It is often said that travel broadens the mind. Well, so does education! Combining both of these activities together allows you to compound and enhance the effect, offering you the most enriching experience of your life.
Here’s everything you need to know when you are preparing to study abroad, but first find the classes you want to take with this UCAS Course Finder.
Sort Out a Passport and Visa
Obvious advice, we know. However, it is exactly this kind of thing that people fail to check, resulting in them realizing far too late that their passport has in fact expired. Just make sure that the passport you have isn’t going to expire for a long time yet, and you should be fine.
You also need to research the visa requirements for the country you will be studying in and apply for the appropriate documentation. Depending on where you will be studying, the visa process can either be very simple, or frustratingly difficult. If you will be studying in the EU, you don’t currently need a visa. However, this could change.
Get a Medical Check-up
Whenever you are about to travel anywhere abroad, it is worth first speaking to your doctor. Not only can they give you a clean bill of health before you depart, they can also advise you as to any special medical precautions you need to take when travelling to your destination.
Some countries have some fairly stringent vaccination requirements, so you will need to find out about these well in advance and arrange to receive the necessary shots.
Sort Out Travel Insurance
While you are abroad, you want to have total peace of mind as far as your health and wellbeing are concerned. Having a decent travel and health insurance package in place will ensure that you are covered should anything befall you, health-wise.
Travel insurance can help you to recoup your money should a flight be delayed or cancelled, compensate you for lost luggage and stolen personal items, and cover the costs of evacuating you if you have a health emergency.
Find a Suitable Plane Ticket
There are a number of places you can look to find the best deal on air travel. In fact, an entire industry has sprung up to provide this service! Just make sure that you carefully check your options before committing to a needlessly expensive plane ticket.
Research the Destination
You might already have a fairly good idea about the culture and customs of the place you will be studying, but it is always a good idea to do some more research anyway. Being in a new place can be intimidating, even when it’s in your own country. In another country, and potentially another language, the more you know beforehand, the more at ease you will feel.
Get Accommodation Sorted
The accommodation you secure will have a considerable impact on the type of experience you have while studying. The earlier you can get this sorted out, the sooner you can stop worrying about it.
As well as contacting the university themselves, you can also find some excellent, and comprehensive, guides for students who are travelling to specific areas. This student guide to Coimbra is a perfect example; it gives plenty of information about student accommodation Coimbra as well as a host of other, useful practical advice.
With adequate preparation, studying abroad should be an absolute joy. You will not only learn more about your chosen area of study, you will also have the chance to imbibe an entirely new culture.
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