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photo: DOMINIC NAHR FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SIX QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF ABOUT STUDYING ABROAD 1. Where do I want to go? A big city? A rural village? Think beyond Europe: Programs in Africa, Asia and South America can be just as fascinating! 2. What languages do I speak? Would I be comfortable taking classes in them or talking almost exclusively to people who don’t speak English? 3. What do I want to study? Will my university count the credits I earn toward graduation? Toward my major? 4. Whom do I want to live with? Other Americans? Students from all over the world? Students from the country I’m visiting? A host family? 5. How will I pay for this? Does my financial aid transfer? Are there other grants or scholarships that can cover some or all of my costs (tuition, housing, airfare, travelers’ insurance, visas and so on)? 6. Is it a reputable program? Will someone help me handle paperwork and logistics? Is there a representative in the country to help me handle unexpected problems?
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The Ultimate Field trip
BY ABBY MCCARTNEY Studying abroad can change your life, but not all programs are created equal “I’m spending next fall in Barcelona.” “Actually, I want to go to Thailand for the summer.” “I’m going to study abroad in Buenos Aires next year.”
When you say things like this at the family Christmas party, they tend to sound like an exotic vacation. But whatever your parents’ friends may think, international experiences in college aren’t just carefree jaunts to beautiful, faraway parts of the world. They’re unique learning opportunities and invaluable life experiences that help many college students broaden their view of the world and grow into themselves. I never studied abroad in college; it’s one of my few real regrets as I approach graduation. But I did spend six weeks traveling last summer, and I can honestly say that it was one of the most fun and valuable things I’ve ever done. Once you’ve shown up in a foreign country not speaking a word of the language and still managed to find a place to stay, master the Metro system, handle the strange currency and track down a couple of cheap, delicious meals, it seems like there isn’t anything you can’t do. If you’re lucky, you might even befriend some German backpackers while cooking dinner at a student hostel or dance the night away with French firefighters on Bastille Day in Paris. PLAN YOUR TRIP There are all kinds of reasons for going abroad: to experience a different culture, improve your language skills, take classes that aren’t offered at your university, make friends from around the world, or just gain confidence from living in a new place. But not all study-abroad programs are created equal. Where you are and what your program offers have a huge impact on the experience, so make sure you think about what you want to get out of it before you go. Some study-abroad programs, for instance, allow you to enroll directly in regular classes at the university where you’re studying, which often means you’ll be learning history or physics in Spanish or Japanese. Others conduct classes in English but allow you to live with a host family or in a regular dorm, so that you can practice your foreign language outside of school. Still others offer special dorms for international or English-speaking students. Which option you choose depends on your comfort with your language skills and whether you’re more interested in becoming fluent or just in being understood by your When comparing programs, don’t forget to find out what kind of classes are available and whether your university will give you credit for them. Many colleges either run their own study-abroad programs or have relationships with other programs so that the credits will automatically transfer. There are definite advantages to going through these established programs—they’re much less hassle, and you can be sure that they’re safe and reputable—but if they don’t cover what you’re interested in, don’t be afraid to do your own research. Ask the staff at your study-abroad office what they recommend, and see if they can put you in touch with students who have done the programs you’re considering in the past. The Council on Standards for International Educational Travel also publishes a list of quality international programs for students; you can find it at www.csiet.org. CAN YOU AFFORD IT? Cost, of course, is a major concern. One of your first calls should be to your financial-aid office, to find out whether your grants and loans will still apply if you go to a university-approved program. (If you think you want to study abroad, you may even want to consider this when you’re comparing financial aid packages during the college admissions process.) If your regular financial aid doesn’t apply, don’t give up hope: Some programs accept American federal student loans, and there are other grants and fellowships that specifically support study abroad. But start looking early. You don’t want to get your heart set on a program you can’t afford. If the cost or time involved in studying abroad for a whole semester seems like too much, don’t forget about summers. My university provides excellent research grants and fellowships for students who want to learn more about another country, especially if they can show that it’s relevant to their other studies. And don’t be afraid to just hit the road! A couple of weeks of traveling may not be as life-changing as a full semester, but it can be a lot of fun and a great way to see another part of the world and decide whether you want to return for a longer time later on. And it may not be as expensive as you’d think, if you can live cheaply and split the costs with friends. The summer after your freshman year in college is a particularly great time to try going abroad. If you fall in love with another country, you’ll have more opportunities to go back while you’re in college. In my experience, the longer you wait to go abroad, the harder it is to get away from your friends and extracurricular commitments. So start early, do your research, and see the world!
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