Educational Benefits of Studying Abroad

EDUCATION

Obviously, if you are studying abroad, one of the reasons for going should be educational. No doubt you are examining the programs offered by different study abroad advisers and weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each. Here are some brief considerations regarding the educational benefits of studying abroad.

Credit

Most schools will work with you to provide you with academic credit for the classes you take while studying abroad. You want to make sure to follow all the appropriate procedures for getting credit for your classes abroad since you are working toward a degree and do not want to lengthen the amount of time it will take to complete that degree.

Generally speaking, schools are very reasonable about awarding credit for study abroad classes, and you will probably just have to fill out paperwork detailing what classes you will be taking, and what topics will be covered. If you are taking courses that correspond to equivalents at your home school, you should make that clear so that you are given not only general credit, but credit for those particular classes.

Variety

One piece of advice for picking a school for study abroad would be to pick a type of institution that differs greatly from your home school. If you go to a small school, pick a big one, if you are on a rural campus, move to an urban campus, and vice versa. Look for someplace that will give you as diverse an experience as possible.

A new variety of available classes may also be an unexpected benefit of studying abroad. If you attend a small school normally, and pick a larger school for studying abroad, you may find that the new school offers that obscure class in children's fantasy literature that you have always wished existed at your school. The only way to discover these opportunities is to carefully examine what different schools offer.

Language

One of the determining factors in studying abroad for many people is the native language of the country to which they will be going. Those who are seeking to gain competency in a second language will frequently choose to study abroad so that they can immerse themselves in the language. If your language skills are sufficiently advanced, you may wish to consider enrolling in classes that will be taught in the native language of the country. While challenging, this can present an unparallel opportunity to improve and perfect your fluency.

Even if you are not at a level where you can take classes in another language, going abroad is still the best way to quickly increase your fluency. Studying the language itself in conjunction with living with native speakers is incredibly effective. You will probably be amazed at the speed at which you gain proficiency.

The temptation when studying abroad with a group of people from your home school is to keep close to those who are known and familiar. Resist this temptation! If you want to maximize your language learning and study abroad experience, it is vital that you become friends with the locals, and move beyond the familiar and comfortable. Even if your grasp of the native language is not very good, it is important that you do your best to speak it. If you are at least trying to speak the local language, even if you are speaking it poorly, you will not offend most people. You will probably even find that they will try to help you and encourage your efforts.

New System

When working within a given system, it is somehow hard to imagine getting to the same result a different way. Other countries have some very different approaches to education, particularly higher education. Studying abroad will give you first hand knowledge of a new approach to a familiar challenge. You may be amazed to hear some of the stories of your fellow students about the strenuous testing process involved in their university applications or the way that they are required to declare fields of study. Appreciating and searching for alternative solutions is a life skill.

Some differences you may appreciate and others you may not. Classes might be more discussion or lecture based than you are familiar with. You may spend more or less time interacting with professors and fellow students than you are used to. Classes may require a different volume of graded assignments than you are used to. Many American schools tend to be based on frequent assignments and testing whereas some other school systems are based more around large, comprehensive exams or projects. Depending on your strengths or weaknesses, you may prefer certain formats, but the important thing to remember is to work within the system you are in and learn from it.

Strengths by Location

Another way to maximize your study abroad education is to pick locations based on your interests or fields of study that provide unparalleled opportunities for deeper explorations of your field. For example, each year countless study abroad trips leave for Jamaica to study marine biology or to Costa Rica to study monkeys and other local biology. While your home school may have great faculty and research facilities, a landlocked state in the middle of the US can hardly compare to Jamaica for studying marine life.

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