Predeparture

So I had this idea about a whole pre departure post that listed what I was packing and tips for students before they leave and I was so excited to start this blog and then I got so busy packing and looking up tips for students that I forgot to make the post until now.

Just pretend I'm still home in MN typing away in the snow.

3 tips for getting ready for the journey of a lifetime:

1. [Make a list of what you want in a school abroad and prioritize it]

When I was looking for schools to apply to it was very easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of decisions to make. Where do you want to be? What type of school do you want to go to? Do you want to apply through a program, or just to a school? Can you afford to go? Will studying abroad fit into your curriculum? etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. I found that it was easier for me to write down what I FOR SURE wanted from my study abroad experience and then I find something that matched. For example I knew that I wanted to be in a big city (I had been leaning toward London because I had wanted to go for a long time), go a regular British university as opposed to an American university abroad, attend a good media/communications university, be able to afford going, etc.

2. [Do your research]

After I had narrowed my search I started researching each university until my fingers hurt from googling "is (insert school name here) a good school?" I think that picking a study abroad university is way harder than picking your full time university because you don't know the reputation of your school, you don't get to tour it, or really talk to anyone who attends it. You're going in relatively blind here so I recommend looking for study abroad blogs of other study abroad students attending your university or looking at reviews online so you kind of know the environment there. 

3. [Keep in constant contact with your study abroad office] 

This is something that I can attest to being ABSOLUTELY VITAL I had a bit of a miscommunication with my study abroad office where I thought I had applied for a program affiliated with my university (so that I could keep half of my original scholarships) and it turns out I hadn't so in September/October I was frantically running around, calling and emailing people hoping I could switch into a a different Drake Affiliated program and still go to the same university abroad. It was a mess and added a lot of stress to my life, I would not recommend that. So even if you think that you're on the same page with the people in your study abroad office make sure you continue to clarify what you should be doing at every step of the process to avoid the migraines and potential hair loss I endured.  

Thanks for reading! Stick around and I'll give you some packing tips so that you don't have to read millions of Pinterest articles like I did (although if you're anything like me you will anyway, I'm not judging you at all... Pinterest=bible in cute lists and houses I can't afford)