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Who can study abroad?
What can I study abroad?
Do I have to Know a Foreign Language?
When Can I Study Abroad?
What About Summer Study Abroad?
Where Can I Study Abroad?
How Does Credit Transfer Work?
So, I Know I'm Interested, How Do I Find Out about Study Abroad programs and Universities to which I May Want to Apply?
What Should My Planning Timetable Look Like?
How Much Does It Cost?
Will My Financial Aid Cover Study Abroad?
What about Health, Safety and Security?
What if I require disability services?
Can I Work or Do an Internship?
Where Will I Live?
I Know I Want to Go Abroad, but I Don't Have a 3.0 GPA?
How Do I Find Out if Programs or Universities Abroad are Really Good, or Not?
I Know Where and When I want to Go and What I Want to Study, I've Chosen My Program or Host University, Now How do I apply?
When Should I apply?
What Are My Chances of Being Accepted?
When Will I Find Out if I'm Accepted?
What Happens after I'm Accepted?
And When I'm Abroad?
And When I Come Back, What Happens?
Who can study abroad?
Any undergraduate at Cornell with a 3.0 or above GPA and approval from his/her college can study abroad during the semester or academic year through Cornell Abroad.
The 3.0 GPA is a general cutoff although some universities overseas may require a 3.3, a 3.5 or above.
College approval is signified by the signatures of your college study abroad advisor and your faculty advisor on the Cornell Abroad application.
What can I study abroad?
You can study abroad in virtually any field taught at Cornell, providing your college approves the curriculum to fit into your Cornell degree.
University course work, courses taught in freestanding study abroad programs, research, and internships can all be part of your study abroad curriculum, again if your college approves your choices.
The College of Arts and Sciences, for example, does not approve internships; it is difficult for students from the College of Engineering to find courses that fit into the sequence of course work here at Cornell; students in applied fields of study, such as hotel administration or communications, may not have the background to be admitted to specialized university departments in the liberal arts and sciences. But in all cases there are programs suitable for any Cornell undergraduate.
Students from all seven undergraduate colleges at Cornell and from virtually all majors study abroad in a variety of types of programs. You need to choose what fits your academic and preprofessional interests and to decide what type of experience will most appeal to you: field research in natural resources in Kenya, for example, mechanical engineering at an Australian university, botanical research in Nepal, English literature tutorials at a British university, a business internship in Madrid, or who knows where?
There are several thousand study abroad programs open to American undergraduates; your college and Cornell Abroad will help you to find a good one that matches your academic program at Cornell.
Do I have to Know a Foreign Language?
Previous language study, as much as possible, is certainly key to successful study abroad. Direct enrollment in universities in non-English speaking countries obviously requires that you be able to do all your academic work in French, for example, or in German, Spanish or Italian.
But there are many programs in non-English speaking countries for which minimal or even no previous language study is required. Even one semester of language study can make a tremendous difference in your preparation for a great time overseas.
Students in the College of Arts and Sciences must have studied the host country language before study abroad, if it is taught on the Ithaca campus. The College's study abroad policy details the language requirement.
When Can I Study Abroad?
Most students study abroad during their junior year, for a single semester. Spring semester is the most popular. But second semester sophomore year and fall semester senior year are also popular and may be the best time for you.
Engineering students may find that second semester sophomore year works best, just before the tight sequence of required Cornell courses in their field during junior and senior year.
First semester senior year, after you have done significant work in your major field may allow you to take upper level work abroad that becomes a very important part of your Cornell curriculum.
The full academic year affords a real sojourn abroad, enough time to learn to study in a different language or within a very different academic system.
You may only choose a full year at certain venues, for example, the University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics, and several Oxford colleges.
What About Summer Study Abroad?
Summer study abroad is not administered by Cornell Abroad because there is no Cornell financial aid for summer study, but staff will be glad to help you get started on an information search to find a good program.
Language study and field research work very well during the short summer months.
Universities overseas will not be in session during the summer, so you will not be studying with host country students.
Where Can I Study Abroad?
- Cornell students regularly study in more than forty countries every year; there are opportunities worldwide, approved by the Cornell undergraduate colleges in every world region.
Program & University Choices - Previous language study is often required, and always recommended, for study in non-English speaking countries.
