Study Abroad can add an important dimension to your undergraduate studies and may provide a special focus for your departmental work. The Study Abroad Program and your academic department will work with you to plan a semester or year abroad that meets your needs.

 

Remember that you can take courses abroad that can be pre-approved to satisfy departmental requirements and to fulfill up to two distribution requirements if you have any remaining. Courses can be pre-approved to count toward certificate programs as well.

 

Completing independent work abroad can sometimes be challenging, but also very rewarding. You can shape your independent work abroad in a way that allows you to use local resources to construct an exciting and unique paper. Some departments allow students to be advised by faculty abroad, which means you have an adviser close at hand and one who can alert you to useful resources in your host country. Science students usually find a lab in which they can work to fulfill junior independent work requirements. In general, doing science research abroad is an effective way of grasping the global dimensions of such issues as health and the environment. It is not uncommon for students to develop research begun overseas into a senior thesis. Many receive summer funding to conduct thesis research abroad.

 

The academic work that you will do abroad, however, is only one part of the benefit of study abroad. Regardless of your major, you find out a lot about yourself and see your own attitudes and assumptions in a new light. While abroad, you learn about the social, intellectual, and cultural diversity of the world and acquire another perspective on global affairs. You will return with a new self-awareness, a tolerance for ambiguity, and an ability to communicate in cross-cultural settings. In today’s world, a serious study abroad experience constitutes an important part of undergraduate education, and it is has become a critical asset as you move beyond Princeton and into a career.

 

To find out about the arrangements made in different departments to accommodate and encourage study abroad and for a listing of the study abroad programs recently undertaken by students in particular majors please refer to the Study Abroad Program.