For many students, the chance to study abroad can seem to be out of reach.
This can be for a variety of reasons, whether it’s financial difficulties or students just don’t think that they have room in their schedules to take the trip.
Although it does take some work, being able to afford to go to another country is actually quite feasible. With a little planning ahead and looking into scholarship programs, many students have been able to make it work in the past.
If students are interested in going abroad, the first thing they ought to do, according to administrative Assistant of International Programs Lauren Morice is go and talk to their advisers.
This way students will be able to see how they can work with their schedules in order to make sure they are as prepared as they need to be.
If students are interested in going to a country where the primary language is not English, then students must have taken up to 102 in that language. If they are language majors then proficiency level of 202 must be reached before they can go.
In order to plan ahead, students must be prepared or at least looking into studying abroad a year in advance.
The application deadline for both fall and spring semester is the second Friday in February the year before. So if students were interested in trying for next spring, they would have already have missed the deadline.
But don’t worry too much, because the “international programs will try and work with the student,” said Morice, especially in the case where students, upon returning from a sabbatical, wanted to go abroad.
One of the main reasons that study abroad may be seemingly out of reach is the cost. While it is true that flying to another country is expensive, there are ways of reducing the price.
For example, if a student were to live with a host family they would not have to pay for a meal plan like they would if they were living in a residence hall. They would, however, have to pay for their own meals. By paying the host family directly and budgeting for your own meals, living with a host family, according to Morice, “turns out to be cheaper.”
There is also the option of outside scholarships. While all of the scholarships that students are given at Pacific do transfer to the school that they are going to, there are some scholarships that only apply to students on the Pacific campus.
This can be overcome if students just contact the scholarship agencies, which has worked in the past, according to Morice.
There are plenty of ways for students to be able to work through the hurdles to be able to study abroad; it just takes time and a little work. But if students want it then it is entirely feasible and well worth the time.
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