Studying Abroad – earning your degree in USA vs. earning your degree in Poland - PART I

Today’s market forces young people to aim higher and higher in search of their degree and when it comes to choosing a university. In times when computer skills and foreign language knowledge became a standard, young people have to look for different ways to make themselves more attractive to potential future employers. One of the possibilities is studying abroad, preferably, at one of the best universities in the entire world. Studying abroad gives you a number of benefits that are available out there for young people. Improving your foreign language, or even couple of them, getting to know cultures, traditions and habits of people in different country – are just few advantages of studying abroad. All those things create a very sophisticated personality and opens up the new world of possibilities career wise.




After graduating from Massachusetts Institute of Technology or any of the top 15 US universities, your salary can be anywhere between $70,000 and $102,000 a year. After about 8 years in your field you easily get some $230,000. That is approximately $19,000 a month. Achieving the same goal in Poland would be incredibly difficult, unless you are a genius or have real good connections.

Knowledgeable, young and ambitious people returning to their native country with foreign diplomas can use their knowledge in practice, taking advantage of all the skills and abilities earned abroad. These people will then be able to open their own companies, invest, develop the market and allow Poland to climb up the ladder in the European Union.

From all the possible countries out there, United States and England are the two best options for Polish students. There are thousands of agencies, scholarship companies and funds that allow Polish students to attend universities even with no money in their pockets.

This website explains the most important concepts one should know before deciding to study in the USA:

http://www.polishnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=341:studia-w-usa-co-trzeba-wiedzie-o-amerykaskim-systemie-edukacji&catid=85:ciekawostki&Itemid=265

Your time in college is actually the best time to go abroad. First of all, there are hundreds of programs out there that can help you organizing your study abroad, intern abroad, and volunteer abroad or cultural immersion programs. This makes the organizing part much easier than later in your life, when going abroad will be harder to organize, because most of the time, you have to do it all yourself. Also, you are less tied down than after college, when you have a job, may be a family and all those other responsibilities. And third, you can use this short experience abroad to find out, whether you are actually made for an international career and test it out, whether you like it or not. Usually the study abroad programs during college are not that long, so you can see, if this is it for you, or if you prefer to stay within your comfort zone. Once you are done with college and your company wants to send you overseas as an expat, you have to stick with your long-term assignment. So why not try it out, before the pressure is on?

Questions for Part I:

1. What do you think about studying abroad overall? Do you like this idea? Which country would you like to study in?
2. Do you agree with the fact that bringing home a foreign diploma and experience opens up more possibilities for a young person?
3. What about the idea of “semester abroad”. If you don’t want to stay in USA or England for the entire 4 years, would you like to try one semester abroad (continuing your major/degree)?
4. Maybe you have completed a “semester abroad”? If you have tried any of these things before, please share your thoughts and impressions.