Study Abroad Woes: Decisions complicated by rejections and cancelled programs

Image from Conn website.

On the Connecticut College website, under the header of Academics, there is a section entitled “Global Focus.” Above it, various countries’ flags blow in the breeze. The tagline reads: “The world awaits you. We provide the pathways.”

The links on the right-hand side of the page include Language Study, Curriculum, International Students, Faculty, and Study Abroad. Clicking on the Study Abroad link brings up a map crowded with pinpoints that represent where Connecticut College students can study around the world. The map makes the world appear small. While Europe holds more pinpoints than other continents, it seems that Connecticut College truly does provide its students with the opportunities to study anywhere in the world.

What the map does not include is the proviso that this opportunity is not guaranteed. Like many other liberal arts colleges, Connecticut College stresses studying abroad as an essential part of our education. The website advertises that over 55% of students study abroad during their four years. What about the other 45% of students? Some choose not to study abroad because of athletics, a demanding academic schedule, or financial issues. What our promotional material fails to mention is the number of students that apply to study away and are rejected.

Shirley Parsons, the Director of the Office of Study Away, reported that about 35 more students applied to study away in the fall of 2011. One reason for this increase, she continued, is because the sophomore class is larger than the classes before.

Parsons explained that applying to study away is a bit like applying to college. “The study away committee always approves more students than actually go,” she said. “The application process is almost a holistic review.” As with applying to college, applying to study abroad does not guarantee your acceptance by the school. While studying away is a lauded part of the college experience, it is not assured.

The study away application asks students to submit a rationale for studying abroad, a specific program and location, and two faculty recommendations. “The rationale is the most important factor, because it is the place where you connect where you want to go with how that fits in to your studies here,” she said.

Study Away Teach Away, also known as SATA, is a Conn-sponsored and populated study away option led by a Conn professor. Many SATA programs have been successful and longstanding, including SATA Vietnam, SATA Oaxaca, and next semester’s SATA South Africa.

This semester, the upcoming SATA India program was cancelled due to lack of enrollment. Milan Saunders ’13 applied to the program, which was to be led by Environmental Studies Professor Robert Askins. She was devastated when she learned of its cancellation.

“It took me a while to get over it,” said Saunders. “I looked forward to it for so long and there was nothing standing in the way of my going abroad. I would’ve been able to work on my senior thesis and two other classes that would’ve counted for credit toward my major,” she said.

Saunders worked to encourage other students to apply to the program, going as far as asking the Office of Study Away if the program would be in jeopardy if it didn’t receive enough applicants. She was told not to worry about it. “They made it seem like that was something that never happens.”

Saunders did not apply to any other study abroad programs. Now, she must go through the application process once again in order to go abroad during the spring semester. “It’s a struggle now to find a program that works for me and is in a country that I’m interested in,” she said.

Jennifer Cunningham ’13 also applied to SATA India. Like Saunders, she did not apply to any other study abroad program and was similarly frustrated to learn of its cancellation. “The study away office never mentioned the possibility that the program could be cancelled. It seemed foolproof, so I didn’t look into any other options.”

Cunningham will instead be going to South Africa with Prof. Marc Zimmer of the Chemistry Department and a group of her peers.
Parsons explained that having a minimum requirement of ten or more students for SATA programs is essential to a cohesive program. “We thought that with the low number, it wouldn’t be as enriching an experiencing for the students because we wouldn’t be able to offer them as many classes,” she said.

Conn has run a SATA India program before with great success. However, Parsons explained that the “focus of the program has shifted. It is open to all students, but it was going to have a much narrower focus than programs we’ve run in the past,” which may explain this year’s decline in interest. She also said that there were no SATA students left on campus to encourage other students to apply to this program in India.

Quinn Menchetti ’13 always planned to study abroad during college. He chose Copenhagen, Denmark, as his number one choice for the first semester of his junior year. After going through the intensive application process, Menchetti discovered he was denied the opportunity to study abroad. His first reaction was to take a semester off and go abroad anyway.

“If our school wasn’t going to help me go abroad when and where I wanted, then I was going to do it myself,” he said.
Menchetti decided to appeal the decision by the study away committee and, subsequently, was accepted. “I appealed as a final resort. I didn’t expect it to work. I think the appeals process was more of a formality to see who really wanted to go.”

While Quinn is now excited to study abroad in Denmark in the fall, he acknowledges that his situation was an exception.
One sophomore female, who has asked to remain anonymous, applied to study abroad in the fall and was rejected. Her first choice was also a program in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“It offers a lot of classes which Conn does not, which would have helped me tremendously with my major,” she said.
She was shocked at her rejection. “I really hadn’t heard of anyone getting denied to go abroad and I never expect myself to be the one it would happen to. I didn’t think I was unqualified to go.”

She met with someone in the Office of Study Away to discuss what she should emphasize in her letter of appeal to the committee, and was told to highlight how her education at Conn could benefit from her study abroad experience. “They said their initial weed-out was on GPA. My current GPA is a 3.333 and the recommended GPA to study abroad is a 3.4.”

This student is now planning on waiting and studying abroad in the spring. “After I got rejected, I tried looking at it in the most optimistic way. Going in the spring made more sense for me academically.”

Despite the initial shock of her rejection, she is looking forward to going through the application process once again for the spring semester. “This incident didn’t discourage me from applying again because at least I know I am capable of getting in.”

Parsons stated that there is no cap for the number of students that can study away each semester, but the school does try to even out the number of students studying abroad between fall and spring. The increased number of rejections that occurred with this application cycle may have been due to sheer numbers. Despite this reality, students have expressed extreme disappointment about their rejections. Parsons says she understands. “Students sometimes think ‘I’ve been rejected,’ and rejection is a really strong word. It’s hard to take.”

She encourages any students denied in the fall to reapply again for the spring. She believes that some students excel when going abroad in the spring, because they are “more focused on their major and have taken more classes.”

Parsons recommends to students applying to study abroad in the spring to “be flexible about where you want to study or what you want to do.”

This flexibility is easier said than done. Many students see studying abroad as an essential part of their college experience, one that is guaranteed upon entrance into the college. Due to the realities of budgeting, grades, and the number of students that apply, studying abroad is never guaranteed. While it’s important for the school to continue to focus on the benefits that come with living and learning in another country, it should not be advertised as a definitive part of the college experience as that will not be the case for some students on campus. •