Collegiate Times

Close your eyes and point to a map. Wherever your finger is, you can study abroad there, either directly through Virginia Tech or through other programs.

Interested students can make an appointment with the study abroad office located in the Office of International Research, Education, and Development, which is on the corner of Prices Fork Road and Toms Creek Road, across from the commuter lot.

Having an idea of where you'd like to go can make the meeting more productive, so consider all of your options.

When and where

Freshmen are not allowed to study abroad, but they can begin to go abroad the summer after freshman year.

A student can study abroad for a few weeks in the summer or winter, a semester, or for an entire year.

Haley Booe is a student who works with the study abroad office. She spent a semester in the Dominican Republic with a faculty-led program but she said she wishes she had stayed for a whole year. Especially if a student is studying another language, the longer he stays abroad, the more he would absorb and pick up.

Booe said the most popular year for studying abroad is junior year. The office reccomends going early to take care of core requirements in or out of a major because it becomes more difficult to have specialized classes transfer credits.

The more popular study abroad programs involve the sciences and engineering, and the most popular destinations are English-speaking countries such as England, New Zealand, and Australia. These programs are the most competitive, so a student is not guaranteed a slot for such countries.

 Once a student decides on a country, the study abroad office offers a variety of programs.

Bi-lateral exchange

Tech is partnered with various universities around the world, and with this program, a Tech student switches with an international student. This is best for in-state students because they pay Tech their usual tuition, plus the overseas room and board, making tuition pretty affordable. If a student is out-of-state, paying the usual tuition may be more expensive than paying the abroad university directly. Credits will transfer, but will not affect one's GPA.

VT Direct

This program involves enrolling directly into a university and paying its fees. Students will also pay an administration fee to Tech. It's similar to the Bi-lateral exchange in which the student is completely immersed in the area and the university, but an international student doesn't come to Tech in this program. Credits will transfer but will not affect one's GPA.

Faculty-led trips

Tech faculty organize trips in the summer, winter, and for entire semesters. Tech has satellite campuses  for the semester-long trips, at the Center for European Studies & Architecture in Switzerland and the Caribbean Center for Education & Research in the Dominican Republic.

The summer and winter trips can cost over $5,000 for only a few weeks, so if students are able, it's more cost beneficial to devote a whole semester to a trip.

The credits will transfer and will affect GPA

Service learning programs

There are Tech-affiliated and non-Tech-affiliated service programs that span a week to an entire semester. The costs of these programs vary. Some programs pay for the student to volunteer, with the exception of airfare, and some programs work like normal study abroad programs where the student pays Tech or the program.

Non-Tech approved programs

These programs are not organized through Tech and do not involve any of the partner universities. Students could also just apply directly to a university. The risk with such programs is that the credits are not guaranteed to transfer, since Tech hasn't played a part in these programs. Students would have to check with advisers to ensure credits would transfer. The study abroad office has information on these programs as well, if the Tech-approved programs don't include what a student is looking for.

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