Friday, March 19, 2010

Studying overseas

I hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather, at least those of us in West Michigan, because it definitely feels as though winter is over. I wanted to write about studying abroad today, and, since it’s a lengthy subject, I figured I’d just dive right into it. I have not gone overseas myself, so I’m not speaking from experience here. Actually, the truth is that I have the study abroad brochure open in front of me, so just about anything that you’re about to read can be found elsewhere. Not that I don’t appreciate your readership, but seriously, this isn’t exactly a point of expertise for me. And that is actually something that I do regret to some extent; I feel as though I’ve missed out on a pretty fundamental experience in college. Especially because so many of the other admissions employees have spent time overseas, in Spain, France, and Belize, to name a few.

There are always a lot of objections that students sometimes have for studying abroad, all of which may be well intended, many of which are easily avoided. The first two are always cost and the impact on graduation date. It is true that some overseas programs will carry a higher cost than a semester at Grand Valley (a fact that is also true on the other side of that coin; some programs are less expensive), but in most cases a majority of scholarships and financial aid received to attend GVSU can be applied to a program abroad. This is in addition to grants and scholarships available specifically for studying abroad, both GVSU financed and privately funded. As far as the second concern goes, studying overseas will not set a student behind if they organize their courses carefully. Credit earned abroad can be applied to a major or minor, general ed. requirements, or be part of a student’s theme. In fact, one of the advantages of studying overseas is that students can use the opportunity to create their own theme, taking all three of the courses abroad or taking some at GVSU and some overseas, effectively catering their theme to the experience. Another frequent concern is the time commitment required, and students should understand that they can take programs as short as a couple of weeks or as long as a year.

As far as the programs offered by the Grand Valley, there are essentially three forms. Partnership Programs are what people traditionally think of as studying abroad, where students take courses over a summer, a semester, or a year. Faculty Led Programs are generally done over the summer, and can last anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months. With this option, students will travel with a GVSU faculty member and a handful of students. The third option is an overseas Internship Program, where students can gain work experience abroad. There is additionally a fourth option: if GVSU can’t offer a program that will meet your needs, it is possible to partner with non-GVSU institutions to set up an experience that works for you. In terms of choices, according to the International Center, there are 17 different nations students can visit, in six of the seven continents (my apologies to penguin enthusiasts, Antarctica isn’t an opportunity), and many of these countries have more than one university students can choose to attend.

But I’ve pretty much exhausted my slender knowledge on this topic, though I still can’t stress enough that any student should at least consider spending some time abroad, or at least more than I did. All the same, if you’ve got questions regarding overseas opportunities, feel free to post them and I can do some research to find an answer, or definitely feel free to drop by the International Center’s website.

-Kyle

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Spring Break

Well, it has certainly not been busy this past week. Not that I’m one to complain about having it easy, it’s just a little unusual to go from the hustle of normal life on campus to Spring Break, with hardly anything going on. On the bright side, everything’s back to normal on Monday, and this is a great chance to recharge from a half semester of school work thus far. Plus, we’ve had great weather so far; it looks like it’s about to rain, but the temperature is at least warm.

I don’t have particularly much to say at the moment, but figured it might be worthwhile to bring up Student Visitation Days. We have two dates coming up when students can drop by the campus for what is essentially a morning long sequence of information sessions. The event begins at 9:30 (check in is shortly beforehand), and goes until about 1:00 if I recall correctly. It’s a great chance to hear some presentations from the admissions office, financial aid, housing, and a couple of different academic departments. It definitely represents a larger group visit (I think somewhere between 150 to 200 visitors are expected), so there is less opportunity for individual questions, but that doesn’t mean that the opportunity is gone altogether. We do like to make sure that visitors leave without any questions in their minds, so don’t hesitate to ask us either before or after the sessions on that day. Currently, there are two scheduled for this spring: March 26 and April 9. This is a great event for high school juniors to attend, since many of them may not quite be sure what to look for yet in a college, but are still interested in what features a university might have. As for seniors, I might encourage you to give our office a call and set up an individual appointment. With some of the important deadlines approaching or already behind us, it might be a good idea to have a more “one-on-one” type of meeting. Though if you feel as though one or the other might serve your needs more, feel free to ignore my advice; you guys certainly know your situations better than I do. But give us a call if you want to reserve a spot for either type of event. And, as always, don’t hesitate to post questions.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Quiet Friday

Wow, hectic is an understatement at this point. I apologize for the lack of updates in recent history; time is a commodity that I don’t seem to have enough of lately. But, on the bright side, we’re now at the start of Spring Break, so I have an entire week relaxation. Except for the fact that I’m still working all week. Which isn’t a complaint, seeing as I have no serious schoolwork for the week, but it is a humorous statement that I’d rather stay home and work than go somewhere nice. In all fairness, though, the weather has a bit of a push in that respect. We’ve had about a week of gorgeous weather, which is a welcome change from the up-and-down unpredictability of Michigan Winters.

So, getting back to business, I’m mostly updating to remind High School seniors that they should definitely start making decisions on colleges at this point. Nothing has to be finalized just yet, but there are a few deadlines that are either coming up or already past. The housing deadline, for instance, was this last Monday, March 1st. If you missed that, and haven’t signed up for housing yet, it doesn’t mean that you can’t live on campus, it just means that we can no longer guarantee a spot for you in the freshman living centers. March 1st is the date before which we know we can fit all of our admitted students into housing, so if you haven’t signed up for housing, don’t panic just yet, but I would still encourage getting your choice and deposit in soon. Housing will start filling up relatively quickly, but we can still refund your deposit up to May 1st.

I don’t have the same deadlines to worry about that a lot of you readers do, but there are still a few dates keen on my mind. Most of the ones lately have been for tests; I’ve had a fair few in the last couple of weeks, not to mention presentations and group projects. Long story short, it’s most definitely “crunch time” in terms of school work. It’s kind of strange, but the bus ride to and from the downtown has more or less become my time to “decompress.” It’s kind of therapeutic to have that half hour to myself, with no worries until I make it to Grand Rapids. Not that my life is all that stressful, but this last week in particular has been quite a whirlwind. I’ll try to make sure to give an update next week, to fill you guys in on Breaks here on campus, but until then, don’t hesitate to post questions or comments.

-Kyle