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Study Abroad Advising Resources

When advising students about applying to study abroad, please review the Getting Started and Applying to Study Abroad sections of the GLO website, which explain the application process and outline Northwestern’s expectations for student preparation and approval of study abroad plans.

Consult information below about choosing programs, advising, approving applications, and requesting a letter of recommendation (if necessary).

Program Selection

Students may seek your guidance in choosing a program. Since there are over a hundred available programs, we do not expect you to be familiar with all of them. However, to gain a basic understanding, we recommended that you:

Students are strongly encouraged to apply to Northwestern programs, exchanges, or partner programs, since they are regularly evaluated by GLO and the Undergraduate Study Abroad Committee (USAC) for quality in terms of academic standards, housing, cultural immersion, and administrative support services. Additionally, students who participate in these programs may apply their financial aid.

If students are interested in an independent program, they may be granted permission to apply only if they have a specialized academic need that cannot be met by one of our partner programs, and they will not be able to apply their institutional aid. For more information about this policy please read studying abroad on an independent program.

School Advisers

Advising & Approval Process

All students must meet with and obtain approval from their School Adviser(s). If you are a School Adviser, the general procedure is as follows:

  • The student will “raise their hand” in ConnectNU to request study abroad approval for a specific term.
  • You will be assigned a tracking item, e.g., Study Abroad Approval: Fall
  • The student will schedule an appointment with you to discuss their study abroad plans.
  • During your meeting, you should determine that:
    • They are in good academic standing and making satisfactory progress toward completion of their degree.
    • Their study abroad plans make sense academically, considering their overall plan of study at Northwestern.
  • Once you have met with the student and are ready to provide approval, you will clear the tracking item/flag and send the student a message indicating approval. 
  • The student will upload that email into their GLO application.

Access Student Instructions

Approving Study Abroad

Log in to ConnectNU to provide approval:

  1. Visit https://www.northwestern.edu/undergraduate-advising/for-students/connectnu/
  2. To view active flags:
    1. View Recent Changes on your homepage,
    2. Search by individual student, or
    3. Navigate to your Tracking Items to see all students requiring approval
  3. Click Clear or Resolve
  4. Select This concern was successfully addressed
  5. Check the Send a message to [student] to close the loop
  6. Copy and paste the following into the comment field:
    1. You have been approved to study abroad for [Term]. We have discussed your study abroad course plans, policies for earning distribution/foundational discipline, theme, and major and/or minor credit, possible course substitutions, and remaining degree requirements. Please upload a copy of this email to the School Adviser Approval requirement in your GLO application. 
    2. Be sure include the correct term, e.g. Fall 2025, Summer 2025
  7. Click Submit

Access full instructions

Low GPA Support Letter

The University Study Abroad Committee (USAC) expects all study abroad applicants to have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or above at the time of application.

USAC considers applicants' GPAs important because students will not have access to the same resources available at Northwestern while abroad. In some cases, it may be in a student's best interest to stay on campus and focus on improving grades. Additionally, most of Northwestern's partner study abroad providers require applicants to have a cumulative GPA of 2.5-3.0 or higher. 

Your feedback is essential in the evaluation process. The information you provide below will help us to better understand the student's academic progress at Northwestern, as well as his/her potential for success on a study abroad program.

In a letter submitted to jessica.fetridge@northwestern.edu, please explain whether and how you believe study abroad will benefit this student academically and personally.

You may wish to discuss the following:

  • How long have you known the student, and how well do you know her/him?
  • What is your opinion of the student's intellectual motivation in general?
  • Does the student have clear intellectual and personal reasons for wanting to study abroad?
  • What other personal factors might influence this student's success on the program (e.g. stability, independence, creative ability, responsiveness to feedback, etc.)?