Academic

• What are your academic goals?
• What are your academic needs?
• Are there specific GE, major or minor courses you need to fulfill abroad?
• Do you need upper-division credit for the courses you take abroad?
• If you are a senior, what special considerations do you need to be aware of?

Language

• What is your level of language proficiency?
• Do you want to study a foreign language?
• Do you want to study in a foreign language or in English?

Personal

• What are your goals?
• Do you want to study with international and host-country students or only UC students?
• Do you want fieldwork, an internship, or a research project to be part of your program?

What are you looking for?

• What part of the world intrigues you?
• Are you willing to consider a place off the beaten track?
• Do you want minimal cultural adjustment or are you seeking something more challenging?
• Are your choices influenced by others or are you deciding what’s right for you?
• Do you want to study with other Americans, other international students, or alongside students from the host country?

Choose the right time – when and for how long?

• When should you go? An academic year, semester, summer?
• If you go for a semester, should it be fall or spring? And how many credits will you receive?
• If you go for a semester, does the program allow extension to a year?
• Should you go abroad as a sophomore, junior, or senior?
• Can you go on EAP more than once while you’re a student at UC Merced?

Requirements – can I qualify for the program?

• Do you have the minimum overall GPA?
• Do you have the foreign language prerequisites (if applicable)?
• Do you have the minimum GPA in the foreign language?
• Will you be able to fulfill other requirements for your program (i.e. prerequisite courses)?
• How many units do you have? Enough? Too many?