College is one of the only times in your life where you can choose to live in another country for an extended period of time at a reasonable cost. With the few commitments college students have, why pass up the opportunity to study abroad.
However, even if you know that you want to go abroad, it can be difficult to figure out all of the steps. Having just gone through the application process, I thought it would be helpful to create a guide for future students with the travel bug.
Some Lingo:
UConn Program: A program which may be led directly by UConn professors, or partners abroad. You will be taking UConn courses abroad, not course at other institutions. They can be for a whole semester, or just during the summer or winter. For these programs, you pay the program fees and not UConn tuition.
Exchange: These are programs where you can directly exchange with a foreign university. You will live at that university and directly enroll in their classes. You will have to get the courses approved through UConn departments. These programs can be for either a semester or a year. For these programs, you pay UConn tuition while abroad.
Affiliate Programs: For these programs, you enroll directly at a foreign university and pay their tuition. These courses will count as transfer credits.
Third–Party Programs: These are programs which do not have a partnership with UConn, but can still be found on the education abroad website. These programs offer experiences abroad which can range from 2 months to an entire year.
UConn Abroad also offers programs such as internship and service learning programs, where you may not be directly enrolled in classes, but you will be gaining other valuable experiences.
Finding a Program
1. Do some research on your own
To begin with, what time are you thinking of going for? Summer? Winter? A semester? A year?
Does your major have any restrictions which will prevent you from going a certain semester? Some majors have capstone classes which are only offered the spring of your junior year, so it would be wise not to miss that.
Lastly, where have you always wanted to go? If it is your dream to live in Australia, explore all of the programs which they have there.
2. Meet with your academic advisor
This step is very important. It will allow you to learn about others in your major who have studied abroad, and may give you insight into what programs would be best for you to look at. Some important questions to ask your advisor would be: What difficulties do students in my major run into? Where do most students in my major go? (If you’re looking at exchange programs) Are there any classes in my plan of study which cannot be taken abroad?
3. Meet with a study abroad advisor
Meeting with a study abroad advisor will give you similar insight as to meeting with an academic advisor, but can tell you more about the application process, and which programs and places may specifically be best for your major. The Education Abroad Office has different advisors for different majors, you can find the list here.
4. Deeper searching
Once you have a list of places/programs that your advisors have given you, do further research into the programs. Cost and classes are a huge aspect of having a successful study abroad, so be sure to compare the costs of different programs, and see if classes have already been preapproved for the programs you’re looking at.
Applying for a Program
1. Get letters of recommendation
Ask your professors and advisors early. Once you have decided on a program, reach out to people who have either advised you on your plan of study or graded you academic work, and can vouch for you as a student. You do not want to be scrambling for recommendations last minute, so send them an email with you resume and reasoning for wanting to study abroad, to give them time to prepare a good recommendation for you. Most programs require two letters.
2. Write essay questions
Programs may vary slightly in what they have you write about, but most of the questions revolve around: Why do you want to study abroad? How will it help you in your academic career? Will this program specifically enhance your academic experience? Have you ever encountered cross-cultural experiences that were challenging, how would you handle it? These are good questions to keep in mind when you are searching for programs and preparing to apply.
3. Choose a second choice program
Rarely, you will not get the program that you want. So, during your search for programs, keep in mind which one you would want to go to if you cannot attend the one you really want.
4. FOR EXCHANGE: Once nominated by UConn, fill out your exchange school’s application.
This step is specific only to students participating in exchange programs. Most schools, once they receive UConn’s nomination of you to attend their school, will ask you to fill out an application of their own. Typically, you will only have a week to two weeks to complete this application after being nominated, so be prepared to devote some time to another application as well.
Having just gone through this process, one of the biggest suggestions I can give is give yourself time. It is never too early to start thinking about the process, even if you are a freshmen who wants to study abroad their senior year. Start early, and devote time to the process. It’s a big decision, and will most likely be one of the greatest experiences of your life – make sure you do everything to get to where you want to go.