What are the benefits/drawbacks of studying abroad for an American undergrad student in the STEM field?

I am a Computer Science and Electrical/Computer Engineering student in the United States, and I have elected not to study abroad. I have several reasons. 1) I am not fluent in any language other than English, although I am somewhat passable in German. In STEM courses, much of the coursework is exploratory. You need a perfect grasp of the basics, because you are about to dive into doing/building something amazing. Our work also contains a significant amount of jargon (Just about every acronym in ECE, although not quite as much in CS), so getting a good translation is nearly impossible, let alone keeping up with a lecture, which would be difficult even with more experience. 2) Among the countries that that leaves me, there is really no reason to study abroad. Quite a few of the top schools in my majors are in the United States, and other than seeing a different culture, there is really nothing that other English speaking nations have to offer over my current situation. 3) STEM classes are generally in series that are very specific fits. A course will be sure to cover subjects that it knows will be needed in another course very well. If I travel abroad, and I take a course on algorithms, that could be in preparation for a web development course that requires some basic sorting and mostly good hashing/searching. They will teach that, whereas if you had taken the same class at your current school in preparation for some other course, you may have focused almost entirely on sorting. You will come back to take that course, only realizing at the last minute that you are woefully unprepared. In the same way, they may anticipate that you have prerequisites completed that specifically helped to prepare you for that course. This is just as bad, but it will likely hurt even more, because of the culture/language barrier that you are dealing with at the same time. 4) Miscellaneous: -I was running a business by sophomore year, so going international would have been a bad idea. -You could have nearly any of the same problems faced by non-stem majors, such as family issues. -Money.

I studied Russian as an undergrad, and looked into a semester program there, but the cost was too great.  I always felt that it's wrong to limit people's access to education that way.

I think US is the best country for STEM fields as they have the most advanced educational system and curriculum also the huge expenditure on education by the US government is way beyond developing countries like India. You are most fortunate to have a chance to study in US

Benefits are you get to use another universities facilities and have access to opportunities you may not get in your home university, sometimes even being a big fish in a small pond, or get exposure to talented/renowned scientists you wouldn't have access to otherwise. International experience is also a pretty big resume builder. Drawback is dealing witht he bueaucracy for getting settled in, traveling, being away from friends and family in a new environment. It may also require that you stay longer at your university to catch up.

I don't think this is directly related to STEM.  I think studying abroad is a great experience for an American undergrad and for undergrads in any country.  The only reason I can think of why someone wouldn't study abroad is the possible expense and not having the opportunity to do so.

Developed economies like US, UK have always been on the top list for any student. Of the top 100 global universities across the world, majority of the universities belong to regions like US, UK, Europe. With China investing heavily on education recently some of the Chinese Universities also managed to make to the global top-100. According to me there are several benefits of studying abroad in STEM. Apart from theoretical bookish knowledge you are exposed to practical field as well. Further, on the field training along with other facilities like research are adequately available. Further, the experience of living in different country will help you build your personality, build strong network. Peer leaning will also help you boost confidence. Lastly, several opportunities to earn while you learn will come your way. This will not only make you financially sound but will you sufficient work experience and exposure to corporate life.

I have a slightly different perspective, since I studied abroad in the year before college, and then took a year to travel afterwards. I wouldn't have been able to take as ambitious and full a collection of courses as an undergrad if I'd tried to study abroad during those four years, plus it would have been a much more expensive way to spend time overseas.  So I found taking time off during the spaces before and after college  much more satisfactory.  Plus, the European science and math classes I was in before college were more challenging than my American ones, though still not difficult.  And I was more mature and ready for college at the end.  I imagine most colleges would let you take a year off and come back, so that you could go live in another country in between, say, sophomore and junior years, if you don't mind delaying graduation.  There are a lot of constraints while you're in the middle of something that briefly cease when you're between schools/jobs, so I heartily recommend taking advantage of the breaks.

There is a huge advantage to take a summer internship or a summer project off in some other countries. First off all and most importantly its widens your horizon. It will give you time to get to know other country, other people's, how different life can be, apart from the valuable experience itself. Other than that it will let you explore other subfields in STEM itself. I wouldn't suggest you to though enroll for a complete course or a degree outside America, since an American Masters degree is very reputed in the STEM field(also a British degree). There are literally hundreds of different opportunities for projects and internships abroad for a talented student nowadays.

Since most real STEM skills are learned from employers, not universities, I'm not sure it matters if you're a STEM student or not. The advantages of studying abroad are many, particularly if at a top university. Your classmates will be very bright, potentially people who you will hire or who will hire you. You will make friends from all over the world - when I was a visiting Masters student at the LSE, more countries were represented in the LSE's student body than were represented at the United Nations (making it vastly more international than UChicago, which is already one of the most diverse student populations in America). Most of all, you will have new colleagues and experiences in a new environment and those contacts may change the course of your life and career. My advice: Study abroad in the most academically-demanding program you can get into.