Planning for studying abroad
Have you ever been stuck in a situation where you needed help with a million and one concerns and every time you inquired about one, you got no reply? Have you ever tried Googling a question and landed on a page saying, “Sorry. No results found?” If you have, then give me a hug. Trust me, I know your struggle.
Planning out major details for my study abroad was quite gruesome. Looking back in hindsight, I probably should’ve used a third-party company like ISEP or ISA to plan out my trip. Companies like these make it their mission to arrange remarkable study abroad experiences. They handle every single detail of the trip so students (like me) won’t have to frantically search the internet for the answer to the question, “What is life?”
But no, I wanted to be difficult. I took matters into my own hands in order to get the real-life, real-world adult experience. Turns out, that's exactly what I got.
DISCLAIMER: My university has assisted me with the application process and initial correspondence with my university overseas; however, it was MY RESPONSIBILITY to find housing accommodations, get my student visa, and book my flight.
Here’s a brief overview of how I got it done:
Living Arrangements: I found my apartment on AirBnB. For those of you who don’t know (Hey Dad! - inside joke), AirBnb is a site that allows travelers to rent out rooms and sometimes even an entire apartment or house. Its interface is quite simple to use and it’s much cheaper than a hotel (and in my opinion, more comfortable than a hostel). Additionally, some AirBnb hosts allow guests to stay for long-term, which is what I opted for since I’m staying in Vina for 4 months. I am so content with my find and I would not trade it for the world but maybe a host family. The only downside to choosing to live somewhat on your own (I have a roommate) is that you have to do adult things...like cook for yourself. Oh, the horror! Please, put it to an end.
Student Visa: I’m not trying to go on a Kanye rant, but let me tell you this...trying to get my student visa was actually one of the most frustrating moments of my life. Sure, I could’ve spent a couple of extra bucks to get some third-party company like Travisa to handle my student visa for me. But no, I wanted to save money by doing it on my own.
While I could tell you a quick story of how tedious this was:
It took me weeks to find the appropriate list of required documents and steps on what to do with those documents.
I had to spend extra money to fast-track my FBI background check.
I took a horrible bus ride to the Washington DC (which was ridiculously cold, by the way) to wait hours for a nice Chilean man to take my money ($160) so he could print out a sticker...
It’s not worth it. Just know that the process of applying for my student visa was not a fun time.
Booking Flights: Although booking my flight to Chile was pretty straightforward, there are a few tips that I’d like to mention and I completely regret not thinking about these until after it was too late.
When you are choosing a location to travel to and/or study abroad, please pay attention to the time of year that you will be traveling. One thing that I didn’t realize was that my flights were going to be incredibly expensive because I would be traveling during peak season for both of my flights to and from Chile. Essentially, I flew out of the winter into the summer and I’d be doing the same on the way back home (which means more $$$ for the flight).
Be sure to use price comparison sites like Kayak.com Kayak helped me find a cheaper route back home. Instead of flying directly from Santiago to Raleigh, I will save about $300-500 by flying to another country first, connecting in Atlanta, and returning to RDU.
If you have a friend who works for a major airline, ask them if they can help you out with a buddy pass.
Price watch MULTIPLE flights from the moment you decide to study abroad until the moment you are ready to book your flight. You might find a great steal.
Choose your departure date wisely. Although it has not been proven which day is best to book a flight, it HAS been proven that the best day to fly internationally is generally on a Wednesday.
All in all...while planning your next trip outside of the country does sound all fine and dandy, just remember THERE'S LEVELS TO THIS.
