What to do when the Big Apple just isn’t big enough.

I am of the very firm belief that all college students everywhere should study abroad at some point during their four years. When else in your life are you going to have access to so many programs that give you a perfect excuse to spend a summer, semester, or year in another country? (While taking classes that will count for your degree, mostly covered by financial aid if you’re on it!) My own study abroad experience last year was life-changing (to sound like a total cliché), and everyone else I know who studied abroad recommends it just as highly as I do.

Even if studying abroad isn’t something you’ve thought much about before college, your freshman year is a great time to start exploring programs for the next couple of years without the pressure of applications being immediately due just yet. The only catch is: there are a lot of programs. Since looking through them all can get overwhelming (exciting, but overwhelming!), my best advice would be to start relatively early when it comes to meeting with a Columbia Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE) or Barnard Global adviser, your academic adviser, and your department to make sure that you’ll graduate in four years while having the time of your life abroad.

Some things to keep in mind before studying abroad:

1. Institutional affiliations. There are two main types of study abroad programs you can apply to: Columbia- or Barnard-led or Columbia- or Barnard-approved but led by a different university. Columbia and Barnard both approve a wide range of programs, and you can look online for complete lists of every program you could possibly do from Columbia or Barnard. It’s overwhelming the first time you look at it, but the main thing to know is that, on a Columbia- or Barnard-led program, you’ll be studying abroad with a bunch of your fellow Barnumbians. On a program like Brown in Bologna, you’ll most likely be with other American students, not necessarily from Columbia. If your program involves applying directly to a foreign university as a visiting student, you may be one of the only Americans there, which was my experience when I studied abroad at Cambridge last year.

2. Will this program count towards your major? Not all majors will let you study abroad with every program, while not all foreign universities will even offer your major. To make sure, check with both your department and the UGE/Barnard Global adviser for the program you’re considering before you apply. This is especially important for STEM subjects which are often stricter about study abroad options, while the humanities tend to be more forgiving. (I was able to do a year of my English major in the UK very easily, but that is not always true for every major/program!)

3. When will you study abroad? If you’re studying abroad from SEAS, it’s most common to do the second semester of your sophomore year. CC and BC people generally study abroad at some point during junior year (mostly in the spring), and there are a few programs where you can even study abroad for the first semester of your senior year if you’ve been meaning to for the first three years but didn’t get a chance. The other option is summer, which is popular for people who have to be on campus for their major or just don’t want to miss any of their four years at Barnumbia. You can also do a full year abroad!

4. How will you complete the Core/Foundations/your major’s requirements when you factor in your time abroad? It’s important to plan around your graduation requirements, so you don’t come back for senior year with half of the Core or your Foundations still left to finish. Some study abroad programs very conveniently let you kill two birds with one stone by taking part of the Core abroad, like the ever-popular Columbia Summer Core in Paris or Berlin where you do Art Hum and Music Hum over the summer in Europe, freeing up two classes for your busy semesters on campus. Others like the fall semester Columbia in London or the summer Columbia in Venice sporadically offer classes that count for the Global Core, but this varies from semester to semester or summer to summer, so you’ll need to do some research ahead of time. In a nutshell, Columbia-led programs (as opposed to Columbia-approved programs led by other universities) are your best bet if you want to get some reqs done while abroad. In my non-Columbia-led/Columbia-approved program, I chose to do all of the Core while in New York and use my study abroad courses for major credit instead. Once in a while, you can petition the Core Office to let one of your abroad courses count for Global Core or Science Core, but this will require a lot of prior planning, and it’s a good idea to speak to your academic adviser in advance to make sure you’ll be on track to graduate. The Barnard Global office can also approve study abroad courses to count for Foundations requirements; you just have to be organized about your planning.

5. How will financial aid work while you’re studying abroad? If you’re on financial aid and doing a semester or full year program, odds are that your aid will carry over to fund your time abroad pretty seamlessly! During my year abroad, I paid essentially the same for tuition as what I would have paid for a year on campus while Columbia covered the rest, which included everything but my room and board which I had to pay for on my own (through scholarships, for me). On the flip side, a lot of summer programs do not offer financial aid, but some have partial scholarships associated with them in addition to Columbia’s Global Learning Scholarships that you can apply for at the same time you apply for the program.

There are so many study abroad programs out there, and out of all the options that Columbia and Barnard offer, you will definitely find (at least!) one to get excited about. But if you’re looking for somewhere to start your search, here are some of Bwog’s favorite study abroad programs, which are also some of the most popular at Barnumbia.

1. Academic year or fall or spring semester programs at Oxford and Cambridge (see a list here for Columbia and here for Barnard). I’m clearly biased, since I just spent my junior year abroad at Clare College, Cambridge, through Columbia. I loved studying at Cambridge, and I found it such a special experience to be abroad for an entire year and really immerse myself there, since most study abroad programs only last for one semester. But if an academic year feels like too long to be away, there are still plenty of Oxbridge college where you can study for one semester from Barnumbia, as well as the one-semester Columbia in London if you’d rather keep being a city kid.
2. DIS Copenhagen: Study Abroad in Scandinavia. This Barnumbia-approved program gives you the option to study a wide range of subjects and go on study tours around Denmark and internationally while staying in a homestay or dorm.
3. Global Columbia Collaboratory: Environmental Humanities and the SDGs in Brazil. If you’re into ecology or sustainability and don’t want to be away the entire summer, this partially virtual program lets you visit the rainforests and waterways of Rio de Janeiro for one to three weeks in July while also having classes online with other Columbia and Brazilian students for fifteen weeks.
4. Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS). Level up your Japanese language skills with a semester or academic year abroad with other students from US and Japanese universities! The Kyoto Consortium also offers summer programs in Classical Japanese and Modern Japanese.
5. Mediterranean Humanities in Athens. If you’re on a Lit Hum high, this one-week seminar takes place in the summer and gives you the chance to learn about history and culture in Athens through museum visits and field trips.
6. Columbia Summer in Berlin or Paris. As mentioned above, these programs give you the chance to do Art Hum or Music Hum over the summer while giving you a fantastic opportunity to spend that time in Europe while getting course credit done.

All of the amazing places you can (and should!) go via Bwog Archives