Hannah Strange, the Florida Down Under marketing intern for a second year, writes:

At the beginning of another school year I, along with many of you, am facing a huge decision: what shall I do next summer? While for me it may regrettably involve that whole ‘finding a job’ thing instead of traveling across another continent, many of you may be considering the option to study abroad. But with this option are a whole lot more options: where to study, what to study, how long to go for, how much money should it cost, what kind of academic credits to earn… the list goes on and on. So just in case you are more than a little confused, here are a couple of tips to help keep your mind straight!

Dreaming of where next to study abroad

First off, you are going to want to decide where in the world you want to go. I know, this is a pretty daunting task but you at least have to narrow it down a little. For instance, I want to go everywhere, but when I’m planning my next trip I try to narrow it down to five: China, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, and Greece. Once you have it narrowed down resources such as www.goabroad.com can be very useful in showing you what programs are in which countries. Be sure to check out the AUIP GoAbroad page.

Second, you need to decide what you want to learn. That’s the pesky ‘study’ part of study abroad. You can search by subject, in this way you can ensure that your study abroad is not only fun and adventurous, but it will actually contribute academic credit to your major or minor track (This is a great selling point when you’re talking to Mom and Dad!). One of the best ways to find out what will work best for you is through your university website. Most colleges have a study abroad search engine. Since I’m at University of Florida, here is our search feature. I definitely suggest that you use this to get acquainted with what programs your college offers.

Once you have made these decisions, you will definitely be a lot more prepared for the study abroad fair – usually there is one in both the fall and spring semesters. But if you go in without any prior knowledge, prepare to be a little frazzled at overwhelming study abroad fairs.

So while there are literally thousands of options for where to go and what to do, there are definitely some resources out there to help with your decision. Happy traveling!