Most students treat winter break the same way: go home, see family, catch up on sleep, and then go back to campus in January exactly as they left. That’s fine. It’s also two weeks of your college career that disappear without much to show for them.
The students who use winter break for a study abroad program come back in January having visited companies in London. Or sat in a boardroom in Bangkok. Or walked through Paris in the off-season when it actually belongs to the people who live there rather than the crowds of summer tourists.
Same two weeks. Completely different return.
This post makes the case for January, not just as a decent time to study abroad, but as arguably the best window in the academic calendar to do it. Here’s why.
The calendar argument no one talks about
Spring semester starts in mid-to-late January for most US universities. Winter break runs from late December through the first week or two of January, typically 10–16 days depending on your school.
That window is larger than it feels. A 10–14 day structured study abroad program fits inside it cleanly. You’re home for Christmas. You leave December 28th or so. You’re back before spring semester starts. You miss no classes, you skip no exams, you don’t fall behind on anything.
This is the core structural advantage of a winter program that students consistently underestimate. The fear around study abroad is often about disruption — missing classes, getting behind, scrambling to make credits work. A winter break program sidesteps all of that. The calendar does the heavy lifting.
Compare that to summer, which requires turning down internships or jobs, or to a semester abroad, which means a full semester of logistical untangling. Winter break is the path of least resistance. It is also, for many students, the only window where studying abroad actually works with everything else they’re managing.
January is genuinely one of the best times to be in these cities
This doesn’t get said enough, so let’s say it clearly: January is an excellent time to visit most of GLO’s winter destinations.
London in January is cold, yes. It is also not overrun with tourists. The museums are open and uncrowded. The city is at full professional capacity — the companies you visit are back from the holiday break and running at speed. London in January feels like London actually works and lives, not like a backdrop for someone else’s summer vacation. You get access to the real city.
Paris in January is the same logic multiplied. The city in July is lines and heat and every monument photographed to death. Paris in January is locals in cafes, the Louvre at reasonable capacity, the Seine when it’s moody and cinematic. If you’re going to understand a European city as a place rather than a postcard, January is when you do it.
The Netherlands in January — The Hague in winter is a functioning European capital at full professional speed. The International Court of Justice is in session. The diplomatic and legal institutions that make The Hague significant are operating. If your interest is international law, policy, or global business, this is when the city is most itself.
The off-season advantage is real: fewer tourists, more authentic access, lower crowd competition at cultural sites, and cities that are operating for the people who live and work there — which is exactly the context you want when you’re visiting businesses and learning how professional life actually functions in another country.
The career timing is better than summer
Here’s something most study abroad posts don’t account for: when you come back matters for your career as much as where you went.
Students who do a winter program return to campus in January with new experience on their resume — right at the start of spring recruiting season. Many on-campus recruiting cycles for summer internships and entry-level positions kick off in February and March. You walk into those interviews having just come back from international company visits, with current, specific stories to tell.
“I spent two weeks in London and Bangkok visiting companies in January” in a February interview is a completely different statement than “I studied abroad last summer” in a September interview. The first one just happened. It’s specific, recent, and vivid. The interviewer can tell from how you talk about it that it’s fresh.
Students who go abroad in summer come back in August and have a full semester before recruiting season starts. The experience is real either way — but the timing of a winter program puts it right in front of recruiters at exactly the right moment.
You start the spring semester differently
There’s a version of January that goes: fly home, sit on the couch, go back to campus, sit in lectures. The spring semester starts before you’ve really switched back on.
And there’s another version: you’ve been in Bangkok for 10 days. You visited IKEA’s regional headquarters and Intel’s Southeast Asia operations; walked through a floating market at 7am; had a conversation with an American expat CFO about what it actually takes to build a career in international business. You are back on campus, switched fully on, with something to talk about and something to think about that has nothing to do with coursework.
The second version of January is better. Not in a vague motivational sense, in the specific sense that you’ve interrupted the routine of school in a productive way. You’ve done something real. You’re ready to start the semester rather than just resuming it.
Students who’ve done GLO winter programs consistently describe the spring semester after their program as one of their most focused. The experience doesn’t fade into the semester, it tends to inform it.
GLO’s winter programs: what’s actually on offer
GLO runs multiple winter programs, all structured as faculty-led business seminars with company visits, cultural excursions, and group travel throughout:
Winter Europe — London, Paris, The Hague December 28, 2026 – January 10, 2027. Three countries in 14 days. Company visits across the UK, France, and the Netherlands. Cultural landmarks, free time for exploration, and an itinerary that moves between cities with purpose. Designed for students who want maximum geographic range in a short window.
