Spending The Junior Year (or Semester) Abroad

Subjects For Consideration

If you are interested in going abroad, you will need to do a lot of work and advance planning to ensure that your time overseas is both successful and recognized by your home college or university. To that end, there are a few important things to consider.

Acquire Language Proficiency

First, you should be aware that most study abroad programs that award course credit for your work will require you to have taken two years of college-level instruction in the foreign language in which your curriculum will be delivered overseas - or to otherwise be able to demonstrate proficiency in that language. Thus, if a year abroad is in your college plans, you must think ahead and ensure that you attain proficiency in the language of your host country no later than the end of your sophomore year in college.

Arrange for Course Credit

You should realize that most colleges and universities have a Junior Year Abroad Committee that oversees students' applications to various overseas programs, coordinates arrangements, and makes determinations about the portability of course credit from those programs back to your original school. If you are interested in going abroad during your junior year, attend the information sessions provided by your college's JYA Committee and apprise yourself of the deadlines governing your application to foreign study programs. At most schools, interested students must actually apply to the JYA Committee for permission to go abroad, in addition to separately applying to the overseas program(s) they intend to attend. This application package will typically require the following: a generic application form and a personal statement outlining your proposed course of study, an authorization from the department head or director of undergraduate study in your major, a certification that you are carrying at least the designated minimum GPA to go overseas, proof of your proficiency in the language of your host country, and proof of acceptance into a program recognized by your college or university.

Financial Aid

If you are receiving financial aid, this money may or may not transfer to the program you are selecting for time abroad. Before you make any commitments, check in with your financial aid office or have your JYA Committee work with your financial aid office to assist you.

Passport and Immunizations

Before you will be allowed to go abroad, you will need to have an up-to-date passport and, for many countries, a schedule of your inoculations. If you are seriously considering time abroad, do not wait until the last minute to gather these required documents - as it can take six to eight weeks to get your passport back if it needs renewal.

Deciding Where to Apply

For those of you looking to go abroad in the fall term of your junior year, your applications to these programs are typically due in March of your sophomore spring. For those of you looking to go abroad in the spring term of your junior year, the application deadline is usually in mid-October of your junior year. This of course presupposes that you have already conducted your own independent research and identified and applied to the program(s) overseas that you would like to attend.

If you are wondering, at this point, how you are supposed to identify such programs . . . don't panic. Your college or university probably has a study abroad office (or something similar) that gathers reams of data on all the programs that your college will recognize for course credit. Approved study abroad programs typically fall into two categories: (1) programs sponsored by colleges and universities in the United States and (2) programs that involve your direct enrollment as a "visiting student" in a foreign university. We have compiled a list of resources at the end of this chapter to help get you started.

If you are interested in pursuing study abroad, attend one of the many information sessions that will be held on your college campus, and ask your dean or JYA Committee for the names of upperclassmen who studied abroad"preferably in the programs or at least in the country you are considering. Obviously, firsthand feedback is the best preparation for what to expect.

Our Thoughts On Our Time Abroad

"I spent my entire junior year in Madrid, through the Tufts in Madrid Program," Carolyn explained. "I took half of my classes at a Spanish university and the other half of them at the Tufts in Madrid program with other American students from Tufts and Skidmore.

"I went abroad because I wanted to become truly fluent in Spanish. Going for the entire year was one of the smartest decisions I made in college. I became proficient in a foreign language by speaking it every day to native speakers, I learned about another culture, I learned about the United States through the perceptions of non-U.S. citizens, I gained confidence in my ability to adapt and take care of myself, and I had a ton of fun.

"I would advise anyone who wants to go abroad to be very careful about the program they choose," Carolyn continued. "The Tufts in Madrid Program had a well-deserved reputation for excellence. It was extremely well organized. All students lived with host families and took classes at both the university and at the Tufts program center. We had scheduled day and weekly trips to other parts of the country that were well-organized and highly educational. We also attended a number of lectures and cultural events organized by the program. Because this was a Tufts program, I did not have to worry about transferring course credit, as it was all done automatically. I have heard some horror stories from friends at other colleges and universities about the disorganization of their study-abroad programs, and the difficulties they had getting credits to transfer"so I would just caution you to work with your college or university to make the arrangements and be sure everything is in order before you leave campus at the end of sophomore year."

"I went to Aix-en-Provence in southern France," Jim explained. "I went through a Vanderbilt University program and studied French history, art history, the European union, and French language. I lived with a seventy-one-year-old widow and a French college student. It was a fantastic experience. I would, however, recommend that students going abroad try to avoid programs in which they will be spending a significant amount of time with other Americans, as I believe that lessens the utility of the experience."

