My dream since I sat in French class as a 12-year-old sixth grader was to study abroad in Paris. I wanted to travel, I wanted to live in a new country, and I wanted to eat a ton of cheese, baguettes, and macarons. Well, wouldn’t you know, 9 years later, at 21 years old, I’m finally making that dream happen in spring 2026. With a slight change in plans due to my major requirements, I’m making my way slightly more west of France to Madrid, Spain (hopefully Duolingo comes in clutch for my Spanish). As excited as I am, there’s a ton of behind-the-scenes with studying abroad that I feel like no one talks about, so I’m here to tell you what I didn’t know about the preparation behind going abroad.
As I mentioned above, my dream was always to go to Paris. Unfortunately, with how rigorous my major in biomedical engineering is, I cannot afford to take a semester without engineering classes and still graduate on time. Luckily, the program in Madrid offers the courses that I need, and so I still get to live out my European dreams, and also be an academic baddie who doesn’t need to delay her graduation in order to do so. Obviously, this depends on how strict your major is, or whether you can plan your classes accordingly in the other semesters you aren’t abroad. But if you have your heart set on a specific location to study abroad, be prepared to potentially alter it to find the program and country that fits your needs best. Or take that extra semester if you want to! It’s all about what you prioritize, and that looks different to everybody. I can’t say I’m complaining about Madrid either, so it all works out in the end.
One of the most annoying aspects of studying abroad is picking out your classes. So many constraints! Between making sure the class is offered in the semester you’re going, making sure it’s approved by your home university, AND making sure it’s offered in a language you’re fluent in, it can be nearly impossible to find the right class. You just have to sit down and hash it out, no matter how much pain it gives you every time you click on a course that you thought would work and it doesn’t exist anymore, isn’t approved by your home university, or is only offered in Spanish. After almost 2 hours of searching, I think I’m in the clear.
Also on the annoying side of things, if you need a visa for your program (mine is over 90 days, so I need one), there are quite a lot of documents that you need to have ready. There’s quite some stress when trying to secure your appointment, going to the major city where your appointment is offered, and having to triple-check every single document to make sure you don’t miss anything, and THEN having to pick up the passport your visa is enclosed in! I personally needed to obtain a certificate from the doctor saying that I had no medical concerns, get a notarized transcript, a notarized U-Card, a passport-sized photo, and a bunch of other documents from my study abroad program, such as proof of acceptance, proof of financial means, and more. I’m sure it varies from country to country, but it is definitely not anything to neglect. Also on that note, you can’t travel internationally while your visa is getting processed. Obviously, because your visa is in your passport! I’ve never had a visa before, so I wasn’t aware of this fact prior.
As the semester before you go abroad progresses and talk of next semester starts coming up, you have to continuously remind yourself and your friends that whatever plans are being discussed, they’re gonna have to happen without you there because you’ll be abroad. I can’t tell you the number of times my friends have talked about events to go to, activities to participate in, and more that I’ve had to remind them that I can’t be there, again and again and again. It’s sad, and FOMO is real, but also remember, you’re gonna be ABROAD! Whatever might be happening, it’ll most likely still be there when you get back, too!
There’s so much exhilaration, and a bit of anxiety that will inevitably build up as I finish out this semester before going abroad. Obviously, I’m beyond excited, but I just thought I’d offer this perspective to fully let you know that despite how awesome it is to plan my day trips across the continent that actually have a chance of happening, all of these nuances are there, and it’s good to be prepared (mentally at least)!
Can’t get enough of HC UMass Amherst? Be sure to follow us on Instagram, listen to us on Spotify, like us on Facebook, and read our latest Tweets!