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While You're Away

Keeping in Touch
While on study abroad, you are still a fully matriculated student at Princeton. You will therefore have access to your Princeton e-mail account and will receive all e-mail just as if you were on campus. Remember to remove all deleted and unnecessary messages from your account on the Princeton server to avoid problems with space limits. Note: Deleted messages remain on the Princeton server in your Deleted Items folder until you empty the folder or permanently delete the items.

In addition to general announcements and notices about opportunities that may be of interest, the Office of International Programs will  forward any alerts from the Department of State that pertain to your study abroad site or the nearby region. You should check your e-mail regularly to keep abreast of often fast-changing situations.

Confirmation of Arrival
As soon as you have a permanent residence or program mailing address abroad, you should phone or e-mail your family and the Office of International Programs to confirm your arrival and inform everyone of your local address, telephone number, etc. At Princeton, contact Dean Kanach, 609/258-5524 (please give your parents/guardians this information).

Setting Up an Emergency Contact Network
Should your family wish to reach you in a personal emergency, they can contact you directly or contact the Office of International Programs, which will get in touch with you directly or via your on-site coordinator. It is usually best to check with your on-site coordinator first before calling home about something that may be best handled locally. When traveling on weekends or over holiday periods during the course of your program abroad, be sure to keep your local coordinator and your roommates or host family informed of your intended itinerary.

Remote Access to Princeton University Library Resources
The library provides information on its website about accessing library resources from off campus and remote locations. Follow the directions for using a Proxy Server or VPN (Virtual Private Networking), as appropriate. It is best to set up VPN on your computer BEFORE you leave. Be advised that many home and private networks do not allow Virtual Private Networking (some Internet Service Providers are charging extra for the service) so do not assume that you can VPN to Princeton domain resources while traveling.

Additionally, a Guide to Library Resources for Princeton Students Going Abroad has been put together to assist you in conducting academic research while you are abroad. You are also encouraged to contact a subject specialist for assistance, especially for junior paper research.
 
Course Selection and Registration from Abroad
Students who are studying abroad complete registration and course enrollment for the academic year via SCORE at the same time as all other undergraduates. For the 2009-10 academic year, registration for the academic year begins at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, September 9 and ends at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16.

Please note that enrolling in courses is not registration. These are two separate operations. Registration is a review of your personal and bio-demographic information and confirms your student status for the academic year. All enrolled students, whether on campus or abroad, must register by the deadline. If you do not register on time, you will be assessed a late fee of $75. Students who have a compelling reason for not being able to register on time should notify the Office of the Registrar at 609/258-3360 or registrar@princeton.edu immediately to explain the circumstances and request a waiver of the late fee.

Course selection for the fall occurs in mid-April. Course selection for the spring occurs in late-November. The Office of the Registrar will notify you about each semester’s course selection schedule via e-mail. To enroll in courses from abroad, you should first seek the advice of your departmental adviser via e-mail and then enroll in courses online on the specified dates. To participate in this process, you need internet access both to review course offerings and to select courses. If you have trouble accessing the internet for online course enrollment and registration, please notify Deputy Registrar Robert Bromfield.

The web-based course enrollment process will keep track of and enforce enrollment limits on courses that have them. There will still be, however, a number of courses to which admission is by application only. It is not difficult to apply from abroad for courses open by “application only.” Applications are usually available online and can be faxed or sent by e-mail to the appropriate office. Some courses may require an interview. Students who are abroad are not expected to be present at an interview.

If the interview is required in addition to the application, you should use the written application to explain fully your interest in the course. If only an interview is required, you can send an e-mail to the professor in charge of the course explaining your reasons for wanting to take the course and any background that you would bring to it. If you have difficulty making contact with the appropriate person on campus, please let the Office of International Programs know so that we can help you.
 
Postgraduate Fellowships and Scholarships
Spring semester juniors abroad may be interested in applying for postgraduate fellowships and scholarships in the fall of their senior year. In late spring, you will begin to receive emails about fellowship information sessions. If you have an interest in any of these, you are encouraged to contact Dean Frank Ordiway, Coordinator of Postgraduate Fellowships ( or 609/258-1998). For fellowships with early fall deadlines, students begin drafting application essays and identifying possible recommenders as early as April or May of their junior year. Study abroad students have successfully competed for these prestigious.