Sydney Nolan

There’s no better time to see the world than while you’re in college. More and more students are taking advantage of all the opportunities available to college students studying at schools across the country to get out there and go! Not sure if studying abroad is for you, or how to go about getting ready for the adventure of a lifetime? Her Campus has you covered with our complete guide to all things international! 

How in the world do I pick a destination?!

Picking your destination might just be the hardest decision you’ll have to make to date. With close to 200 countries in the world, your options may seem almost endless. A good place to start could be your school’s international programs or student exchange office. They might have good ideas of trips sponsored by your school, be it for a semester, during winter break, or over the summer.

Check within your academic department as well. Many colleges offer different programs designed to correlate with students’ fields of interest or majors as well. Interested in art? Spend your spring semester checking out some of Europe’s most famous art museums and cultural hotspots. Want to pursue your passion for anthropology or archeology? Look for fieldwork opportunities offered in places throughout Central and South America for the summer. Use your passion to dictate where your travels will take you. And if you’ve been studying a language, now’s a great opportunity test out your skills in a country where it’s spoken!

It’s been a long semester, and you’re ready for warm weather, days by the pool, nights with friends, and a possible job or internship. Most importantly, the end of the year means no more books to read, professors to meet, or tests to take! What about that new guy you started hanging out with this past semester though? Just because finals are over doesn’t mean your relationship has to be. Not sure if you should break things off and see where the summer takes you, or hold onto your significant other? Her Campus has you covered with some simple signs geared towards making summer that much more relaxing.

Call it quits if distance could be an issue.

Look to the stars for this one. While some super-celeb couples like R-Patz and Kristen Stewart make their relationship work with jam-packed schedules, distance became a huge problem for other famous couples like Katy Perry and Russell Brand. Keep geographical separation in mind when deciding whether or not you want to remain in a relationship over the summer.

If the two of you live in the same area or close enough to make daytrips or the occasional weekend visit possible, you probably don’t have a lot to worry about. Making a weekend trip home from your internship site in NYC to a nearby state to visit your significant other is easy, but going from NYC to Minneapolis is a bit more of a stretch. Similarly, the drive from a campus located in a major city where you’re taking summer classes to a town a few hours away is an easy distance to swallow, but classes located a state or two away from your guy is a little harder to work with.

We've all had those "OMG my parents can be sooo annoying" moments, but nothing can be more annoying than when a parent tries to insert themselves into your college plans. Once those acceptance letters start pouring in, things can get tense pretty quickly. So what's a pre-collegiette to do when discussions about college plans between you and your parents start to get heated? Check out some of the common scenarios pre-collegiettes frequently run into when you and your parents don't agree on your future plans.

The problem: Your parents are still in love with their alma mater. Too bad you're not!

Congrats – you’re in!  If you’ve got not one, but multiple college acceptances, you might be feeling overwhelmed, stressed, excited, confused, or a zillion ways when it comes to deciding where to go next year. Regardless of how you’re feeling, consider some of the following factors to help find the perfect fit for an awesome freshman year.

Visit the school again.

If at all possible, check out your top choices again in person as an admitted student. Oftentimes, universities will have special events for admitted seniors in the spring. Check with the admissions office at a college or university to see if they offer anything like this. These sessions are usually geared towards giving potential students a better look at what student life is like instead of the admissions spiel you heard back in the fall. You might have a chance to get a better look at different housing options, learn more about activities on campus, attend a class, meet faculty and other admitted students, or hear student presentations, sometimes even for an entire weekend. Even if the schools you’re deciding between don’t have sessions like this, think about trying to design your own experience to get a look at some of these factors. You want to pick a place where you feel comfortable, and visiting again and trying to see yourself as a student on campus next year is one of the best ways to do so.