Studying Abroad

[Zarnium]

I would like to study abroad in a Spanish speaking country at some point in my college career, but I'm concerned about cost. Namely, I have no idea what different programs actually do cost, because I'm having trouble finding out what costs are included in the listed "cost" at different places. I'd also like to know if it would be a good idea to do one of the Spain or Mexico programs provided by my college, or if it would be cheaper/better to go on one that's not provided by my college.

For example, the programs to Mexico and Spain provided by my college are both more than I'm currently paying for a semester domestically. However, programs on websites like these:

http://www.studyabroad.com/
http://www.centerforstudyabroad.com/about-us/overview/

...appear to be a lot cheaper, but I have no idea if they actually are. Or if they are cheaper, if they're worse, less safe, more difficult to register for, or otherwise just a lower-quality product. For example, signing up for a program over a website instead of with people I can talk to in person on a regular basis sounds much more difficult, and more likely that something will go wrong. Whereas with my college's program, I'd be in frequent contact with people who knew the program intimately and would make sure I had all my ducks in a row months before I left.

On the other hand, I've heard complaints both from students at my college and elsewhere that university programs have a bunch of price-gouging for stuff you don't really need, and it's better to take a third-party option.

I know that no one can give me a good answer without being more familiar with my situation, but do any of you have experience with different types of study abroad programs?

[Villa]

Hola Zarnium. I have studied abroad two times. Once in Mexico
and once in Italy. Had no problems either time. Best experiences
of my life. You can say I actually did it three times because one
time I lived with a Mexican family and audited some Mexican high school
classes in Guadalajara. In Mexico you can take classes in high school no
matter what age you are. When I went to Italy I had not finished setting
up a place to stay so I arrived there with no place to sleep. While I was
checking in at school there was a lady asking students if they needed a
room. Stayed with her for a few days while I arranged the rental of an
apartment. In Mexico I lived with a Mexican family two times. They only
spoke Spanish so that was ideal for me. I tried not to hang around
with other English speaking Americans. There was a French Canadian
girl there that would only speak Spanish with me. She said she did
not want to waste her time in Mexico speaking English.

If you live in the U.S. going to school in Spain doesn't make a lot
of sense since we use more Latin American Spanish. On the other
had if you live in England then going to school in Spain makes
more sense. Also Mexico is a lot closer to the U.S. in fact the U.S.
borders Mexico. England and Spain are very close.

Below is where I went to school in Mexico:



Academia Hispano Americana
Spanish language schools in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico