Study abroad schemes

[oli]

Hey all,

 

The uni where I currently "study" had an exchange program with the University of Ohio where you could go for 8 weeks over the summer and work on the summer production. This has fallen by the wayside due to the economic climate, so my question to all you Blue Roomers is does anyone know of any similar schemes, as I would very much like to study abroad and learn about the industry from a different aspect.

 

Ta in advance,

 

Oli

[Nick S]

I can't think of anything off the top of my head - normally study abroad in England (and I assume Scotland) consists of reciprocal agreements between two institutions, meaning you could go to Ohio and keep paying domestic tuition rate (...because tuition rates in the US, even at state universities, will top $15,000+ a year for international students. Often, for private colleges, as much as $50,000). If your University has scrapped all of its study abroad schemes, you could try looking elsewhere for funding, there are some scholarships out there - but I'm not sure of anything for technical theatre that isn't run by the institution you're currently studying at.

 

Perhaps you could look at summer programs, I don't know if the place you study at would have an office that might help you with that. There are lots of summer programs for technical theatre in the US run by reputable colleges, but again obtaining funding may be a problem.

 

On a final note - if you did study in the USA, it would be very difficult/expensive to work outside of your campus (student visas limit your ability to take paid work). This might limit your ability to gain the professional experience you wanted, depending on where you were. You might want to look at the EU, where tuition is cheaper and there are fewer visa issues. That said, I don't want to put you off - I'm sure if you have a drive for study in the US you'll find a way to achieve it, like I did :D