Advice on Going Abroad

Guest post by Sydney Zeldes, Foster Undergraduate who participated in an exchange with the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia. 

If you’re considering studying abroad, congrats! That’s awesome. You’ve probably heard “advice for going abroad” from a million people already.  This is one piece of advice I found the most important:

Think about what you want out of the program, not where you want to go. Do you want to go for a short time? Do you want to travel and see as many places as possible? Do you want to go somewhere culturally very different from the US or would you rather go somewhere that speaks English? Do you want to take “real” classes and learn business in a different school setting, or would you rather take easy electives and have more time to explore? Do you want a big city or a smaller town? Do you want to go somewhere where the cost of living is cheap? Somewhere close to other travel destinations? The answers to these questions should point to the best program for you.

Any place you go will be an amazing experience! You really can’t go wrong. I decided I wanted to go to Sydney, Australia, and that I would do whatever program got me there. While not a terrible strategy, I wish I had thought more about being gone for a long time and living in a very expensive city.  I wanted to go to Australia, which took precedence over saving money or missing two quarters, but any number of programs would have also been a similarly awesome experience. That said, I still had an amazing time and would still recommend Sydney to anyone.

Do research on places to go! You might be surprised with where you find appealing.

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