Study Abroad Alternative: Do it yourself
Study abroad programs are expensive. I wrote before about the costs of studying abroad, but I only briefly mentioned the alternatives to those costly programs. One alternative is to do it yourself. You can have the same experience, or even a better experience, but for a lot less.
While I don’t believe learning language in class is the most effective way to learn, in order to live in another country you need a visa (well for more than 3 months in most countries, while others require a visa for entry), and in order to get a visa you need to either be enrolled in school or have a job. It is possible to create your own study abroad experience without any of this, but I’ll save that for another post. This post assumes that you will enroll in a university abroad.
How:
It doesn’t matter what country you go to, there is always a way to set up your own study abroad experience. Here are the steps:
1) Choose a country and city
2) Research the schools
You can check out what schools your current university partners with in order to still be around your classmates. You can also search online for “study abroad [insert country/city]” and see what universities most study abroad programs use.
3) Research program choices
Every school will have multiple program choices for international students. You can enroll in a degree program, or you can enroll in a short-term non-degree program. The non-degree programs usually include language programs and other specialty programs. Language programs may include intensive language and regular language, with a difference in how many hours you are in class every day.
4) Know the process
What forms will you need, when do you need to turn them in, and what are the costs at each stage? What kinds of medical checkups and immunizations you’ll need before you go. It’s best to email the school yourself for more information.
5) Contact your department’s advisor (students)
If you are in school, it’s important that you contact the department for your major and let them know of your plans. You need to find out what forms you need to take temporary leave from school (every school allows this), what you will need in order to be able to transfer credits back, and what kinds of credits you can expect to get (elective / major / etc). When you arrange this meeting, you should already know what classes you plan on taking.
If your school offers a study abroad program, then you can take the same classes, get the same credits and live in the same dorm, just for a substantially cheaper price.
6) Do it
Pay the host school (usually wire transfer). Get your immunizations. Apply for your visa. Apply for temporary leave from your current university. Buy your plane ticket. Start learning the language.
That’s all there is to it. Just do your research, confirm with your school what you want to do, then do it. This way you’ve completely cut out the middleman, and saved a lot of money.
One hidden advantage of this is that you free yourself from the study abroad program. In my experience, students on these programs tend to rely heavily on the program to give them an experience, rather than going out to find their own experience. When you are in charge of your experience from the start, you are more likely to be active the entire way through. On top of this, you get to customize your experience, rather than just picking from a list of pre-made experiences. You get to choose where you want to travel, where you want to live, and what school you want to attend.
Some other notes and tips:
- You can buy international insurance on your own (if you so choose), and then most host universities require you to buy insurance locally. They will usually provide this service when you get there.
- For countries like China, there is a long medical checklist before you leave, so plan ahead and make sure to get that list from the university you apply for.
- Your living situation is important. You should ask for pictures of the different dorm choices from the host university, or try to find some online. You may even consider asking your local study abroad office for the contact of someone who went before, and then asking for recommendations.
- There is always the option to live off-campus, but that is really difficult to do if you aren’t familiar with the country, aren’t in the country already, and don’t know anyone there. Living on-campus is actually pretty fun at first, so I recommend it. If you want to stay more than a semester, you can consider living off campus. For those that are really outgoing, independent and good at Google search, you can look for apartments online and possibly find something before you leave.
- Your host university will have someone that you can call when you need help and in case of emergency. You should get this number before you leave and give it to your parents.
- If you want to travel, you can always look for a tour agency. Agents are going to be just as “affordable” as the expeditions that study abroad programs take you on, but you can choose your own destination and travel dates. You also get to choose who you go with, rather than having to go with the people on your program – which is a chance to travel with locals. Another choice is to travel on your own, which I recommend, but that goes far beyond this guide.
Study abroad is not as scary as you might think, and doing it yourself is not only possible, but recommended
Please ask questions! I would love to hear other concerns in case I’ve missed something.
Related posts:
- The Real Cost of Study Abroad (Beijing, China Case Study)
- Recreate Abroad Experience at Home to Learn a Language
- The China Study and Eating Vegan
- How to Remember Everything You’ll Ever Learn: The Spaced Repetition System
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