Preparing to Go Abroad

Once you’ve chosen and been accepted into a non-UM program, make sure to follow the program’s instructions for preparing to leave.  Timing is VERY IMPORTANT if you need to apply for a passport and/or a visa, or need vaccinations or a medical exam.  Be sure you know who the appropriate program contact is and go to her/him first if you have a question or concern about anything leading up to your departure.

Here at UM there are a few things you need to do before you leave campus.

  • Go over the Education Abroad Office’s Study Abroad Checklist.        
  • Check the Transfer Equivalencies site to see if courses you are considering taking, and want to use for transfer credit, have been evaluated; if not, fill out the online Evaluation Form.
  • Talk with the appropriate academic advisor(s) — concentration, general, pre-health — about courses you hope to get approved for use in the concentration, for distribution, medical school, etc.  (You will need to have course descriptions, which should be available from the program, for these conversations.)  Request reliable contact information for your academic advisors in case you need to contact them from abroad.
  • While abroad, if you plan, or are required, to take language courses in a language you’ve studied, or in which you took a placement test, at UM, make sure to talk to the appropriate language coordinator or instructor about whether you will receive credit.  (You will need to have course descriptions.)
  • If you plan to graduate while you are abroad, or within one term after you return to UM, apply to graduate on Wolverine Access and see your  concentration advisor about the Concentration Release Form.
  • If applicable, go to the Office of Financial Aid and talk with an advisor about forms you need to fill out and have signed.
  • Change your local address as appropriate on Wolverine Access so UM mailings reach you.
  • Disenroll from any UM classes you may be registered for during your time abroad. If you’re headed for a country you don’t know much about, listen to related news, and read up on current events and its history, politics, etc.

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