Winter South Africa — Cape Town December 28, 2026 – January 9, 2027. Cape Town in January is peak summer — warm, dry, and at its most alive. 13 days in one of the world’s most dynamic business and cultural cities, with company visits to companies and a front-row seat to how business operates on the African continent. Beyond the boardroom: Table Mountain, the Bo-Kaap neighborhood, the Cape Winelands, and a city that genuinely surprises most students who assumed they knew what to expect.
Both programs include:
- 4-star hotel accommodation throughout
- Group meals and cultural excursions
- Faculty leadership for the full duration
- Company visits with executives across industries
- Ample free time to explore each city independently
- 24/7 support from GLO staff
The scholarship deadline: why October matters
The GLO Founders Scholarship — the need-based award for students with additional financial need — has a hard deadline of October 15 for winter programs.
That deadline is not arbitrary. The program runs December 28. Applications need time to be reviewed, awards need time to be processed, and students need time to finalize their plans before the holiday break. October 22 is earlier than it feels.
If cost is part of what’s holding you back from a winter program, the Founders Scholarship is the most direct answer — and it requires you to already be enrolled in a GLO program to apply. Which means the order of operations is: apply for the program first, then apply for the scholarship.
Both steps are simpler than most students expect. The GLO program application takes 12 minutes. The scholarship application is an essay, 1,000–2,000 words covering your goals, your financial strategy, and whether this award would determine whether you go.
Winter scholarship deadline: October 15.
Apply for a GLO program · GLO Founders Scholarship
Why students who do it don’t regret it
The objections to a winter program are all reasonable before you go. The two weeks feel short. The timing feels rushed. Going abroad over the holidays feels like it might conflict with family traditions or existing plans.
Here is what students say after: universally, they wish they’d done it sooner and they’d do it again. The shortness of the program isn’t a limitation — it’s a feature. Two weeks is long enough to go somewhere meaningful, visit real companies, build real connections, and have something real to say. It is short enough that it doesn’t derail everything else.
The students who don’t do it tend to say they’re saving it for a “better time.” The better time is a semester abroad they never take, or a summer program that conflicts with an internship, or a post-graduation trip that keeps getting deferred. The better time often doesn’t come.
Winter break is a specific, real window that exists right now, every year, in your college calendar. It doesn’t require choosing between study abroad and graduation timeline, or between study abroad and summer work experience. It just requires using the two weeks that already exist differently than you otherwise would.
Frequently asked questions
Yes — for most US college students, winter break is one of the best windows for a study abroad program. It fits within the existing academic calendar without disrupting classes or delaying graduation, the cost is lower than a semester program, and returning in January puts fresh international experience on your resume right at the start of spring recruiting season.
Most winter break study abroad programs run 10–14 days. GLO’s winter programs run from December 28 through January 9 or 10, depending on the destination — fitting cleanly within the standard US university winter break window before spring semester begins.
Many universities allow students to earn credit for faculty-led programs completed over winter break. The process varies by institution — work with your academic advisor and check your university’s study abroad portal to confirm credit eligibility before you apply. GLO works with hundreds of university partners and provides documentation to support the credit approval process.
GLO’s winter destinations include London, Paris, and The Hague (three countries in 14 days); and Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City (Southeast Asia in 9–10 days). January is excellent timing for Southeast Asia — dry season, comfortable temperatures, and cities at full operational pace. European cities in January are off-peak for tourism, giving students more authentic access to professional and cultural life.
GLO’s application takes approximately 12 minutes and requires a passport photo, basic contact information, and program selection. A deposit is required to secure your spot. Apply at glo.com/register. Some universities require an additional application through their own study abroad portal, check with your institution before applying.
For GLO winter programs, apply as early as possible — spots are limited and filled on a rolling basis. The GLO Founders Scholarship (need-based financial award) has a hard deadline of October 15 for winter programs. Students must be enrolled in a GLO program before applying for the scholarship, so applying to the program well before October is strongly recommended.
Yes — particularly on structured programs that include company visits, executive briefings, and professional exposure alongside cultural immersion. Two weeks is enough time to visit real businesses, build international connections, and come home with specific, credible stories to tell in job interviews. Length matters less than structure and specificity. A 14-day program with company visits produces more career-relevant experience than many longer trips with no professional component.
Winter break is 10–14 days you already have. The question is what you do with them.
GLO’s winter programs for December 2026 and January 2027 are open now. The Founders Scholarship deadline for winter programs is October 15 — which means the time to apply is before that date, not after.
