UPDATE: Check out Abroad101’s amazing monthly study abroad scholarships here!
Calling all of our adventurous, travel enthusiast collegiettes™. Sarah and Nicole here, your HC travel experts. While this may come as a shocker, we don’t know everything there is to know about studying abroad. Yes, we’re study abroad veterans, but like all collegiettes™ do in life we, too, get by with a little help from our friends. We recently came across the site Abroad101 and agreed it would only be common courtesy to share with you our great find. Abroad101 is the destination to read insider rankings on study abroad programs, rank your own program, and keep up with the latest study abroad news. Read on to find out the top Abroad101 features your HC travel experts are swooning over.
Feature 1: Read insider reviews from students on specific programs
Every study abroad program is going to tell you why you should choose them over the next one. However, the truth about these programs lies within the experiences of those who have already embarked upon them. Fortunately, Abroad101 features a ranking system where you can read firsthand the experiences of students who have lived your potential future.
The Best of the Best (Drumroll Please…): Emerson College: Kasteel Well: The Netherlands is, according to insider reviews, the place to be.
Feature 2: Review your own study abroad program and experience
The fun of studying abroad shouldn’t stop after your program ends and Abroad101 recognizes that. Upon your return back home, Abroad101 gives you the opportunity to share your experience. This can also serve as a good place for you to continue sharing your study abroad stories to a willing audience. Let’s face it, there are only so many stories and picture recaps your friends and family at home will be able to tolerate.
Warning—bad experiences ahead: Don’t worry about your program sending you threat letters if you had a really bad experience; there are ways to censor your identity when writing a review.
Feature 3: Find a program that works with your major
A main reason students fail to study abroad is because they think nothing will work with their major. This is a huge misconception! There are so many life skills to be learned when studying abroad that can never be taught in the classroom. However, for those of you who want your study abroad experience to be aligned with your major, Abroad101 allows you to search programs that align with your studies.
The Impossible Becomes Possible: As a chemistry major in college, it’s OK to travel outside of the lab for a semester. There are over 10 programs featured on Abroad101, from Bejing to Berlin, for you chemical compounding collegiettes™ who thought you couldn’t leave the country.
Feature 4: Find a scholarship to fund your trip
Abroad101 hosts links to a huge number of scholarship opportunities. So many, in fact, that the site has an entire section dedicated to them. These scholarships go beyond the ones you’ll hear about from your study abroad advisor. There’s really no reason you should be going abroad without one, unless of course, you didn’t know about them!
A Buck for Your Efforts: Are you a sister or brother of the Greek life? You can receive a $1,000 scholarship if you’re part of the Phi Kappa Phi honors fraternity.
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Feature 5: Get to know the top 10 cities in which to study abroad
Here at HC we love lists: top shoes, top date spots, top campus cuties. It should come as no surprise that when we saw Abroad101’s list of the top 10 cities in which to study abroad (again ranked by students just like you), it was love at first sight. A short synopsis of the city and all it has to offer plus rankings on things from cost of living to culture provides a mini snapshot of each location.
Foodie in a Foreign Country: Let’s be honest, we love to eat and we love that Abroad101 allows us to see how the top cities’ food offerings are ranked. Florence
Feature 6: Find your perfect program match
Remember that night you spent surrounded by so many piles of study abroad pamphlets and paraphernalia you almost (read: totally) had a mini-breakdown? Well, collegiettes™, those nights are so over. Enter your new BFF when deciding upon where to study abroad, at what university, and with which program: the matchmaker. Don’t let the lovey-dovey name and cupid-esque heart and arrow fool you. This nifty tool means business, providing you with matches according to everything from safety to food.
Get to Know Your Study Abroad Editors: Both Sarah’s and Nicole’s perfect match is at Fudan University in Shanghai through the Education Abroad Network! What are the odds?
Feature 7: Remain in-the-know on all things study abroad
If you’ve got any ounce of travel-junkie in you, you’ll undoubtedly want to experience the latest and greatest when you study abroad. While bouncing back and forth between countless study abroad websites will certainly improve your dexterity and increase your ability to type more words-per-minute, it isn’t very efficient. Abroad101’s blog equipped with up-to-date study abroad news, on the other hand, is efficient making it almost impossible to miss anything.
Go Where No Study-Abroader Has Ever Been Before: In 2014, students will be able to study abroad in space thanks to the Center Of Space Management’s Intergalactic College
Feature 8: Make final decisions by program provider and city
For those who already know exactly in which city or through what program they’d like to study abroad, this is the feature for you. By the time you’ve come to this last choice, your brain will surely be fried. Search through the top cities offered by AIFS or in Sydney, Australia and allow Abroad101 to guide you in your final decision.
But I Need to Go Through My School: Don’t fret! You can plug your university into the ranking’s search feature and viola, your problems are over.
This is a partner post. All opinions are 100% ours.