By MIA QUICK
Web Editor
Figuring out how to study abroad can feel like a much more daunting task than actually studying abroad. The temporary stress of figuring out the details will be the furthest thing from your mind when you’re relaxing on a beach somewhere warm, somewhere without snow. Why settle for one summer when you can have two?
In addition to choosing what climate you want to live in, you’re given the opportunity to immerse yourself in another culture. Maia Kirk, an alumni from class of 2022, went on a faculty-led program (FLP) during a spring break trip to Guatemala in 2019. “I had experiences that I never would have had without going on that trip. I built stoves out of cinder blocks for local families, painted rooms inside their school, hiked on an active volcano, and swam inside an active volcano,” said Kirk. You get the chance to experience a world different from your own and turn it into something familiar.
Through several study abroad providers, Saint Rose offers study abroad opportunities in 35 countries and over 100 colleges worldwide, ranging from Morocco to Fiji.
If you’re worried about your safety, traveling under the aegis of your college allows you to have two entire institutions dedicated to guaranteeing you make it home. With the decline of COVID, students at Saint Rose have begun to study abroad more frequently than in the past, as it is something much more achievable now.
However, there’s a lot of confusion that can occur during the application process that shouldn’t become a barrier between you and your journey. Instead of running around on your own, here is a list of some tips for making the process easier.
Your first step is to determine your eligibility. Have you completed more than 30 credits, is your GPA above a 2.5, and are you on good disciplinary standing with the college? If your answer was ‘yes’ to all three questions, then you’re ready to begin.
Email Saint Rose’s study abroad office and your advisor. You should be given a link to decide which program and country best suits you and paperwork with details for required administrative approval. After this, you’re mostly on your own. Luckily for you, this ‘how to’ guide exists.
Determining your schedule should be your main priority and should be started as soon as you have chosen where you’d like to go abroad. Discuss this with your advisor as if it were Advisement Day. If the courses you decided to take are within your major, minor, or lib-ed (the core) required courses, you will need to locate the syllabuses provided by the abroad college. This can easily be done by messaging the program provider (such as AIFS, ISA, CISabroad, etc.) or looking at their website.
You should do additional research into your program provider before going abroad, but overall, providers offer similar services such as housing, courses, excursions, some form of health insurance, orientation, and airport reception. They differ in how far they’re willing to guide students.
“Some walk you through the student visa process while others simply make it the student’s responsibility. Others have personal on-site staff willing to help students in-country with any issues that arise, and so on,” said Nick Battiste, assistant director of the international student services.
If you’re taking general education courses, you won’t need signatures from department chairs. If you decide to take classes that coincide with your major, minor, or other required liberal education courses (the core), you will need to get signatures from the department chair of that course. Department chairs must first review the syllabus associated with the abroad course you’d like to take, so you’ll need to either download or copy and paste your desired course’s syllabus and email it to the relevant department chair or professor.
For example, if you needed to take a required history course, you would send your history syllabus to the department chair of history, Dr. Ryane Straus, who would then decide if the course is equivalent to Saint Rose’s required history course. If she decides that it’s equivalent, she will sign off on it. You will repeat this process for at least six courses in order to create a full schedule abroad with some backups. Scanning the document given to you and emailing it to the department chairs that you need is an efficient way to get all of your signatures.
If you’re struggling to figure out department chairs, here are some that you’ll most likely run into: Dr. Karen McGrath from communications, Dr. Brian Jensen and Dr. Brad Bauer from science, Dr. O’Rourke from mathematics, Dr. Gilder from computer science, and Dr Ryane Straus from history and political science. You can find more information by contacting your advisor or Battiste.
During your signature hunt, you will go to your advisor, your department chair, student affairs, and financial aid. Before financial aid signs off on your paperwork, they will discuss how study abroad and financial aid function. Your tuition will be paid to Saint Rose, who will then reimburse the study abroad provider for you. Most, if not all scholarships will be applicable to studying abroad and financial aid will apply exactly the same as if you were at Saint Rose. Your costs should be the same as if you were at your home school.
However, if you typically commute, the fees will be more expensive. Unless you can find your own housing while studying abroad, you will be paying housing separately from tuition fees. Financial aid can still be applied to housing and Saint Rose will still reimburse the provider for you. For example, studying abroad in Greece through AIFS will cost roughly $3,000 for the semester. Fees vary depending upon which provider and country you choose.
“Many of our providers not only offer scholarships, but also various deals and discounts that students can take advantage of such as; discounts on fees, credit towards your flight, or even housing cost reductions,” said Battiste.
After getting signatures on all of your courses, you will get a signature from the registrar’s office. You will need a list of all of your syllabuses that are from major, minor, or lib-ed courses and provide it for the registrar. They will review it and ensure that the department chairs have signed off.
After you’ve completed this form and received all of your signatures, you will send a copy to Battiste. He will determine if the paperwork is correct, and if so, you can apply to your program. There will be a fee, which will be your only out-of-pocket expense aside from your flight.
Your provider will have its own application process that will request a scanned and colored version of your passport and transcript (found at this link and sent as a pdf for $3.50). Depending on which country you choose and the duration of your stay, you may also need a visa which can be found by looking up your state and desired country alongside ‘consulate.’
“What I hear most from students is that studying and living abroad is a life-changing, ‘transformational’ experience. Students come back as better global citizens, better students, and most importantly better versions of themselves,” said Battiste.
