Planning Your Study Away
The opportunity to study away from campus is an important time to broaden your education and to support an area of study or academic interest. Students interested in studying away from campus on an academic program should begin their planning as early as possible.
The process of selecting a program, applying to a program, applying to Oberlin for an academic leave of absence and finalizing the details of pre-departure travel and preparation can be time consuming. The Office of Study Away is available to help.
We also encourage students to work with their academic advisors early in planning course schedules so that the semester away is integrated into the plan for graduation.
Students should begin the search for a study away program by asking several important questions:
- What type of courses am I interested in taking while away?
- How would my time away fit together with my educational goals and plans?
- What countries am I interested in visiting?
- How long and when should I go (one semester, one year, summer, winter term)?
- What type of program would I prefer (see the information below)?
- What kind of living arrangements are important (home stay, residence halls, apartments, etc.)?
- Do I want to be with other students from American colleges or not?
- How will my finances work?
- Do I want to have an internship or service component to my time away?
International study away can be generally broken down into the following fundamental categories:
- Programs run by your home institution (Oberlin College)
- Programs run by another United States college or university or through a consortium of colleges or universities
- Programs run by an educational organization (usually called the study away provider)
- Direct enrollment in an overseas university (sometimes the university will have an international center or office to facilitate your visit)
Once you have answered the above questions, you can begin to narrow your search to the location and type of programs that interest you. When you have narrowed your selections, visit the Study Away Office to look at the evaluations from Oberlin students who have attended study away programs in the past several years.
Then make an appointment with an advisor in Study Away to answer any questions, explore your options, and start the application process.