Advise / thoughts please?

johnswife

My daughter has asked us for advice for her final year at University.
She is doing a Masters in Pharmacy and is presently in her third year.
She has an option of doing a 12 week placement (only 25 places available) abroad in various countries.
She has had summer placements in the Uk which she organised herself and got paid for them. She also has a part time Saturday job at a pharmacy but only when they need her.
Her one concern is that financial side of things but we have told her we will help as much as we can.
Accommodation is quite expensive in Bath and she said she will have to still pay for the whole year in the UK as well as the costs of travel and accommodation overseas.
My husband thinks she should go as it is a great opportunity but at the end of the day it is her decision.
Also sometimes they want you to go in from August but if you have to re sit an exam that is in September. ( she hasn't had to re sit any exams yet!)
I'm wondering if she really doesn't want to go and wants us to say that?
Any thoughts or has anyone actually done this?
Thanks

bewildered123

Are the placements in Europe? If so, she might get some financial help from the EU if they count as Erasmus work or study placements. My university also offers some assistance towards rent costs if they have to pay double, and those getting a university bursary get extra help too. Encourage her to check she has all the financial information if you think money is her main worry. I mention this because I know Bath has a very well-developed overseas placement tradition and I'm sure they will have thought about the costs.
My immediate reaction would be to agree with your husband - great opportunity and we know international experience is something that graduate employers seem to value. Is the alternative just a normal semester in Bath? I know from pharmacist friends that there is a shortage of jobs so presumably anything to help her stand out a bit from the crowd would be helpful. Does she want to go into retail, hospital or industry?
All that said, it has to be something she really wants to do. It's something that they really have to embrace whole-heartedly, otherwise the inevitable teething problems of finding your feet in a new country can be overwhelming.

johnswife

Thanks for your thoughts.
she has a Summer placement with Lloyds and will do it next summer(3rd year). She also did a couple of weeks this year at a hospital and has decided that is not the area she wants to go into.

The countries are : Belgium, Sweden, Ireland (Dublin), USA, Australia, New Zealand.
There is a site where she can find out how other students got on and she has ruled out Australia as apparently not much helps is given from overseas tutor.
She also would only go to the country that is offering practical experience.
I will tell her to check the financial side as well.

Prothet_of_Doom

DD has just applied for an MPHARM course on her recent UCAS form, but avoided putting Bath down.
At the Open day at Nottingham, they went on about how you can study at thier malasia campus, and I got the distinct impression that DD wasn't impressed. I told her to mention that she'd really like to in interview, even if not true.

I would definately encourage her to go abroad, and I suspect that she is learning the value of money and sees this as asking a lot from you. She is probably wary of asking for extra financial assistence, added to the "fear of the unknown". She's clearly growing up and taking responsibility for herself.


Tell her, that a) She should go b) that you have a 'hidden' fund for such things, c) you can give or lend her the money, and d) You will be visiting half way through the placement whilst on holiday.

V_Chic_Chick

With regards to paying for the accommodation, the default is to sign for a whole year's tenancy. It is highly unlikely that a landlord will deviate from this.

However, if she was able to find someone who was going to be abroad in the other semester, then they could act as a replacement tenant for her room, which would mean that she would only have to pay for the one semester.

rev_henry

Yes, she should go. I'm a pharmacy student too. I'm sure there is funding available that she hasn't discovered yet. Are you talking about the BPSA scheme?

The Nottingham Malaysia campus thing is a complete farce - its just a way of making money from international students. Still I would have taken the opportunity to go there given the chance!