One of the best experiences for today’s university students are the “study abroad” options available to them. Now more than ever students are pursuing spending at least one semester abroad, an enriching experience which can expose them to other cultures while making themselves more marketable post graduation.

Before heading to foreign lands and distant shores, students must make sure that everything they need to bring with them is in order. Let’s take a look at what you can do to help make your time spent abroad get off to a good start:

Your Paperwork — Do You Have Everything That You Need? Your passport must be up-to-date and you may need a visa to gain entrance to the country where you plan to study. Make copies of your documentation (including insurance papers and college paperwork) and store these separate from the original copies.

Medications — Important medicines you must take stateside may not be available overseas. Bring as much as you can with you and be prepared to find an alternate medication while studying abroad. Clearly, this may not be an option for some students who need a specific medicine to handle a particular problem. Get extra prescriptions from your doctor and a note to cover special health related information.

Bring What You Need, Nothing More — Being gone for several months, you may be tempted to overpack and bring more than what you need with you. Have the appropriate clothes for the season and enough of what you need to avoid having to wash clothes more than once per week. Leave your cell phone home as it isn’t likely to work outside of the country, bring a back up battery and cord for your laptop. Tag your luggage and write your destination address and contact phone number on paper and stick copies of these in each piece of luggage that you are bringing with you.

Shipping anything to you once you have left the country will be expensive. Save money and hassle by listing everything you want to bring, anticipating your needs for the months that you will be away.

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Adv. — Going somewhere? Visit SayCollegeMove.com to help you get organized and to make your journey a smooth one.

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Even before heading off to college for the first time, many freshmen know that they’ll be sidetracked along the way and miss a semester or two of schooling at their college of choice.

No, they won’t be taking time off to pursue a job or kick back and relax for a few months, rather these students already are planning to spend some of their time studying abroad.

According to the Open Doors report published by the Institute of International Education, the leading not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the United States, the number of students studying abroad is on the rise. Specifically, their findings were:

Study abroad increased by 8.5% to a total of 223,534, according to the Open Doors report, published annually by the Institute of International Education with funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The number of American students receiving academic credit for their study abroad has increased 150% in the past decade, from fewer than 90,000 students in 1995/96.

The United Kingdom was again the top destination with more than 32,000 students participating followed by Italy, Spain, and France. Australia was #5 with Mexico, China, Germany, Costa Rica, and Ireland rounding out the Top 10.

Open Doors also discovered that many students are choosing to study in nontraditional locations including the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. They found that the top three major fields of study of Americans studying abroad are the social sciences, business and management, and humanities.

18 schools reported that at least 80% of their students study abroad a list which includes Dickinson College, Luther College, DePauw University, Colby College, and Elon University. New York University sends the most students abroad, with over 2800 participating in 2007.

Further Reading

International Student Enrollment In US Rebounds

Resources

College Money Maze

Winning The College

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