How Does Credit Transfer Work?
- You will earn credit on your Cornell transcript for the courses you take abroad during the semester or academic year on programs or at universities that you have applied to through Cornell Abroad with the approval of your college.
- Credits transfer if you receive grades equivalent to a "C" or better at Cornell.
- You will take a full course load abroad and earn 15 credits at Cornell per semester, 30 for a full year.
At some universities or on some study abroad programs, a full course load is fewer courses than at Cornell, at some the number of courses is greater; the work load is distributed accordingly. - Decisions on the transfer of credit in your major field will likely be made by your major field advisor, the director of undergraduate studies or the field director in your major department; elective credits will be transferred by your study abroad advisor.
- Your grades will be recorded on your Cornell transcript in exactly the same format in which they are received from overseas, either in American letter grades if those are received from abroad, or in a foreign grading system.
- Your study abroad grades are not averaged into your Cornell GPA.
Transcripts & Transfer of Credit
So, I Know I'm Interested, How Do I Find Out about Study Abroad programs and Universities to which I May Want to Apply?
- Use the Cornell Abroad website first. Read the section on choosing a program, and check out the links to the programs and universities for the country or countries of the world in which you think you are interested.
Program & University Choices - Come to Cornell Abroad information meetings that are held at the start of each semester, and attend college study abroad information meetings held by your college study abroad advisor.
- Visit Cornell Abroad at 300 Caldwell Hall (take the elevator to the fourth floor and make three left turns off the elevator); we are open daily (Monday-Friday from 9:00 to 4:00, starting at 10:00 on Tuesdays) throughout the year, except for university holidays.
- Walk-in conversation with the directors is available daily between 1:30 and 3:00; staff and student peer advisors are available, in person, to help you start your information search any time.
- E-mail Cornell Abroad anytime with a question: CUAbroad@cornell.edu
- Use the Cornell Abroad library to check out programs and the undergraduate prospectuses of universities, as well as a comprehensive collection of reference materials for study abroad. Videos, too.
- Talk to the study abroad advisor in your college about how the courses offered by the programs or universities you are interested in will meet the degree requirements in your college, and talk with a faculty advisor in your major field about how you will earn major field credit for study abroad.
College Study Abroad Advisors Directory
What Should My Planning Timetable Look Like?
Plan early.
Freshman year is a good time to visit Cornell Abroad, to check out the website and to come to study abroad information meetings if you have an idea that you are seriously interested.
Sophomore year, hopefully first semester, come to Cornell Abroad and college study abroad information meetings and talk to your college study abroad advisor. This is likely to be the year when you apply.
Think about how courses, research, language study or internships abroad will fit within the major field you are going to focus on at Cornell and into what may be taking shape as your preprofessional goals.
Junior year, you will either be away or getting ready to go. Cornell Abroad will host pre-departure orientation meetings and give you a great deal of information to support your overseas experience.
How Much Does It Cost?
There are two different sets of costs for study abroad:
On Cornell programs in Berlin, Copenhagen, Göteborg, Kyoto, Paris, Nepal, Seville, and the United Kingdom, a comprehensive fee is charged that includes tuition, housing, orientation costs, meals on some of the programs, and administrative charges. Not included are meals, depending on the program, air travel, personal expenses, books, commuting, and your personal health insurance.
For non-Cornell administered programs and universities, which you may want to think of as external study abroad, you will pay the costs charged by the program, plus additional charges, such as meals, airfare, personal expenses, books and commuting, and the Cornell International Program Tuition.
The Cornell International Program Tuition pays for grant financial aid that is made available to all study abroad students exactly as if they were here on the Ithaca campus; it also pays the costs of Cornell Abroad and indirect costs to the university.
For current Cornell Abroad costs, please see Costs, Billing, and Financial Aid.
Cornell Abroad staff will show you comprehensive budgets that include all the costs of study abroad to give you an estimated bottom line figure for the programs or universities you are most interested in, which you can compare to an analysis of your total on-campus costs.
Will My Financial Aid Cover Study Abroad?
Yes, if you are eligible for Cornell financial aid here on campus, you will receive aid for study abroad; Cornell Abroad will prepare an itemized budget for your semester or year and forward it to the Office of Financial Aid where your aid package will be reconfigured.
