You may know the benefits of studying abroad for both a semester and a summer, and you may have decided on a location, but do you know everything else that is involved in a study abroad experience?
You probably don’t, so that is why there are at least 5 different kinds of people you should talk to before you go overseas.
The top 5 people you should talk to are:
- Study Abroad Adviser - Before you talk to your parents or anyone else you should always first talk to a study abroad adviser. Every study abroad program should have a head adviser or a handful of study abroad advisers who will give you information on everything from the cost of the trip to what you will need to pack.
- Parents - You should talk to your parents about studying abroad the moment you realize that’s what you want to do. You may need to convince them to help you to pay for the trip, but tell them that you’ll gain college credit, you’ll learn about a new culture and it will look good on your resume for future jobs.
- Academic Adviser - All college students have an academic adviser that helps them to choose classes for their major. If you decide to study abroad always go to your academic adviser and see when the best time will be to take overseas classes and if it will interfere with any other classes you will need to take before graduation.
- Financial Aid Adviser - The financial aid adviser will tell you how much the study abroad trip will cost and how much financial aid will be available to you. If you or your parents can’t cover the cost of the entire trip then a study abroad scholarship, grant or fellowship would be your best bet.
- Past Study Abroad Students - For more of an inside scoop of the school, the city and the surrounding areas of your study abroad location you definitely want to talk to students who have already been abroad. They can tell you about places to visit, where to eat, who to talk to at the school and more. No person is more informative than the person who was actually there.
Once you’ve talked to these five different types of people then you should have the knowledge and preparation that is necessary for a study abroad trip.
