Well I leave in about a week!

Last post was about the qualities a student must have in order to study abroad. I also gave a few heads up notices to let you know of what I have went through to get through this point. This is a general post for all students wanting study abroad and not just Japan. Eventually I will narrow it down to Kansai Gaidai only.

First step would be to go to your International Center at your University and ask them questions. (Students at U.C.M can click here to access their website for information as well) The staff will give you paperwork and ask you why you want to study abroad. Some of the paperwork will ask general information about you, your GPA, languages you might know, etc.

Some questions I asked at my first meeting were....

• Do I need to know Japanese?
• How much does it cost?
• Are there scholarships for students studying abroad?
• Where will I live?

That was the easy step. Now you better hope you've become somewhat close to a few of your professors because you will need two separate recommendations. Not high school teachers or random professors, but ones that who have had you in recent college class. A start for a good recommendation is to email them asking and describing why you need it. Another tip would be to contact them in advance. Ok, how early you may ask? The earlier the better. Find out the best method of getting the form to them whether that's emailing it to them or dropping it off in person. Once you have that established, make sure you email them thanking them.

After you get your recommendations...your not finished. Now go get your recommendations and fill out the paperwork.

Focus of this post: Complete the paperwork ASAP and that includes communicating with the appropriate people in a timely fashion.