What about Health, Safety and Security?
Health, safety and security conditions are of utmost importance and may well influence your choice of a study abroad venue. You and your parents are encouraged to discuss your concerns with Cornell Abroad.
Check out the travel resources section of the Cornell Abroad website to see travel information from the U.S. Department of State travel and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the unlikely event that there is a U.S. Department of State Travel Warning against travel to a particular country, it is not likely that study abroad will take place.
What if I require disability services?
Cornell Abroad will work with you to find a study abroad venue that meets your interests and any special needs; a first choice destination may or may not be possible, but if not, a fine alternative can very likely be found.
Can I Work or Do an Internship?
You may earn credit for an unpaid internship if your college approves the internship program of your choice.
Study abroad internships teach you about the world of work in the professional area of your interest.
You may work part-time during full-time study abroad if the laws of the host country permit, and if you have sufficient time, given your study load. Many Cornellians work part-time during study abroad and find their jobs a terrific way to meet people.
If you are looking to earn money working abroad but not earning academic credit, you might start a job search using the University of Michigan's excellent work abroad web site:
Where Will I Live?
Housing provisions during study abroad vary from university halls of residence to apartments or homestays.
- Bear in mind that university halls of residence abroad may well be dispersed around a city, such as London, requiring a daily commute by foot, bus or underground rail/subway.
Meals may or may not be provided at the residence hall; it is the norm for new halls of residence abroad, especially in the United Kingdom, not to serve meals but to arrange rooms "en suite" with shared kitchens so students can cook their own meals. - Apartments, too, and homestays will be located at varying distances from the study abroad program center or from the university buildings where you take courses.
- Homestays for study abroad programs usually mean renting a room in someone's home; it may mean being treated as part of family life, but more typically, you will be treated as an independent young adult, a paying guest.
You will want to check carefully the beginning and end dates of the academic year, semester or summer term of your interest; typical start and end dates vary around the world.
I Know I Want to Go Abroad, but I Don't Have a 3.0 GPA?
Talk with Cornell Abroad staff. It may be that your grades in the fields you hope to study abroad offset grades in other fields that have pulled down your GPA, and that you will still be an attractive candidate to the program of your choice. Or you may have had a bit of a rough start freshman year with an upward trajectory since that brings you very near a 3.0 and makes you a good candidate.
But bear in mind that some universities and programs simply will not consider anyone with less than a 3.0 and that some universities and programs require a higher average.
How Do I Find Out if Programs or Universities Abroad are Really Good, or Not?
There are several thousand study abroad programs on offer to U.S. undergraduates, and the quality of them, most assuredly, varies greatly.
Cornell Abroad's job is to help you find a really good program or university abroad, one in which you will work hard and have a wonderful time, including travel and learning another language and culture.
Typically, Cornell students participate in programs that deservedly enjoy fine reputations.
Study abroad, admittedly, enjoys a mixed reputation, often termed "the best semester of my college career," sometimes summed up as "not a lot of work." Cornell Abroad is interested in sending you on a program during which you will need to work hard and experience a great deal of the host country's way of life; the tempo and intensity may be very different from what you experience here on the Ithaca campus. For example, you may only have an exam on which your grade is based for a course at an Australian university, or a single paper for a course at the University of Seville.
Study abroad at universities requires much more independent study than will normally have been required of you here at Cornell by the end of sophomore year; not having mid-terms, prelims, quizzes or tests can make your semester seem, deceptively, like a vacation.
Put simply, what you put into it will determine your gain. Pacing your work evenly throughout the semester, reading broadly from the course bibliography even when pages are not actually assigned, will, of course, net optimal learning.
Language study entered into seriously, so that you truly advance your fluency from your pre-departure starting point, is the hallmark of a successful experience in non-English speaking countries, obviously limited to non-English speaking countries.
Check out the evaluations on file at Cornell Abroad to learn what returned study abroad students have said about their programs.
Talk to Cornell Abroad staff, to the study abroad advisor and faculty in your college.
Unfortunately, in some, if assuredly not all, cases, the best study abroad options, in terms of good teaching, successful homestays, valuable research and internship components, cost more than cheaper programs in the same locations.
