If most parents of college students are anything like mine, they might need a little convincing that their child should study abroad. Whether their concerns are rooted in the costs, safety, or the responsibility of taking classes while living far from home, these tips might help with convincing your parents that studying abroad is a great idea!
Money Talks
While studying abroad can certainly be affordable, it often comes with more costs than studying at your home university. Before approaching parents about a program you’re interested in applying to, I’d advise you to make sure you’re familiar with all the tuition, fees, and extra costs that may come with it. Some programs offer grants or scholarships to assist students with the financial burdens associated with studying abroad. This is also a good time to check if any scholarships you might already have will be affected by studying abroad. Parents that value financial responsibility will no doubt be impressed by a thorough financial analysis.
If your parents are still reeling from the dollar signs it may be a good idea to show some comparisons between studying abroad and the costs of your current education. This may also be a good time to do a little research into the costs of other universities so you can point out that the program you want to go on is cheaper than Harvard or Stanford. This is a great tactic if you initially considered a more expensive school than the one you currently attend. Also this can be a convincing argument if it’s cheaper than a university one of your parents attended. I may or may not have looked up tuition to my dad’s alma mater prior to my Semester at Sea to help justify costs…
Be Convincingly Studious
Maybe your parents aren’t as concerned about the money as they are about you taking classes seriously while studying abroad. There’s definitely some stereotypes floating around that all students do is party in other countries where the drinking age may be lower than it is in their home country. While there very well may be some nights spent in bars or clubs, you can reassure your parents that you’ll also make time to study (even if it’s while hungover).
On the plus side, many programs account for the multitude of distractions that studying abroad presents and design their curriculums accordingly. One of my friends from college studied abroad in London the same semester I was on Semester at Sea, and his program was designed to help students get the most out of their experience. The program organized field trips to places like Stonehenge, Wales, Greenwich, and even Paris! Professors were also very understanding when international students missed the occasional class for independent travel.
Knowing the academic requirements of the program you apply to as well as how the credits will count towards your degree at your home university can be very helpful in managing your your parents’ expectations.
Be Safe!
Safety was likely my mother’s biggest concern when I was planning my Semester at Sea voyage. Thankfully she isn’t an action film fan and never watched the movie Taken, otherwise I’m not sure I would have ever gotten to leave the country. She still likes to tell me I made her hair go gray during those few months I was gone (it’s definitely still blond the last time I checked so the world may never know the veracity of this claim).
This is one of the more difficult concerns to address with your parents as tomorrow is never guaranteed, even if you never leave your hometown. You can easily walk out your front door tomorrow only to get hit by a bus or have a random scrap of satellite fall on your head. The best thing you can do is promise to be careful and not to do anything too stupid while you go about living your life.
Perhaps promising to email or text your parents each day with a minimum message of ‘I’m alive’ will help alleviate your parents concerns. You could try looking up the crime stats of the country you plan to visit to compare with those of your native country or brushing up on some self defense classes before you leave. Definitely make sure your parents know all the contact information for the program you want to study abroad through as well as information for the university you’ll be studying at in case of emergency. If there is something you can do to help your parents feel more at ease with you studying abroad, I’d advise at least giving it a shot. Try putting yourself in their shoes and recognize that their concern is born out of love.
Point Out the Positives
It may only be slightly more expensive than where you’re currently studying, but it can be difficult to put a price on the benefits you’ll reap from studying abroad. To that end, you should be sure to tout all the marketable skills you’ll be attaining and all the new things you’ll learn. Depending on where you study you could be honing your foreign language skills, or learning to communicate with people through language barriers. Traveling independently will also force you develop a whole new skill set to help you navigate new places and handle situations you might normally not encounter or need to address while at your home university.
You’ll also be getting a new perspective on the world by observing the daily life of a different culture. In today’s global marketplace, it can be very beneficial to have a global view and experiences from more than just your hometown. The diversity among the students you get to study with and the cities you may live in or visit will also help you develop better cultural sensitivity. It may really come in handy in your future career to know the correct title to address a business partner from South Korea or how important birthdays are in the Dutch culture. Listing out the benefits can be very helpful in convincing your parents that studying abroad is a great idea!
Get Convincing
Hopefully at least one of these tips or the combination of all of them helps to get your parents seeing studying abroad as the amazing opportunity and experience it truly is! All else fails, maybe if you promise to send them postcards or bring back some awesome souvenirs they’ll agree that studying abroad is a great idea?
If you want to read more about my study abroad experience, visit my Semester at Sea page!
Are you thinking of studying abroad or have you already done so? If so, where?
Brilliant post! Studying abroad should be something all students do before they end their studies and go out into the world.
Thank you so much! I agree and tell everyone who will listen that everyone should study abroad if they can!!
Great tips for students to read! It’s hard to describe what you’ll get out of the experience, but I learned so many life lessons while studying abroad. Not to mention developed a passion for travel! Thoroughly believe everyone should do it!
I really believe everyone should study abroad if they can, it’s such a life-changing experience!