Returned Students
Photo by Jessica Sweet
Readjustment
You may have had trouble adjusting to your host country's culture when you first arrived. Along the same lines, you may have some trouble with readjustment into your native culture. Tips for easing the readjustment and "reverse culture shock" are available here:
Please remember that you can come in to talk to a study abroad advisor - we studied abroad too and know the experience. Your fellow returnees can be a good resource too - this may be one reason to check out the Study Abroad Association or another of the opportunities available to returned students.
Paperwork and Credit Transfer
If your study abroad program provided you with a personal copy of your study abroad transcript, put this somewhere safe for later. Although the classes are listed, your grades from your study abroad experience will not appear on your Miami transcript. If you apply for a job or graduate school where they request full transcripts, you will need to be able to provide a copy. If your study abroad program did not provide you with a copy of your transcript, ask them if they can send one now. It is better to have a copy on hand than to have to ask for it later and hope that it has been kept on file.
If you have classes that were not pre-approved before you studied abroad, you should fill out a Transfer Credit Approval Form with your advisor after you return. This is only necessary if you want the course to apply for a specific requirement. If you only took the class for credit hours and not to fulfill a specific graduation requirement, the Approval Form is not needed. Your credits will be applied to your transcript/DARS after your study abroad transcript has been processed by the Office of the Registrar.
The transcript process can take as long as a few months to be completed. Often this depends on where you studied abroad. If you don't see your grades listed on your Miami DARS within three months of studying abroad, contact your study abroad provider to make sure that your transcript has been sent to Miami's Office of the Registrar. After the transcript is received by the Office of the Registrar, it typically takes 2-3 weeks to be processed.
Evaluating Your Study Abroad Experience
Your study abroad provider or host university may have their own evaluation forms to fill out. Please do so - this is your opportunity to communicate with the program about what you liked or didn't like, what you would change, or what you would like to see more of. Please help future study abroad students have great experiences overseas.
Miami also has its own evaluations, which we keep in our Resource Center for prospective study abroad students to browse. You can share information about how your study abroad experience fits into your curriculum, whether the program works well for Miami students, and much more. We mail evaluation forms to students after the end of each semester, but if you did not receive a form or have lost it, you can download it here(pdf).
You can also start to evaluate your experience on an individual basis. If you completed the Anticipation and Expectation Exercise before you left, now is the time to take it out and see how your attitudes or skills have changed, or how your actual study abroad experience corresponded to your expectations.
Opportunities and Events for Returned Students
Study Abroad Contact List
If you would like to serve as a contact person for your study abroad location or program, you can join the Study Abroad Contact List. This will be made available in our office so that students who are interested in your study abroad program or location can contact you for more information or for questions related to student life, credit transfer, classroom experiences, travel opportunities or any other questions they may have. Please contact Sarah McNitt if you would like to volunteer.
Serve as a Study Abroad Volunteer
Students can help out at the Study Abroad Fair and other activities through the year There are many opportunities during the year for you to talk about your study abroad experiences to prospective students and/or their parents. These include: Parents' Weekend, study abroad orientation sessions, Study Abroad Fair, Exploring Majors Fair.
Photo Contest
Every fall, the Office of International Education sponsors a Study Abroad Photography Contest. Students who have studied abroad are invited to submit photographs. See the Study Abroad Photography Contest page for details.
Serve as an Ambassador
Many study abroad providers now have Ambassador programs (they may be known under a different name) where you can volunteer (or in some cases be paid) to promote your study abroad provider. Find out if your provider does this, and please let us know if you are an Ambassador for your program.
Sharing Your Experiences
If you're looking for an opportunity to share what you've learned, it can be useful to you and to others to publish writing or photography related to your study abroad experience. The Office of International Education can help you find an outlet for your writing, including many study abroad-related publications. Here are some suggestions:
Study Abroad Living-Learning Community
If you'd like to live with other students who are interested in international experiences, share your experiences with prospective study abroad students and compare your experiences with students who studied abroad in different places, you may want to spend a semester living in the Study Abroad living-learning community.
Re-entry courses
IDS 156 - An Active Engagement, A Meaningful Reentry
IDS 156 is a new one-credit sprint course for Miami University students who have returned from study abroad and want to examine, reflect upon, and evaluate their study abroad experiences. This course
will offer you
a comprehensive reentry support
to reflect on your international
experience. You will have the
opportunity to map your personal cross-cultural stories/narratives,
develop a strategic resume
marketing your cross-cultural
skills in this global context, and
tell others about how this
international experience has
transformed and challenged you
as a student in higher education,
as a future professional and citizen of
the world. If you have questions about the course, please contact Jacqueline Rioja-Velarde (riojavjd@muohio.edu).
ATH 484 - Beyond the Field Experience: Processing Cultural Adjustments
If you’ve recently returning from study,
work, or volunteer experience in other
cultures abroad or at home, this course
can help you make the most out of your experiences.
Drawing upon ideas and concepts mainly
from cultural anthropology, a field of study
exclusively concerned with cross-cultural
understanding and communication, this
course will direct students on how to reflect
upon their experiences and freshly
roused curiosities and to tap their newly
acquired knowledge and fresh attitudes so
as to attain meaningful intellectual and personal
growth from their overseas encounters.
- Help students put their reentry
to U.S. and campus
life into perspective.
- Assist students in
assessing the impact of
their overseas experience
on their lives.
- Teach students to avoid
losing valuable overseas
experience and learning
- Guide students in putting
their experiences into
broader regional, national
and global patterns
For more information, contact Dr H. Sidky (sidkyh@muohio.edu).
Study Abroad and Your Future workshop
Now that you have returned from your study abroad experience, think about how it has affected you. Has it changed the way you look at your academic or professional future? Have you acquired skills that you can put to use in your everyday life? Are you interested in a job or career overseas, or a job or career with an international organization? The Office of International Education and The Office of Career Services can advise you in your job search and to help you evaluate your experience, the skills and life lessons you've learned, and how this learning can affect your future. We host a joint Study Abroad and Your Future workshop each spring for returned students. Look for an invitation in your e-mail!
Reflecting on Your Study Abroad event
This event is held every spring to bring together students, faculty and staff with an interest in international experiences to talk about the challenges and rewards of the study abroad experience and to give students an opportunity to process their study abroad experience on a deeper level than they may have. Many students have reported that this event is useful for identifying the experiences they had that changed them, and for finding the commonalities they have with other study abroad students.
Miami University Study Abroad Association
This is a student-run organization for students who want to study abroad, students who have studied abroad, or anyone who's interested in cultural exchange. For more information, see their Facebook page.
Going Abroad Again
As long as you can fit it into your academic plan, you are welcome to study abroad again. Please know, however, that there may be restrictions on using your Miami scholarships on more than one study abroad program. Talk to a study abroad adviser for more information.
If you are thinking of pursuing post-graduate study or research abroad, you might want to think about National Scholarships and Fellowships such as the Fulbright, Gates-Cambridge, Marshall or Rhodes scholarships.
For information about non-credit options for working and volunteering overseas after graduation, see our Work, Internships and Volunteering Abroad page.
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