a. Northwestern Study Abroad—An Academic Endeavor

b. Tips for Submitting a Strong Study Abroad Application

a. Northwestern Study Abroad—An Academic Endeavor
Study abroad is an academic endeavor, and students are required to demonstrate that they understand it as such and plan to go abroad to learn (and not, for example, primarily to travel or take "time off" from Northwestern). Northwestern is committed to sending students abroad who:

• are performing well at Northwestern
• have educated themselves about the various study abroad options and chosen to apply to programs that clearly fit their academic and personal needs and interest, and,
• have at least a basic familiarity with the places where they hope to study.

Our goal is to ensure that Northwestern students who go abroad will succeed academically and will take maximum advantage of the various learning opportunities they’ll encounter. Study abroad should help students expand their knowledge of the place they study and of the relationship between that place and the rest of the world and gain a deeper understanding of themselves as U.S. and global citizens. Students who study abroad also often return with clearer personal, educational, and career goals.

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b. Tips for Submitting a Strong Study Abroad Application
The Northwestern study abroad application provides multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate to the Study Abroad Office and the University Study Abroad Committee that they will make the most of the study abroad experience, personally and intellectually. There are a number of ways in which students can demonstrate this, including through their GPA, faculty recommendation, and essays, and by meeting with a study abroad adviser before submitting an application.

Following are a few tips to keep in mind for submitting a strong application:

1. Submit your application on time and complete.
Applications appear more serious when they are submitted on or before the deadline and when they are complete. There is a lot involved in the application, so you should start filling it out at least two months before the deadline. Parts of the application require that you meet with other people on campus or obtain documents (your transcript). You should take care of these things early on since it can be difficult to do them right before the deadline.

2. Choose a faculty recommender who knows you well, and give her/him time and guidance.
The Northwestern application requires a faculty recommendation. Make sure to:
a. Choose faculty members who know you well. They can be teaching assistants, unless
you're applying to Oxford, King’s College, or University College London.
Applying to Oxford? Click here for more information on faculty recommendations.
b. Request recommendations from faculty at least 4 weeks before the application deadlines.
c. Give faculty members guidelines for writing your recommendation:
-Remind them how you performed in their course.
-Explain how study abroad will enrich your undergraduate career/life. Be specific!
-Tell them which skills and personality traits you would like emphasized in the recommendation.

3. Think in depth about what you hope to learn abroad.
Study abroad is a serious commitment, and you need to think long and hard about what you hope to learn abroad. At first, you may not know what you hope to learn—study abroad may just seem like something neat and exciting. That’s fine. But by the time you submit your application, you should have done enough research and talked with enough people (advisers, returnees, international students, parents, etc.) to be able to articulate a few of your most important goals in studying abroad. There are lots of advisers on campus who would be happy to help you identify these goals, including the staff in the Study Abroad Office, your school advisers, and your departmental advisers. But first, we encourage you to start thinking about all the learning possibilities involved in study abroad by filling out the first part of the worksheet, Finding a Study Abroad Program That Meets Your Needs (pdf*), which asks you to identify your study abroad goals.

4. Research programs thoroughly.
Northwestern is affiliated with about 100 study abroad programs in countries all over the world. Different programs meet the needs of different students, and it is important that you research the programs in the countries where you hope to study and figure out which ones are best for you. You can do some preliminary research by browsing our affiliated programs on the Web. Make sure also to spend some time in our study abroad resource library reading through the program literature and other information that we have on file, including program evaluations completed by past participants, photographs, staff site visit reports, and books. We are open every weekday from 9-5. Also, it's important that you talk to multiple returnees to hear some "real life" stories about the programs. The names of Northwestern returnees are listed on the program Web pages.

5. Learn about the countries where you might want to study.
Northwestern insists that students have at least a basic understanding of the country where they want to study. This is because the more you know about a country before you go there, the more you'll learn while you're abroad. The study abroad experience goes by quickly, so we want to ensure that Northwestern students will hit the ground running and not have to spend too much of their time learning the basics. Also, having prior knowledge about a country before you go there demonstrates respect for that country, its people, and its culture and helps you have meaningful interactions with local people.

The Northwestern study abroad application requires that you submit a Country Essay. The instructions (subject to change) say:

Country Essay (Length: 1-2 pages)-Required for All Students

Northwestern expects students to have some knowledge about their study abroad destination and to continue learning about it before they leave for study abroad. To demonstrate this knowledge, write a mini proposal for a research project that you could possibly conduct abroad in your first-choice country. If you are applying to two programs in two different countries you will need to write a country essay for each country. (Note: This does not have to be a project that you will actually end up conducting.) Focus on a particular interest. For example, you could discuss Aboriginal issues in Australia, France's role in the European Union, or the pressing issue of immigration in Denmark. Include a few paragraphs summarizing the issue that interests you and a few paragraphs explaining what more you would like to learn. This scholarly essay should demonstrate that you have some knowledge of the country and will generally require that you do some research, especially if you have not taken any courses at Northwestern that covered your destination country in depth. Make sure to cite at least three academic sources.

•		University courses that spend some time focusing on particular countries/regions
	- - - - -	Language courses Area studies courses Other courses that spend a few days or weeks covering a particular country/region Independent studies General courses in which you could write a term paper focusing on a particular country/region
•		Personal experiences related to particular countries/regions
	- - -	Family background Extracurricular activities Intercultural experiences that you’ve had, either abroad or in the U.S.
•		Research outside of class into the program and the countries/regions where you hope to study
	- - -	Read a book or two on your own about the country/region that interests you (a history or political science book, a travelogue, a memoir, etc.) Watch movies about the country/region (especially foreign films, i.e., made by local directors) Talk to returnees (Northwestern returnee names are listed on the program pages on our Web site) •The Study Abroad Office has a limited number of coffee vouchers that you can use to take a returnee to coffee at the Unicorn!
	-	Talk to international students •The Study Abroad Office has a list of international students who would like to talk to students interested in study abroad. •The Study Abroad Office has a limited number of coffee vouchers that you can use to take an international student to coffee at the Unicorn!
	-	Talk to professors who do research in the country/region that interests you. •If you don’t know whom to talk to, call the Study Abroad Office or your school adviser and we can give you some suggestions.
	-	Attend international events on or off campus. For a list of some of these events, see the Calendar on our Web site. Also check with the language and area studies departments, which sponsor movies, talks, etc.

6. Three Tips in Filling Out the Application

a. In explaining your goals, be as detailed as possible.
Once you have a clearer understanding of what you hope to learn abroad, explain your goals in the application in as much detail as possible. For example, don’t write, "I hope to learn more about the world." This is the general goal of all study abroad. We want to know, specifically, what are you hoping to learn more about?

b. Don’t talk about traveling.
We know that students generally travel a lot while they are abroad and appreciate that this is an important aspect of the study abroad experience. However, we don’t want to hear about travel in the application, unless you plan to travel somewhere as part of a particular academic project.

c. Review your application with an adviser.
•WCAS school advisers are happy to review students’ applications and essays with them. In fact, students in all schools are supposed to show their advisers all completed application materials—including essays—when they meet with them to get their signatures on the application.
•Students in all schools can get help on their applications and essays from these offices:
-The University Academic Advising Center
-The Writing Place

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