Congratulations, You've Been Accepted!
Since you have been accepted, your journey has now begun.
Your online application has now been updated with additional tasks that must be completed prior to travel.
These tasks may include things such as:
- how to purchase HTH medical insurance
- medical questionnaires and signature documents
- emergency contact information
- program fee payment schedules and refund policies
- registering for your workshop
Please ensure that all tasks are completed prior to departure to ensure you are not unregistered from the program.
What Should You Do While Abroad?
Take Full Advantage...of all your program and location has to offer. Activities like conversation partners, internships, sporting events, and clubs can be priceless networking opportunities, so be sure to keep contact information for people or organizations you may wish to contact later. Make the most of the time you have to absorb as much as you can of the host culture.
Try not to spend all your time with other American students which includes, calling, emailing, and facebooking friends back home.
Write regularly in a journal, or keep a blog to share with friends and family so that you don't spend too much time on the computer contacting everyone individually. Often homesickness and culture shock can be helped by stepping away from the phone/computer and immersing yourself in the culture around you, rather than clinging to the connections at home.
Take care of your physical and emotional health. Make sure you get enough sleep, eat healthy, and stay on schedule with any medications you take regularly. If you begin to feel overwhelmed, take time out to rest and reconnect with something familiar.
Above all, keep your sense of humor and learn to just go with it-be adaptable. Things will not always go as planned, and you will make language and cultural mistakes; but just remember that it is all part of the learning process.
Registration for Next Semester
Students who study abroad during the fall or spring semesters will have the opportunity to enroll in classes at Miami University in advance of other Miami University students. Students should monitor their BannerWeb account for their registration time.
What to Do When you Return?
Welcome back! We missed you...these might be the only things that sound familiar to you as you re-enter the culture and environment that you knew as "home;" and readjusting to your surroundings may be more stressful than you realized. It is not uncommon for students returning from abroad to go through the stages of re-entry (initial euphoria, irritability or hostility, gradual adjustment and adaptation.)
Realize that most students experience some stress readjusting to the United States culture. Typically, the more you immersed yourself in the host culture, the more difficult you may find re-entry. Find someone who can update you on the university, local and national changes that might have taken place while you were away. You may recognize that many of your values and beliefs have changed. Learn to incorporate new and meaningful values and beliefs in your life.
Understand that your friendships and relationships might change as a result of your new experiences. Explore new places and people with whom you can share your international experiences. Recognize that you may need some time to adjust to the hectic pace and pressures of university life. Learn to gradually increase the pace of your academic studies and extracurricular activities. You may notice that the "old ways" of managing your time and stress are no longer appropriate. Seek counsel from academic advisors, "veteran" study abroad students, and other supportive faculty and staff.
Accept the reality that re-entry is a time of transition! Learn ways to take care of yourself and ease into your surroundings.
Receiving Credit Upon Returning from Co-Sponsored or Approved Programs
Upon finishing the study abroad program, students must ensure that an official transcript be sent from their study abroad program or university to the Office of the Registrar at Miami University. Under no circumstances will a hand-carried or student copy of a transcript be accepted. The Office of the Registrar cannot begin the process of transferring credit until official transcripts have been received.
Students are required to bring all textbooks, syllabi, class notes, special projects, tests, papers written for each class back to Miami University. For Art classes this may include paintings, ceramics, pictures, or jewelry. If students to not bring these materials back it could delay and may even negate receiving credit for a study abroad program.
Upon receipt of the official transcript, the coursework and the syllabi, the Office of the Registrar will work with the relevant academic departments to determine the appropriate credit for the classes taken while abroad.
