I’m thinking of studying abroad when I go to college but I have no idea how it work. Do I have to apply to colleges in other countries or can I attend a college in america that allows their students to study in other countries? Can someone please explain how studying abroad work. Thank you in advance
This is how it worked for my son and although there may be differences between colleges, I think his experience is fairly typical. All study abroad programs are handled directly by your US College. The program selected may be directly sponsored by your school or approved through another school. Programs will have different requirements and duration (GPA, language proficiency, 1 semester/1yr, etc). Many schools also offer summer and winter break study trips if a full semester doesn’t fit your schedule. Hope this helps.
There’s more than one way to study abroad. You can just apply and enroll in a university abroad.
You can also go through a US university, which is far more common. One of my kids was very interested in study abroad, so we looked pretty closely at what kinds of programs various universities offered. Many if not most US universities have specific study abroad programs for their students–often several different ones. A London program, a Barcelona program, etc. Some are summer programs and some are semester or year-long programs. Some require you to know a foreign language, or allow you to study one, and many programs are offered in english, even in non-english speaking countries. My D just completed a summer spanish immersion program in south america that is a specific program offered by her school, and one of the courses she took was taught by a professor from her school.
Many universities also offer exchange programs, where you pay tuition to your own university but study at a partner university overseas. Look up ISEP exchange for an example of this. Often your home university financial aid continues to apply to these programs.
Some things to consider—When choosing a university you might look at the strength of their study abroad program–is there good advising? What percentage of students study abroad? Also, when you start college, head to the study abroad office in your first semester and begin planning where, when, and how to fit your study abroad best into your plan of study so you can graduate on time. There are also a variety of scholarships offered for study abroad. Surprisingly few students apply for these. My D recieved two scholarships for her summer program. It ended up being cheaper out of pocket for us than a semester on campus, and will allow her to graduate a semester early. We would not have expected this if she had not talked to a study abroad adviser in her first semester on campus.
Thanks for clearing things up for me
The comments above explained studying abroad well. I agree that it depends on the school/ that there are multiple ways to do it. For my school they have a vast program where you can apply to be sent to wherever you want to go, however some areas do require a certain amount of semesters in studying the language spoken in that country, and others only focus on certain areas of study (ie engineering, or global studies). As for tuition/ cost it once again all depends on where you’re going. I have friends who said they paid relatively the same amount for studying abroad as they did for studying at the normal campus, and other friends who said with scholarships and such studying abroad was cheaper than at home. Basically you should consider if you only want to study abroad for a couple semesters and if so find a school that has a solid program, and if you think you would like to study abroad for the whole 4 years look into the schools and see the requirements you need to have in order to be able to do so.
Look at the study abroad pages for the following colleges (known for their good, diverse programs): Dickinson, Goucher, St Olaf, Kalamazoo, Earlham.
They explain things well and have lots of choices.
The “cohorts” system at USC Columbia’s business school is another example to look at.
You want a college where your financial aid applies to study abroad and where study abroad isn’t more expensive (except, of course, for the extra cost of airfare).
If you just enroll in a foreign university for an entire degree, that wouldn’t be what people mean by “studying abroad”, that would be being an international student.
Studying abroad is where you are enrolled at a U.S. university, but spend anywhere from a month to a year somewhere foreign. There are many ways of arranging this, through the “study abroad office” at your American college. They range from month-long vacations with American faculty over the summer, to directly enrolling in a foreign university for a year.
As the joke goes, there are many options, but you will choose Europe or Australia.
Thanks for your comment
Thanks for your comment
Here’s how study abroad worked for D
- University programs: maintain student status at her U. All tuition, room, board, fees paid to her U. Scholarship $$ can be transferred. Grades and credits appear on the U transcript.
- University exchanges: maintain student status at her U. Tuition paid to her U, room and board paid to host U. Scholarship $$ can be transferred. For every student going on exchange, an international student came to her U. Grades and credits appear on her U transcript.
- University affiliates: maintain student status at her U. Payments made to the affiliate U who sponsor the program. Scholarship $$ cannot be transferred and are forfeited during the time spent abroad. Grades and credits appear on her U transcript.
- Non-University programs: only allowed if the student can demonstrate none of the U programs offer what they need. Courses and credits transfer but not grades. Grades not factored in to overall GPA. All payments made directly to non-U program. Scholarship $$ cannot be transferred and are forfeited during the time spent abroad. Student is placed on a leave of absence from the University while abroad. The U is not responsible if courses change and the student can't get approved courses.
Some things to think about:
- Living arrangements: some programs are language immersion programs where the student lives with a host family, others have apartments, others suites. Some programs have mixed-gender suites
- Language: some programs are taught in the language of the host country. Others are taught in English even if English isn't the host country language
- Impact on pre-reqs and required courses: Some majors, especially in the humanities, are much easier to study abroad without impacting necessary credits for graduation. Others, such as STEM majors, are much more difficult. Some Us are now creating special study abroad for STEM majors.
- Acceptance of courses towards requirements: It's often recommended to take as many electives as possible while abroad. Courses counting towards your major or minor typically need to be approved in advance by the department. There are no hard and fast rules as to what will be accepted, you need to work this out ahead of time.
- Timing: if you're having a hard time with acceptance of courses, some schools offer summer study abroad. Others have a "Winter term" or "January Term" prior to start of spring semester where you can study abroad. These are great because they don't impact your courses in any semester, however they're usually fairly structured so you don't get the same experience as truly living abroad and getting out on your own.
- What's included in costs? Air fare? Health insurance? Evacuation insurance (in case you get so sick you need to be brought back to the US)? How are meal costs handled?
- What is the teaching style like in the country and specifically the university? In some countries/U's it's very much the prof stands at the front of the class, lectures, then leaves. Others tend more towards interactive seminar style learning.
- Connectivity: will there be wi-fi access where you live, or ready access to wi-fi such as at Internet cafes? Is it best to get an international plan for your cell phone, or buy a SIM card (or cheap phone, if your phone is locked) once you get to the country?
- If you take regular medications, how easy will it be to get refills?
D started working with her advisor freshman year to plan for study abroad. She had an amazing time spending fall of her Junior year at the American University of Greece. She took full advantage of easy and inexpensive travel within the European Union and visited many countries (flying RyanAir and staying at Airbnbs mostly). Because her tuition scholarship transferred, and living costs were cheaper than the dorm, it cost less than the semester would have so we gave her the difference for spending money.
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Just remember that going through the stateside university for your study abroad will cost you a boatload of money. It is far cheaper to enroll directly. You will then have to convince your stateside university to accept the credits, but anyone in college already ought to be able to make rational and convincing arguments to that end. Your stateside university may fight you because it reduces cash inflow. Just understand what you are up against in this situation. If you don’t need a lot of assistance, doing it on your own is quite doable.
Many of the stateside universities will recommend English speaking programs, which may or may not meet your goals. This will keep the student in a bubble of English speakers and will hinder assimilation into the larger society. You just have to decide what you want.
I didn’t read all the replies above, so please ignore if this is redundant.