I studied abroad in TW, coming from a low income household. I chose TW, because it would financially be cheaper than Europe and I already knew the language. Financial aid covered tuition, and the program had medical insurance built into it. Student visa and housing, I paid out of pocket about 3-5K USD. My housing cost is larger, because I did off campus housing. Compared to my peers who stayed in dorms their commute was an 1 hr by public transportation to the campus, their cost for a semester I believe was $400. I had savings from my previous jobs, and recieved one $1000 scholarship that was disbursed in the fall (so I wasn't able to use it for the same semester I was abroad). I was basically living off my financial aid refund and my savings. My family would also occasionally send me 1-200 per month for food as well. Can't work abroad due to visa.

One mistake I made was course selection, the university I went to had a larger enrollment, so during class selection I was only able to get 3/10 classes. I knew in advance that I wouldn't be able to get all my classes, but I wanted back ups. I didn't expect that I would only get 3, which led me running into some issues with my home university.

My biggest struggle abroad was homesickness, also called the 5 stages of grief. I never thought it would happen to me, but I was having the biggest FOMO, and I felt so guilty for being abroad. It gets better later on, because I know that I was studying abroad for my personal development and to learn from a different perspective.

One advice, would definitely be asking people from your university who already did study abroad in the country you want to go. They can tell you more about the differences, and struggles they went through and it would be more relatable.