PLAN AHEAD : Words of Wisdom for Prospective Study Abroad Students

By Janet Alperstein and
Hilary Lieberman Link
Printed in Abroad View spring 2004

As international experience becomes increasingly important in our global community, more and more students entering college have plans to study abroad. Often, however, they are sidetracked along the way.

Although a large percentage of students arrive on campus believing and hoping they will study abroad, the desire often slowly disappears.  Primarily, students’ reasons for not going abroad seem to fall into two areas. Some students don’t want to leave their home campuses for fear of missing out on academic, social and career-building opportunities; others do not feel that they can fit in all of their requirements if they spend a semester or year away. Caught up in the whirlwind pace of college life, it is easy to feel overwhelmed with activities, responsibilities and requirements, and many students back away from the opportunity to study abroad because the pressures of restructuring their college programs can seem daunting without all of the necessary information. 

By taking advantage of all of the resources available on campus, students will find it much easier to design a course for study abroad that will complement their college experiences, allowing them to return to school more focused in their studies and more aware of themselves as individuals. In this article, we offer a few simple steps students can take from the time they first arrive on campus to ensure that they will be able to fit study abroad into their programs.

Meet with your academic adviser. Explain right away that you are hoping to study abroad. Depending on the program you are interested in, your home institution’s requirements and when you want to go, you may need to begin language study right away or start immediately on major or general education requirements. The good news is that with AP preparation increasing, more students are entering college with high AP foreign language scores, making study abroad an option for a greater number of students. While structuring your schedule, you’ll want to work closely with your department to incorporate your study abroad experience into your major. Where possible, work to find ways in which institutional requirements can be fulfilled before you go abroad or while you are abroad.

Visit the study abroad office. Once you are settled into courses for your first semester, it is not too early, even within the first month of beginning college, to visit the study abroad adviser or dean on campus.  By doing so, you can explore the opportunities available through your institution or through other approved programs. You can also learn about options that you may not have known existed. Many students trap themselves by thinking, for instance, “I am an English major, so I have to study in London, Australia, South Africa, etc.,” while in reality, students could benefit just as much from a program in Ghana, Cuba or Italy. If you have a requirement in visual or performing arts, what better way to fulfill it than by taking a course that requires you to go to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence once a week. Fill your literature requirement with "Japanese Literature from the Early Years to the Heian Era" while studying in Japan. Your study abroad adviser will know the options available well enough to help you choose your courses creatively and appropriately.

If your major has strict requirements, learn to work with them. Students in certain academic tracks, especially pre-health or pre-medicine, may have more trouble finding time in their schedules for study abroad. If you fall into this category, you should meet with your department adviser as soon as possible. Even before such a meeting, you can start thinking about study abroad programs that could help you fulfill other institutional requirements, since very few overseas programs offer appropriate pre-health or pre-medicine courses. In addition, you should be open to the possibility of spreading out your degree-required courses over four years (or even considering a “post-Bac” program for certain courses), allowing you to study abroad. Ultimately, you should remember that medical schools appreciate seeing international experience on students’ records. Even if incorporating study abroad means delaying an application for a year, the international experience will likely weigh in your favor.

Ask about financial aid opportunities. If finances are a concern, don’t let a lack of information stand in your way. Most schools have affiliated study abroad programs in several countries that allow you to use the financial aid package from your home college during your international study. If you’re interested in a program that is unaffiliated, talk to advisers within that program about the scholarships they offer. Keep your eye on currency exchange rates, because in many countries a favorable exchange can make living expenses such as rent more affordable abroad than they are in the U.S.

Know how to stay in touch with your home campus while you’re gone. Spending a semester abroad doesn’t mean you have to fall behind in the student life you’ve built for yourself. Technology makes it easy for you to access course information while you are abroad, and Internet cafes are a global phenomenon. If your campus does not already use the Web to make opportunities available for early or limited class sign-ups for the semester of your return, make sure you suggest this to your study abroad adviser or dean. Technology also helps you stay on top of the extracurricular and social activities happening on campus. Applications for campus organization governing boards, new student orientation, scholarships/fellowships and internships can also be made available electronically to students abroad. Stay active from afar in your own way; for example, log on to read your campus newspaper just to keep abreast of events at home, or perhaps send a weekly column back about your adventures overseas.

Pick a time and place that’s right for you. It’s important that you keep an open mind when thinking about both the timing of your study abroad experience and the location in which you want to study. While junior year has traditionally been the most popular time to study abroad, a better option may be to go in the fall or spring of sophomore year, or even the fall of senior year. Since many institutions have honors requirements that necessitate being on campus for a particular sequence of courses during junior year, an earlier study abroad semester may be best. This choice may even afford you more time upon returning to campus to incorporate your experience into your major or even to change your concentration based on your overseas experience.

The more open you are about where you want to study, the more opportunities you will have. Given the changing nature of our world and the dangers inherent in traveling to various regions, you may need to be more flexible in your choices today than in years past. You may wish to study in an area that is not advisable (consult the state department for warnings), or programs themselves may end up not being available due either to lack of space or lack of feasibility.

On a much simpler level, it is important to realize the inherent value in having an independent experience in another culture, whether or not it fits with your current study plans. A growing number of corporations, organizations, graduate and professional schools, as well as fellowship foundations are interested in students with global experience, and the mere fact of having lived outside your home environment may make you a more appealing candidate. Because it is impossible to know exactly the turns your path will take once you’ve placed yourself in a new culture, a semester abroad may be an ideal chance to explore new areas that have always sparked your interest. Stay open-minded and trust your instincts; it is important to realize that, in all cases, your time abroad will add exponentially to your college experience.