Kevin had some specific advice for students considering going abroad for only one semester.

"If you are in a situation in which you are going abroad for one semester of your junior year and you are planning to live off campus, try to go abroad first semester," Kevin advised. "Leaving first semester means you miss the stress of finding an apartment, assembling roommates, finding furniture and kitchenware, and worst of all, finding a subletter come second semester and the summer. If your name is on the lease, you have to do all of that and many students end up paying a lot of cash they shouldn't have to pay.

"If you go abroad first semester, you will be returning to a great wide world of housing opportunities. Everybody will be looking desperately for someone to fill a vacant room in their off-campus apartment. You get your pick of the litter in terms of rooms, roommates, location and amenities, and when the semester is over, you're home free. No worries about the summer, about subletters, or anything else. You just walk away.

"As for actually going abroad, I went to London and had a wonderful time," Kevin said. "Going abroad is a great opportunity that should not be passed up. If you are going to a European country for your first-semester travels, though, I would recommend traveling early. England and the Mediterranean stay warm through November, but much of the continent gets unpleasantly cold by the end of October. It's a world of difference between Paris in November and Barcelona in November."

Other mentors went abroad at nontraditional times or to nontraditional places.

Additional Resources

www.iiepassport.com (Institute of International Education study abroad search engine and informational Web site)

www.studyabroad.com (study abroad search engine that collects data on programs for the semester and academic year, as well as summer programs, intensive language programs, intersession programs, and programs for short-term study or work abroad)

www.iie.org (Institute of International Education Web site"search for scholarships, awards, and grants)

http://travel.state.gov/passport (U.S. Department of State Web site with information regulating issuance and renewal of passports)

http://travel.state.gov/travel (U.S. Department of State Web site"click on "Studying Abroad" link in left column to bring up U.S. government advice on studying abroad, including any applicable travel warnings in place)

Campus Confidential Mentors and Uber-Mentors:

Campus Confidential contains the collective advice of a a diverse group of people who have traveled the road to college. Some are recent college graduates who can counsel you on the college experience as it is today. Other are a few years removed from their college days and can provide a longer view of the decisions you will need to make before, during, and after college. Here is a little bit about the mentors and uber-mentors in these articles.

Dan Bissell – Campus Confidential Uber-Mentor

Portland, Oregon

B.A. Middlebury College cum laude, 1993. Major: Geology

M. D. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Adler Scholar, 2002

Tom Teh Chiu – Campus Confidential Uber-Mentor

Brooklyn, New York

B. A. Yale University, 1993. Major: double major in Chemistry and Music

M. M. Juilliard School, 1995

M Juilliard School, 2001

Jim Bright – Campus Confidential Uber-Mentor

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

B. A. Duke University, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1997. Major: History

Amanda Cramer – Campus Confidential Uber-Mentor

Paso Robles, California

B.A. Cornell University Phi Beta Kappa, 1993. Major: Mathematics

Graduate study in food science – Enology, University of California at Davis 1997-2000

Zoe Robbins – Campus Confidential Uber-Mentor

Gouldsboro, Maine

B.A. (1) Wellesley College magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1997. Major: Economics

B.A. (2) University of Pennsylvania, 2001. Major: Nursing

Carolyn Koegler – Campus Confidential Uber-Mentor

Hopkinton, New Hampshire

B. A. Tufts University, cum laude, 1993. Double major: History and Spanish

Erik Norton – Campus Confidential Uber-Mentor

Boston, Massachusetts

B. A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1993. Major: Mathematics

Lyndsee Dickson – Campus Confidential Mentor

Concord, New Hampshire

B.A. New York University, cum laude, 2004. Major: East Asian studies

Kevin Donovan – Campus Confidential Mentor

Somerville, Massachusetts

B.A. Boston College, honors in the major, 1993. Major: English, Minor: Creative Writing

Tiffany Chan – Campus Confidential Mentor

Concord, New Hampshire

B.S. New York University, 2005. Major: Communication Science

Erica Eubanks – Campus Confidential Mentor

Memphis, Tennessee

B.A. Tennessee State University, National Deans List, 2003. Major: Criminal Justice

Dave Irwin – Campus Confidential Mentor

Carlisle, Massachusetts

B.A. Middlebury College departmental honors, 2004. Major: American Civilization, Minor: Education

Chase Johnson – Campus Confidential Mentor

London, England

B. A. Duke University, with Phi Alpha Theta distinction in history, 2005. Major: History

Aaron Paskalis – Campus Confidential Mentor

Magnolia, Massachusetts

West Point Military Academy, then transferred to UMass Amherst

B. A. University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2005. Major: Legal studies