What would you do?

Well, since you asked:

I'd travel to Argentina. I spent three months there a couple years ago and had an amazing time. Bring along your GMAT books, shack up in a little flat in Mendoza.... that'd be the life! Plus, you'll get good at Spanish!

Throw a dart at a world map...that's your destination! Well, you're allowed to tear off a couple of countinents first if you wish

De-stress; enjoy.

I'm going to spend a semester in Portugal starting September. The only countries I'd be interested in visiting for the moment are Brazil/Portugal, since they have the coolest/most partying people around. One friend of mine went tin Brazil for a whole year in high school and she told me that one of the basic principles of a Brazilian guy is: "No woman is too ugly - it's just that you haven't had enough drinks yet....". I though this was hilarious...
Anyway, getting a bit more serious: if you want to travel abroad, make sure you go somewhere where you don't know the language. 2 months is enough to get fluent in any language (except German, Russian and Chinese, IMHO ), especially if you put your muscle into it. I had a choice between GB, Holland, France and Portugal. GB was off the list straight away, since the cost of living is far too expensive and I'm already decent in English, I already speak French and Amsterdam is a bit too crazy for me... I'd also pick a place that's totally different from my home country: for instance, you live in England - go somewhere a bit more "wild", since England is considered to be the "gentleman's retreat".

Thanks for the comments.

A general question I should have asked is: How can I translate these plans into a GMAT application? Will it look impressive if I gain work experience abroad?

Is there a general consensus amongst admission tutors about the "minimum" period one should work abroad in order to gain "meaningful" experience?

Would it be better to spend a year in 1 country or a shorter time in each country?

VP_Jim wrote:Well, since you asked:

I'd travel to Argentina. I spent three months there a couple years ago and had an amazing time. Bring along your GMAT books, shack up in a little flat in Mendoza.... that'd be the life! Plus, you'll get good at Spanish!

Thansk for the idea. Sounds interesting. What's so good about Argentina specifically? Do you think I can find good GMAT tutors and MBA admission consultants?

Also, is 3 months enough time?

DanaJ wrote:I'm going to spend a semester in Portugal starting September. The only countries I'd be interested in visiting for the moment are Brazil/Portugal, since they have the coolest/most partying people around. One friend of mine went tin Brazil for a whole year in high school and she told me that one of the basic principles of a Brazilian guy is: "No woman is too ugly - it's just that you haven't had enough drinks yet....". I though this was hilarious...
Anyway, getting a bit more serious: if you want to travel abroad, make sure you go somewhere where you don't know the language. 2 months is enough to get fluent in any language (except German, Russian and Chinese, IMHO ), especially if you put your muscle into it. I had a choice between GB, Holland, France and Portugal. GB was off the list straight away, since the cost of living is far too expensive and I'm already decent in English, I already speak French and Amsterdam is a bit too crazy for me... I'd also pick a place that's totally different from my home country: for instance, you live in England - go somewhere a bit more "wild", since England is considered to be the "gentleman's retreat".

Brazil sounds wicked but I don't want to get distracted and just party! It's the kind of country you want to go to friends with, yah know?

Would love to learn Capoeria though.

On a serious note. Is it really possible to get fluent in a language so quickly? I thought it would take years but I've never really tried.

I'm guessing Chinese (M/C), Hindi and Arabic are in hot demand for the corporate world. So it might make sense to go one of those countries?

Europe is one idea although I'm on low budget.

My aim is to:

- Learn a new language
- Study for GMAT
- Save money on GMAT tuition (I figure that it's cheaper to hire good tutors abroad and I save in the long run)
- Gain "international" experience
- Develop myself
- Gain useful work experience (if it's important?)

Argentina has great food, amazing wine, beautiful scenery, fantastic weather, and low, low prices.... but I wouldn't count on finding a GMAT tutor there. Maybe in Buenos Aires, but even then, I'd imagine that most of the top students/scorers would leave Argentina due to the financial/economic situation there.

Is three months enough time for what? To improve your GMAT score? You bet! If you studied "full time" (i.e., about 4 hours per day) for three months, you'd likely get close to hitting your potential high score. Is it enough time to learn Spanish? That may be another story. I took four years of Spanish in high school and had forgotten most of it by the time I went to South America, but after a three months I was highly proficient, though certainly not fluent.

I'm not an admissions consultant so I can't comment on how such an experience would help/hurt your cause in getting an MBA, but I *do* know that you'd never regret taking a few months to travel when you're young. It was the best decision I ever made.