Cornell's generous financial aid provision means that for many students choosing the best program, even if it costs more than its competitors, is possible.
I Know Where and When I want to Go and What I Want to Study, I've Chosen My Program or Host University, Now How do I apply?
Study abroad for Cornell credit during the academic semester or for a full academic year, requires that you apply through Cornell Abroad with the approval of your college study abroad advisor and your college faculty advisor.
- The Cornell Abroad application entails brief biodata, an academic statement of purpose, two faculty recommendations, and a form on which you list the courses you propose to study abroad.
- For Cornell programs in Paris, Seville and Nepal, only the Cornell Abroad application must be completed; for all other programs, you will need to fill out the Cornell Abroad application and a program or university application as well.
- Both the Cornell Abroad application with the recommendation forms and the proposed course of study form, as well as the applications for externally sponsored universities and programs, are available at Cornell Abroad in 300 Caldwell Hall.
Human Ecology students need to pick up a special application packet in 145 MVR Hall. - Detailed instructions that you will need to read with care are on the first page of the Cornell Abroad application form.
For summer study abroad, because there is no Cornell financial aid, you will need to apply independently. Check with the registrar in your college about how your summer credit may or may not transfer to your Cornell transcript.
When Should I apply?
Application deadlines vary. Cornell Abroad sets deadlines, but these are only to get you started in the application process.
For Cornell programs, early in the semester before you study abroad is fine, or late in the preceding semester; i.e., to study abroad in the spring of your junior year, you may usually apply early in the fall of junior year or late in the spring of sophomore year.
Externally sponsored study abroad programs and universities overseas often have different deadlines, and for some of them that are very popular, early application is highly advisable and even necessary to nail down a spot for the semester when you want to go abroad.
You may apply up to a year ahead, occasionally three semesters ahead.
In all cases, check the information on the university or program web site and in its brochures, and talk with Cornell Abroad staff about the best timetable for you.
Keep in mind that Cornell Abroad will be sending your application on for you to the university overseas or study abroad program here in the United States, so you need to leave time for that.
What Are My Chances of Being Accepted?
Cornell students who choose study abroad options that match the profiles of their academic interests and course backgrounds are almost always accepted by the programs and universities they apply to.
This is not an undergraduate application running on your potential, but a matchmaking process, finding out the best curriculum that will fit into your Cornell degree.
Choose appropriately, and you are all but assured of acceptance unless a program fills early or you are late with your application.
Some very popular programs do turn down Cornell students, but usually because of space not because of qualifications; Cornell Abroad will try to suggest good alternatives.
When Will I Find Out if I'm Accepted?
Usually, you will hear back, either at your Ithaca address, through Cornell Abroad, or occasionally, at your home address anywhere between one and three months after you apply.
Some programs admit on rolling admissions and respond right away; some hold applications until a cutoff date and then respond to all students at once.
Universities overseas take longer; your application may well be reviewed by faculty within particular academic departments where you want to study.
What Happens after I'm Accepted?
Cornell Abroad will invite you to pre-departure orientation meetings; this is more a summons than an invitation really as it is vital that you attend. Visas, travel, staying in touch with Cornell, health insurance, pre-registration from abroad, and your billing and payment for study abroad are among the subjects discussed.
And When I'm Abroad?
While you are away from Ithaca, you will remain registered in your Cornell college and are encouraged to stay in touch with your advisor by e-mail if you need to change courses, want to discuss your work, or talk about pre-registration for the semester of your return.
Cornell Abroad is here for you, and your parents, throughout your stay if there is anything we can do for you on campus.
Should you have any serious problems or emergencies overseas, Cornell Abroad wants to know immediately, so we can provide support to you and your family.
And When I Come Back, What Happens?
Your study abroad transcript is sent to Cornell Abroad where it is checked for completion and then sent on to your college for credit transfer to your transcript.
Cornell Abroad will welcome you back to Ithaca at a party for returned students, at a gathering for students who want to talk about any issues relating to their re-entry into on-campus life, and to gatherings for the many returned students who want to head overseas again after graduation for graduate study, work, internships, or international service.
You will be asked to complete an evaluation of your study abroad experience to help future students start their information gathering process.
And you will be encouraged to apply to work with Cornell Abroad as a Peer Advisor or member of our Student Information Team.
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