Next Summer: Internship or Study Abroad?
 

As the title says...

I can't figure out which I should do.

Study Abroad (Pau, France):
Cost: about $2000 more than my financial aid will cover
Study: International Finance (3 hours) and International Corporate Finance (3 hours) [ps, this is great because I'm a Finance Major]

Internship (Phoenix, AZ):
Cost: well... it's paid, so I'd come out on top. Also, sine the internship is in Phoenix, where my mom lives, I probably won't be paying much or any at all for room and board.
Study: A friend of my mothers owns a bank / mortgage company. I assume I'd be taught the ropes. (Full time)

I'm leaning towards France, but I can't decide what I should do... any suggestions?

Do the internship. Yes, France would be so awesome, but the internship will help you with finding a job after college.

You can visit France later when you're making the big banker bucks ;)

Take the internship because it gives you valuable work experience. But don't make any assumptions, find out what your role would, it might help you make your decision.

While France is nice, you can take international finance anywhere, unless you are planning on a minor in French, not sure how interesting that would be to future employers.

Don't just look at France - -a hot damn, I'm in France -- look ata the program and what it offers,and what you will get out of it both professionally and personally.
Going to France on your own isn't that difficult - planes fly there every day... :D This wouldn't be your only opportunity to get there.

Great points guys (and girls). Keep'em coming.

I think I'm going to look into the internship a little closer. I wouldn't want to pass up the oppertunity to go to France so that I can push papers all summer.

I'm going to say go to france (even though I personal have no interest in visiting the country...)

I feel that international travel for more than tourism has no price for experience. IMO you'll be able to get an internship the following year. You may not be able to get a visa to live and stay in another country for such a length of time without some challenges.

I lived abroad in Singapore for a year, and traveled there to visit my family since they had moved there and lived there for 5 years. It has given me a different perspective on politics, life, and work.

To give you an example of how difficult it is to want to live somewhere else for a period of time, my wife and I have been trying to get expatriated by any company that will send us. It's not happened in 6 years. I have tried many different avenues including working for the State Department and getting placed into an embassy.

Internships are what you make of them. We have interns here all the time and the ones that get hired are the ones that don't just sit here looking like a bump on a log. They are active, they ask questions, they volunteer. When told to just sit there, they engage other people to find out more about the company jobs etc. It's very easy for interns here to just sit and watch the TV and pass time. Did they learn anything? Does anyone else know that as they read their resume?

I can guarantee you 100% that you will have more to talk about living over seas than you will from your internship for years to come. The difference of living from buying soap to watching TV to people, is not the same thing that you experience as a tourist then if you live there 24/7 for a few months.

I had an opportunity to "study" in the Netherlands last spring but chose to take an internship in Phoenix instead. Although "studying" in the Netherlands would've been really cool, I now have a good job and better prospects for the future. Plus, I plan on taking a trip to Europe next spring.

IMHO, take the job and go to France some other time.

I vote for France. The internship sounds rather blah. Sure, you'd learn the ropes, but you'd be getting rather mundane experience that any number of other people in your field possess. The study in France will expose you not just to the courses you'd be taking but to different perspectives and experiences and would distinguish you from "the pack" when looking for a job. And since the company is owned by a friend of your mother's, it's entirely likely that the internship would still be available when you get back from France. I'm with Cynthetiq - going abroad for education/work is invaluable and irreplaceable. Internships are a dime a dozen.

oh and to add to the vote no for the internship... the internship may get your foot into the door initially but eventually the "novelty" will wear off as your career blossoms. It may fast track you for the moment. The living overseas will ALWAYS bring something to the table for the rest of your life.

My collegues don't speak much about their internships in their careers anymore exception to a few who tried a different industry then where they are now. My friends who have lived abroad can almost always say,"That reminds me of when I lived in..."

I totally agree with Cynthetiq.

Internships are nice, but they're just internships. If you have the chance to study abroad, I'd say jump in straight away and enjoy the hell out of it.

$2000 is a lot of money, but the experience would be absolutely fascinating because you'll not just be studying international finance, you'll be immersing yourself in a foreign culture. Whether you like it or not your horizons will be expanded. Not to mention all the great stories you'll have when you come back.

I interned for two summers at a large bank in Boston -- and it really helped me decide that the world of high finance was not for me. Internships are a godsend for that. How many people get stuck in careers that they don't enjoy. an internship is a quick and dirty way to find out if it's right for you.

Abroad! Abroad! Abroad!

It shouldn't even be a contest. Leaving your comfort zone, visiting a foreign country, experiencing a different culture... all this when you're young and free...

Or, go to the office every day and join the rat-race early by choice?...

Not that difficult a decision in my opinion.


Mr Mephisto

and yes.. that's very true... that's how my wife knows she didn't want to be in the record industry. Ironically we met at MTV.

I can second that.

I spent the last four summers in an internship at a large financial organization. Sure, it was fun for a while, I got paid, made some nice connections--but I am now seriously questioning why I volunteered to spend my summers joining the rat-race early. Youve got your whole life to do that, and while you can go to France later in life, when will you have the opportunity to spend that long there? You'll be retired by the time you can do that...