Study Abroad as a Transfer

Transfers Abroad

One thing that some W&M transfers may wonder is if they will still be able to study abroad. The answer is a resounding YES! Here at W&M, we have tons of study abroad programs that can work for anyone who may be interested in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I (Meredith Lian) transferred at the start of my sophomore year at W&M, and I had always known I wanted to study abroad for a full semester. Although, having a full year less at W&M made me not only worry that I might not be able to study abroad, but also made me question if I even wanted to, because it meant I would miss another semester at this new school that I loved.

Choosing a Program

I went back and forth on the matter, considering summer programs, semester-long programs, or none at all. I searched through hundreds of W&M programs and third party programs until I finally decided that this was a chance I couldn’t possibly pass up. My other transfer friend and I agreed that we wanted to go to Edinburgh, Scotland, and found a wonderful third party program at the University of Edinburgh. The Reeves Center (W&M’s global education office) helped me easily get the program registered, professors here were incredibly accommodating when approving my study abroad classes, and last but not least, my amazing parents were kind enough to send me off to live in Scotland for 6 months. It was truly the best experience ever. I try hard not to be one of those people that goes on and on about how ‘study abroad ~changed~ me’, but I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t.

Abroad #Changed Me

Hopefully hearing my experience has given you a good idea of the possibilities that are still very much available to you as transfer students. If for some reason you’re time-limited (i.e. you transferred at the start of your junior year), you can STILL study abroad if you want to! There are tons of summer programs as well that give you a really good taste of that #abroadlife, and it could give you some extra credits to lighten the load during the school year. A win-win situation if you ask me!