5 Ways To Choose The Best Location For Studying Abroad

By Melody Chi on March 5, 2015

There are many aspects to think about when you’re considering studying abroad, but the following five are the factors I think are most important.

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1. Choose a destination where your money converts to more and stretches further.

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This is an especially good idea if you’re strapped for cash, and let’s face it, many students are.

So, I don’t mean to give Europe a bad name, but keep in mind that the Euro is worth more than the dollar, so any American money you convert will naturally be less in Euros, and that’s not even counting conversion fees.

I also suggest you research the cost of the most common activities you’ll be doing in your country of choice, such as eating and travelling. Some countries can be much more expensive than others when it comes to these items. For example, if you want to study in Asia but have a tight budget, Japan might not be the best place to choose because most items there (such as food, rent, and transportation) are so expensive.

In contrast, South Korea is an ideal location because, although the plane ticket is more expensive than somewhere closer (and is on par with one to Japan), the prices of food and travelling within the country are cheaper than other locales. The dollar is also worth slightly more than the Won (the Korean unit of currency), so simply converting your money won’t already break the bank.

2. Choose a program that contributes to your major.

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It’s a smart idea to make sure you enroll in classes that fulfill requirements for your major, so you aren’t wasting both your time and hard-earned money. While studying abroad is always a valuable experience simply because you’re interacting with another culture, it’s even more valuable when it actually contributes to getting you out of school faster.

Most programs advertise in advance the exact classes that will be available, so if you see that the courses you’ll need to fulfill a certain requirement are only offered a semester or two away, consider pushing your studying abroad back until that time. Similarly, if those needed courses are part of only one certain country’s program, select to study abroad in that country.

Or, if you’re thinking way ahead, plan to have only General Education (GE) courses left by the time you’re thinking of studying abroad so you have your choice of many classes. As someone who did exactly this, I can tell you that it’s extremely convenient and lets you make sure you have the best schedule to fit in exploring the country outside of your classes.

3. Choose somewhere you can take a class that will give you an experience you couldn’t get at home.

This sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised by how many students don’t take advantage of all that’s offered abroad. Or maybe I should say, they don’t take advantage of the courses that offer an invaluable peek into the heart of a certain culture.

What do I mean? For example, studying art in Italy (the birthplace of the European Renaissance) or Shakespeare in England (as we all know, William Shakespeare’s homeland) would be a once-in-a-lifetime, culturally-specific experience that you definitely couldn’t get by just listening to a lecture at your home university.

Many countries have specialties such as these that correspond to their unique cultures, and choosing to be a part of these distinctive courses can give you an even better study abroad experience than average, and even, dare I say it, change your life.

4. Consider the weather.

Image via Wikipedia.org

“The weather? What does that matter?” you may ask. Well, it can actually count for a great deal when you’re going to be experiencing it for months at a time. For instance, if you’re planning to do a good deal of outdoor exploring, it might be best not to choose a place where it’ll be pouring the whole season you’ll be there.

In fact, one of the most convenient things about studying abroad is that you can choose a location either with the opposite or the same season as the one you’ll be leaving during.

For instance, if you’re leaving during the winter but want to skip the whole “being miserable in the rain/snow” ordeal that you’d experience here in the U.S., you can choose to jet off to somewhere like Southeast Asia.

On the other hand, during the summer here, Europe generally has very temperate and enjoyable weather.

All that being said, I wouldn’t use the weather as an excuse for why you can’t go someplace. For instance, in my last year of college, I studied abroad in South Korea, which frankly had horrifically, record-breakingly humid weather. However, that didn’t prevent me from having the time of my life, although it did make for more laundry.

So, just keep the weather in mind when you’re choosing a locale to ensure you won’t be sorry when you get there.

5. Choose a place where English (or your second language) isn’t predominantly spoken.

Again, I don’t say this to hate on places where English (obviously, the U.S.’ predominant language) is spoken, such as England or Canada.

However, I’ve found that you can get so much more out of a place when it is completely unfamiliar and you have no choice but to experience it from the ground up.

It can be a shock and difficult to adjust to, as I experienced when I went to South Korea without knowing more than the simplest phrases. However, being completely immersed in a place where you don’t speak the language can fulfill a language component, both personally and academically. (And again, getting credit for things you already want to be doing, such as learning a new language, is a perfect way to play the system.)

Being in a locale in which everyone speaks a different language than you also forces you out of your comfort zone, which I feel is a crucial part in exploring a new culture.

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