For those of you interested in
Africa, the most logical place to study abroad is Cape Town and with good reason.
First Up: English is widely spoken..
Plus if you're from the Northern Hemisphere
Cape Town and South Africa are in the Southern Hemisphere.
So if you were to study abroad, say your winter semester,
you technically have two summers. It's pretty awesome.
Safety can be a concern here so you do have to have your wits about you.
But the standard of living is the closest you're going to get to North America or European
standard of living in the continent of Africa.
Lastly, South Africa's history has a lot to teach all of us.
From the struggles of colonialism to
apartheid, to the post apartheid world, it has a lot of lessons that all of us can learn from.
Also in Africa Is Accra, Ghana which has become increasingly
popular with African American students looking to connect with their West African heritage.
There's also a growing community of
African-American expats, thanks to a law known as the Right to Abode,
which gives people of African descent the ability to obtain permanent
residence to start a business.
So after graduation, you've got the great startup idea, this might be the place to do it.
Beyond that Ghana Is one of the more politically stable and safe countries in the region and a great gateway
to a continent that a lot of students overlook.
Moving south, how about Brazil?
Although we can't promise you're going to get a lot of studying done because this country is seriously fun.
That being said the top-ranked school in Latin America is the Universidad de Sao Paulo, and not far behind is a
Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro.
I'm still working on my Portuguese, but
Portuguese is a great language to learn, and it's really fun if you do It through activities such as capoeira,
Jujitsu,
surfing, football, or just learning how to dance Samba.
Plus people in Brazil are beautiful,
so what do you have to lose?
Okay last on our list is the option for the person who wants everything or just can't decide where to go.
That's Semester at Sea.
It's a floating university on a cruise ship that docks in 8 to 15 countries on two to four continents, including
destinations such as Russia, Morocco, Cuba, and Ghana.
Semester at Sea definitely has a lot of positives,
a lot of variety, a lot of partying, and
from what we hear..a lot of romance.
But there's also some drawbacks.
First of all it's not cheap.
You're on a cruise ship for an entire semester.
You're also surrounded by foreigners most of the time,
so it's less about cultural immersion than a cultural buffet.
In sum, it's not for everyone,
but if it's right for you and you can afford it, go for it.
All right ladies, gentlemen, fellow Vagabonds,
those were our tips on the best places
to study abroad in the world.
If you have studied abroad,
please share your experience with all of the fellow travel tribe
down there in the comment section.
If you enjoyed the video, give It a big thumbs-up, share with your friends, and subscribe
and turn on notifications, if you have not already.
In the meantime stay curious, keep exploring, and we'll see you on the road.
Peace.