Study Abroad For Graduate Students
by Geri Rypkema
Director, Office of Fellowships and Graduate Student Support
The George Washington University.
A convincing personal rationale is usually easy to formulate, but the academic justification can be difficult. Students in some disciplines, such as international affairs or political science, often find the logical basis for their trip in plain sight. Students in disciplines (physics, for example) that don't traditionally integrate international study may have more difficulty justifying their time overseas.
In order to describe how your work outside of the U.S. will tangibly benefit your academic program and your future in the field, you need to ask yourself:
- Can my research be conducted just as easily in the U.S.?
- Do I already have or can I develop the necessary contacts to make my research or experience feasible?
- How will my international experience enhance my program of study upon my return?
- How will my proposed experience affect my academic future?
Once you can justify your international experience, you are ready to tackle the logistics: namely, finding funding and negotiating the procedures for overseas study at your school.
Funding
In order to maximize your chances of getting the money you need, you should corral information on as wide a range of funding sources as you can find. Your first stop should be your university's fellowship information office (or its equivalent).
Many fellowship information offices subscribe to national databases that pull together many sources of funding. This office certainly will have information on a number of highly competitive major national fellowship programs that support international study, including the Fulbright, Boren, Social Science Research Council, Bosch, Rhodes, and Marshall programs. It should also provide information on any special grants for international study offered by your university or college. You should review the eligibility requirements and goals of each of these programs carefully to identify the ones that match your own circumstances and goals.
Negotiating Your Way Through Campus Procedures
Your next step is to determine your university's procedures for studying overseas. Begin by having a discussion with your academic advisor. Your advisor can help you resolve three important logistical issues:
- 1. Who administers international study programs at your school? These programs are often administered by individual academic departments, deans' offices, or by an official "International Study" office.
- 2. What credit can you receive for your work overseas?
If you are a master's candidate, ask whether (and how) you can earn academic credits for courses taken abroad or for an independent study project. Explore the offerings of some of the universities in the country to which you plan to travel and find out the courses that are likely to be offered. Ask your advisor whether you can substitute credit from these courses for comparable courses at your home school.
If you are a doctoral candidate, ask whether you can get dissertation credits for your research. How many credits can you obtain? Find out where you can get the required forms, whose permission and signatures are needed, and when you must submit them. Do you plan to seek advice from your on-campus professors while you're overseas? Find out what fees might be attached.
- 3. How should you register during your time abroad? The last thing you want to hear when you return to your home university is that your student status has changed unexpectedly.
