For a better future, more and more people choose to study abroad since this experience will help to enrich their CVs. However, we know that not all of your overseas adventure will add to your resume. Typically, only a successful study abroad experience can help you. Then how can you make your stay abroad a successful experience on the spot and profitable for your future? Here are ten tips for you.
Before Leaving
Before leaving your homeland, there are three essential things you should do:
1. Know what the chosen courses look like
At this moment, you must have selected a path that fits you. If not, you can click here to know how to select a course. So before leaving, you need to know about the content and organization of the courses you are going to take. An excellent title at first glance can turn out to be a disappointing course. If you choose a subject, it is for the entire semester. Besides, you also have other elements to check: the prerequisites requested by the teachers, the mode of evaluation (multiple-choice questions, file to be returned, oral presentation, etc.) and teaching (discussion, lectures, etc.), so as not to be too destabilized.
2. Contact your future classmates
Thanks to the Internet and social networks, you can contact the students who will be with you in class. To achieve this goal, you can join a Facebook group created by one of your classmates. In the group, you will be able to exchange lots of information on courses, accommodation, cell phone plans, bank accounts abroad, and get to know your future classmates. It’s more reassuring!
Campus, shared accommodation, private apartment, homestay, etc. See, the possibilities for accommodation are many and varied. You can easily choose the formula that suits you best. This depends on whether you prefer calm, proximity to the city center or the boiling point of the campus. Again, don’t forget to take a look at the forums and ask the students for advice!
3. Choose a roof
Campus, shared accommodation, private apartment, homestay, etc. See, the possibilities for accommodation are many and varied. You can easily choose the formula that suits you best. This depends on whether you prefer calm, proximity to the city center or the boiling point of the campus. Again, don’t forget to take a look at the forums and ask the students who already live there for advice!
On the spot
4. Getting to know teachers
In many countries, particularly Anglo-Saxon, teachers are very accessible. That means that you can take the opportunity to see them, ask them questions, extend a theme seen in progress. During your study, you may find that it is not uncommon to see a teacher offer you to go for a coffee or lunch. Students can take advantage of these privileged moments to explain their motivations, our aspirations, and also our difficulties and ask teachers for help.
5. You have the right to speak!
In many countries’ universities, the courses consist mainly of discussions or debates. You may find that the teacher does not intervene much and lets the word circulate between the students. There is also a lot of freedom in the files that students use. Thanks to this teaching mode, you are very likely to have the spirit of initiative, inventiveness, creativity, and so on.
6. Keep a journal
Shopping at the market, strolling through the business district, reading the local paper – these are all the right opportunities for learning about a different culture and society, even when you outside the school. As long as you keep a journal, note what you observe, experience something different from your home, be curious, and you will gain a lot from your overseas study life.
7. Open your horizons
Many foreign universities organize at lunchtime or in the evening, conferences and meetings with professionals. This can be an opportunity to discover other aspects of the country and the culture in which you live. For example, students at Columbia University have opportunities to listen to judges of the Supreme Court and prestigious legal experts. That is an excellent way to enrich students’ culture and even his/her network!
8. Participate in sports and cultural associations
A unique way to successfully integrate is to participate in campus activities, such as sport, culture, science, parties. There is generally an embarrassment of choice, but you don’t have to limit yourself to university. A campus university enables you to make new friends, learn new skills and have a more colorful campus life. So don’t reject it, join some campus activities, and enjoy your campus life.
Back to your home country
9. Examine a situation carefully
Once backing to your home country, your study abroad life will quickly catch up with you. But once you’ve told your family and friends about your stay ten times, you’re going to want to move on! To make this experience profitable and to remember the essentials, you’d better force yourself to take a few hours to take stock of everything you have experienced, learned, liked, or not. That will then be used in the context of a recruitment interview, for example.
10. Cultivate your network
With the Internet and social networks, nothing could be simpler than keeping in touch with everyone you meet on the spot. Facebook for friends, Linkedin or Viadeo for professional contacts or teachers, and so on. It may one day serve you as part of your future career or for trips abroad!
Don’t forget to prepare your resume and get ready to apply for different job positions. Ladders offer great examples when it comes to resume writing, so make sure to check those out before you submit yours.
Conclusion
Having a successful study abroad trip is more difficult than applying for a good university. So after successfully applying for a school, don’t forget to get some tips about study abroad and try your best to make your study abroad trip more wonderful and let it become a helpful experience for yourself.
