Is it expensive to study abroad in Japan?

Should I study abroad in Japan?

• I'm a high school senior going into college next year for a degree in journalism. One of those things everybody always says you need to do is visit a foreign country before you die, and a lot of my teachers are saying studying abroad in college is a once in a lifetime opportunity. So that's something I'm seriously considering doing sometime during my sophomore or junior year in college. But I would never want to go to some place in Europe. Spain, England, Italy. They're all great places, but they just seem so cliche. Plus, I personally don't find them very interesting places. What I do know is that last year a friend of mine turned me on to one Japanese movie (Battle Royale), and ever since I've been enthralled by the culture. Since then I've been reading the literature, loving the food (of course!), and even studying the language. So if I were to study abroad in college, Japan is definitely the place I would want to do it. The only problem is that my family is, while by no means poor, not in the position to spend another ten thousand dollars to help me study in another country. So I was wondering whether studying abroad in Japan is something I should do. So would it be worth it to just take out another loan and add another $10,000 to my college debt (or whatever it costs)? It wouldn't be a cheap experience by any means, but I think it's something I would really love to do. Plus, I figure why not just do it and add it to my debt now while I already owe money. But it really is going to be financially taxing, so I was wondering if anybody could offer me any insight as to whether or not I should study abroad in Japan in a year or two? Is it really a once in a lifetime opportunity that's as great as everybody says it is?

• Answer:

  There is a large variety of study abroad options in Japan and you don't have to drown your piggy bank to go. Different programs cost different amounts; from under $10k/year to over $20k/year. Most schools also offer a plethora of merit-based financial aid solely to support studying abroad so I'm sure your school has some that you could apply for. You might also consider only studying abroad for a semester or even a summer instead of a full year. While, yes, these are significantly shorter periods of time compared to a year, you're going to get just as good of an experience out of it as anyone else. Studying abroad during the summer also means that 1.) you have an interesting thing to say when someone asks what you did over break, 2.) you don't just bum around at your parent's house for a couple months, and 3.) you get the study abroad experience without the fear of it conflicting with your studies and graduating on time. You should visit the study abroad office website for your university first and foremost and see what they have to offer. Many times there are cost-saving benefits by studying abroad through a partner institute and it also makes credit transfer and overall application procedure a lot smoother when you have these people not only doing a lot of the behind-the-scenes work for you for free, but also being available to answer any questions and concerns you might have. You should also accept that Japan is a VERY expensive country. Public transportation is cheap, and that's about it. So you might consider visiting another country instead. If you want to go somewhere non-West, there are hundreds of countries in Asia who would love to have you. There are countries in Africa and the Middle East that could offer you a truly unique and probably even enlightening experience as well, and I don't think you should set your heart on one particular country without giving the others a glance. If your school doesn't have a study abroad office, CIEE is a very well-known organization with study abroad connections all over the planet, including summer ones. In Asia alone, they have study abroad options in China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Their study abroad website is here: http://www.ciee.org/study/index.aspx