CSM Office of International Programs

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get started ?
Where can I find information about particular universities?
Will I graduate on time if I study overseas?
Will Overseas Study affect my GPA?
When is the best time to study overseas?
What about scholarships and financial aid?
What about passports, visas and travel?

How do I get started?

The easiest way to start planning an overseas education experience is to sit down with your flow chart and the links to the exchange schools where CSM students customarily study overseas. Pick an area that interests you (Europe, Asia, Africa. Click on one of the schools that looks interesting. Now, here is the hard part.

Go to the course catalog or course schedule sections of the University's web page. Look for the courses you need to take and see if they are being offered at the time you wish to travel abroad. If there is a match, come to the Office of International Programs, Stratton 109, and we will help you get started.

Back to Top

Where can I find information about particular universities?

The Office of International Programs (Stratton Hall 109) maintains a library of university catalogs from throughout the world. There is also a list of the current web sites for many of the schools where CSM students have had approved programs of study. Universities also usually have websites available with useful information. These can be found easily by searching for the university's name in a search engine such as google.

Back to Top

Will I graduate on time if I study overseas?

Not necessarily. The goal of the OIP is to assist you in finding an interesting and academically challenging overseas study experience. Ideally, you should be able to take all of the courses you would have taken had you studied here. In reality, many students choose to take courses that they could not take at CSM or take a lighter load so they can enjoy the countryside and the sights of their new residence.

Back to Top

Will Overseas Study affect my GPA?

No. Overseas study courses will transfer into CSM as credits earned provided you pass the course at the host institution with a grade of "C" or better and the course was approved by CSM faculty prior to being taken abroad. The credit earned replaces the CSM equivalent course (for example EGGN xxx).

Back to Top

When is the best time to study overseas?

That depends on your vision for studying overseas. Do you want to study for a year or a semester? Do you want to become fluent in a language? How far are you in your CSM academic program?

Many students spend their sophomore year abroad. Others choose to spend one semester during the junior year. While we do not encourage it, a few students have spent their final semester abroad before graduating.

The academic calendars of our partners do not always coincide with the CSM academic calendar. For example in the U.K. and Spain, exams are taken after Christmas and late in June, making either a year-long program or a second semester program the easiest for CSM students. The first semester in Australia and New Zealand begins in July and runs until late November so it could interfere with a field session a student needed to take.

The time to begin planning is during the second semester of your first year at CSM but it is hardly ever too late to include an education abroad experience.