While You’re Abroad

Welcome to your new home for study abroad! The information on this page is designed to help you settle in when you get to your destination. We hope your time abroad is a rewarding and wonderful experience, and our goal is to help you make the most of your experience. Whether you have questions regarding safety, sustainable travel or what it’s going to be like when you return to campus, we are here to help provide information, resources and advice.

Forms To Submit

Please submit the following forms upon arrival:

Students who are studying abroad for the entire academic year are encouraged to complete the Mid-Year Evaluation.

Photo of students posing in front of ancient ruins in Italy

Safety While Studying Abroad

Security Announcements & Travel Advisories

Security Announcements

The U.S. 自2001年9月以来，国务院一直定期发布“全球警戒”公告. 这些声明强调了在国外生活和旅行的美国人保持警惕和安全意识的重要性.

Travel Advisories

Students are encouraged to check the travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State for their intended destination. Note that conditions can change rapidly at any time. We recommend that all travelers sign up to receive travel advisories and alerts.

Safety & Security

We advise all students studying abroad to consult the U.S. State Department website on a regular basis. This site includes valuable information about countries throughout the world.

Students Abroad
U.S. Embassies Around the World
Travel Advisories
Emergencies Abroad
Country-Specific Information
Smart Traveller Enrollment Program (STEP)
Traveler's Checklist

Before You Return to Smith

Students must be tested for tuberculosis exposure before returning to campus.

Smith TB Policy for Returning Students

成功回归的关键之一是重新建立日常生活，并制定具体的计划来安排你的时间.

Reentry Action Plan

Rescinding Off-Campus Study Leave Status

Students on two-semester programs considering returning after one semester should see “Leaves of Absence” section of the Class Deans website. 学生如欲取消出国留学假，应以书面形式通知国际学习办公室和班级主任. If a student rescinds their study abroad leave in order to register for classes in Northampton, that decision will be binding, and they will not be eligible to have off-campus study status reinstated.

Leave may be rescinded until the first day of classes each semester, however, 学生负责支付任何不可退还的费用和已支付给留学项目或主办大学的押金. The student is also responsible for contacting Housing to request a room.

A student who withdraws from a study abroad program or host university after the program has started is responsible for any non-refundable fees and withdrawal fees charged by the study abroad program; they are also normally withdrawn from Smith and may not return to the college the following semester.

Extending Leave

被批准在国外学习一学期的学生，如果想将他们的海外学习经历延长到下一学期，应该联系国际学习办公室讨论他们的选择.

For Smith Programs Abroad

Students who studied abroad in Florence, Hamburg, Geneva or Paris will be asked to complete a program evaluation that will be sent via email.

For Smith-Approved & Consortium Programs

所有参加澳门葡京博彩软件财团项目或澳门葡京博彩软件批准项目的出国留学学生都需要在项目结束时向澳门葡京博彩软件提交一份对其出国留学项目的评估.

Students should complete the program evaluation that corresponds to the term studied abroad (fall, spring or academic year). 在一学年中参加两个不同项目的学生应完成每学期和项目(秋季和春季)的项目评估。.

Academic Year 2023-2024 Program Evaluation

Spring 2024 Program Evaluation

Please Note

在国际研究办公室收到评估报告之前，成绩单不会转发到注册办公室进行发布.

您在国外的课程/大学的成绩单和成绩报告必须直接发送到国际学习办公室:

Lewis Global Studies Center
5 Chapin Drive, Wright Hall 125
Northampton, MA 01063

请记住，你的成绩可能需要一段时间才能出现在你的学习记录和成绩单上. If you have questions about transcripts or credits, please contact Associate Dean Lisa Johnson.

Please note: 在国际学习办公室收到学生的课程评估之前，成绩单不会转发到注册办公室进行发布.

For additional transcript and credit questions, see Credit Rules.

Returning to Smith

Few people anticipate culture shock when they return home, 但实际上，许多学生发现，习惯回到家里和习惯在国外生活一样具有挑战性.

Some students find that they have changed and grown a great deal while abroad, but that home, family and friends have not. This gap makes it challenging to slip back into settings, routines and relationships that were once familiar and comfortable. You should expect a certain amount of this if you have had a full and enriching time overseas.

重要的是不要忽视回国经历作为留学的一个方面:重新适应国内生活是困难的，你的感受是完全合理的.

Common reentry experiences

Impression that you can't fully explain your experience or its importance
Realization that others do not want to hear very much about your adventures
Sensation of being out of place despite being home
Boredom with being home
Experiencing reverse homesickness for the place where you studied abroad
Seeing that relationships with family and friends have changed
Feeling that others misunderstand your growth, or see the “wrong” changes in you
Assessing your home in a way that is judgmental or overly critical
Feeling that your experience abroad is lost or cut off from the rest of your life

Ways of Coping

If you find yourself experiencing difficulty after coming home:

试着使用你在适应国外生活时培养的文化适应技能, keep active, maintain a sense of humor, find a support group, expect differences, allow yourself to make mistakes, stay flexible) to make the transition to being home.
Be reflective. Give some thought to your return, 到你在国外经历的智力和情感上的变化.
Expect some negative feelings about your home culture. Try not to be too critical of shortcomings that you did not see before. Remember that there are positive and negative aspects of all cultures—nothing is good or bad, it's just different.
Accentuate the positive. 试着找出两种文化中你喜欢的地方，并试着把它们最好的方面融入到你的生活中.
Be patient with your friends and family who are trying to understand your recent experiences. Listen to them, too, about the changes they underwent during the time you were away.
Maintain connections with the international life through the many opportunities available at Smith: come to the Lewis Global Studies Center; evaluate your program; interact with the international student population from your study abroad location; help spread the word about study abroad to your friends and classmates; agree to talk to prospective students who are interested in the program through which you chose to study.
Submit some of your favorite photos to the Global Encounters Photo Contest. We would love to see them!
Set goals for your development. 再一次意识到改变是令人兴奋的，这可能是你向新方向发展的机会. Set some long-term goals, which may involve finding ways to return abroad.

Part of the academic challenge of returning to campus is finding ways to bring the learning home. To demonstrate your new knowledge and educational perspective, we encourage you to consider:

Submitting proposals to present at conferences

Smith in the World
Celebrating Collaborations: Students and Faculty Working Together
National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Annual undergraduate research conference held at a different institution each year draws 2,000 students and faculty members
Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society 本科人文科学研究社区每年举办一次领导学院和本科生研究会议
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students

Interested in work and volunteer opportunities abroad? 在课堂之外，学生们有很多选择来获得新技能并加强他们的跨文化理解.

Work Abroad

You may wish to do only a short-term job such as teach English for a year or acquire a more long-term job, but whatever you choose, working abroad can be a very rewarding and enriching experience. 沉浸在一种新的文化中会带来大量的自我发现和职业发展，这在国内是不容易获得的.

Please note: Most countries require work visas, so be sure to do your research on what exactly you may need in order to work abroad.