Choosing a Location
The first thing to do is to talk to your school's Study Abroad office. Chances are, they'll have brochures and pamphlets that will give you a general idea about the programs available to you. For me, the process was relatively easy. I don't speak another language and I didn't want to put myself in the tough position of trying to learn a language and pass classes at the same time. This left me to decide between New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Because I want to be able to travel to other countries easily and be further from home, I chose the UK. Within the UK there were twenty-odd universities that offered courses in my major. Of those twenty universities, six offered a direct exchange program, meaning that I would be able to take courses at a university abroad for the same tuition cost as staying at my home university. I spent a lot of time looking at the international student support provided by each school, as well as their proximity to locations, reputation of the city, and getting a feel of which would be a good fit. I basically had to go through the college application process all over again.
Things to Consider:
· Language
· Proximity to other countries/sites you want to see
· Does a University offer courses you will be interested in?
· Cost
· Student Support
