Study Abroad 101

Review of Covered Content

Thank you for attending Study Abroad 101 with the Office for Study Abroad. Now that you've completed this requirement, you should feel well versed in the following content. Please utilize this page as a method of reviewing the content you were provided from this session if you are ever in need of a refresher. As a reminder, the requirement will be checked off on your GW Passport application shortly. This is a manual process so please allow us some time to ensure it's properly marked on your application. 

Getting to Know the OSA Website 

We hope that you take the time to explore the entire Office for Study Abroad website as it is full of useful and important information. Nevertheless, there are a variety of pages that we have highlighted in this session to bring to your attention as they are the most essential during the overall study abroad process: 

• Office for Study Abroad website homepage - Here you can find easy to utilize links to important OSA systems including GW Passport and GW CATS in addition to IT Support should you need any assistance troubleshooting common issues on either of those system. These links can be found in the top right corner as well as under the World Map. Here you can also sign up for our monthly newsletter to stay updated with all the most important news, events, opportunities and more. 
• Steps to Study Abroad - This page is designed to act as a checklist to go over the necessary steps in the study abroad process from the point of initial interest all the way through to returning back to GW after your time abroad. Each section, or phase in the process, explains when this phase takes place and how we transition from one phase to the next. Under that, you will find dropdown menus providing detailed information about each step. We strongly encourage students to bookmark or print this page and refer to it often as they go through the process. 
• Costs & Tier Fees - Understanding costs associated with studying abroad is vital, so this may be one of the most necessary pages on the website to not only review thoroughly but also thoroughly understand. In short, this page reviews GW's Home School Tuition and Fee policy for study abroad. We recommend sharing this page with whoever in your life is assisting you with financing your education. Do not wait till the last minute when your bill is due, sit down and review this information with them now and we are here to assist if you have any questions! 
  • In the same vein, we also highly encourage students to check out the Scholarships pages (both OSA-provided and external) in addition to our Budgeting page to get a full picture of not only the cost of study abroad but also support in financing and budgeting for the experience. 
• Health & Safety - Students health & safety is our top priority. You can help prepare now for and a healthy and safe experience by reviewing many of this page's important subpages on topics like insurance, things to consider when choosing a destination, identity considerations and more.
• Policies - True to its name, this page reviews pertinent policies that students are subject to during the application process, while abroad, and when returning and transferring credits. For a successful experience with limited issues, it is necessary to have an understanding of our policies. Make sure to pay special attention to the Transfer Credit policy to ensure all your courses from abroad will transfer to GW!
• Events - In addition to the Study Abroad 101 requirement, all applicants also have an additional offline material requirement of attending a CATS/Transfer Credit Session known as "Everything You Need to Know About Transfer Credit". When and where these events are held are listed on our Events page, along with all our semester events that may also be of interest to you! Many of which are great opportunities to meet others interested in studying abroad. 
• Advising - After finishing your Study Abroad 101 session, it's great to know what other advising services are available to you. That's exactly what you can find here! We offer peer to peer advising, express/drop-in advising, and 1:1 advising with a study abroad advisor. Review this page to determine how best to utilize our services and team to continue to receive support throughout the process! 

Making the Most of GW Passport

GW Passport will like your best friend during the study abroad process. It's important to know all its features and pertinent policies and tips for navigating the system and applying to programs. 

• Signing in to GW Passport
  • Students must sign in with their UserID (everything before the @ sign in your email for those who claimed their email at GW prior to May 2022, or your GWID for those who claimed their email after May 2022). You will utilize your standard GW password.
• Advanced Search feature
  • This is the preferred search engine in GW Passport and can be accessed by selecting the home icon & clicking "Programs". Students can utilize this search engine to input criteria to filter their program searches to find programs most suited to their needs. We recommend always selecting "Undergraduate" as the Class Status and your intended study abroad semester under Term. It is up to you what other criteria you wish to filter by, but we recommend focusing on Area of Study. As a general rule of thumb, don't try to filter by more than 4 parameters/criteria. You can learn more about using this feature here. 
• Differentiating Program Types
  • After conducting a search, you will receive a variety of programs as a result. Anything with a star beginning in GW England, GW Paris, GW Madrid or GW Chile is one of our GW Study Programs. These are unique programs with GW Resident Directors on site providing extra GW support while still offering a very immersive experience. In some of these programs, you may also have the option to take GW-numbered courses. GW Exchanges, on the other hand, are all the programs you will see beginning with "GW Exchange" in the name. These are very independent and fully immersive programs where you will directly enroll at another institution, taking classes with locals and other international students. One thing to note about this program type is that is does not include housing. The last program type you will find here is Provider Programs. They consist of all the other programs you will find on GW Passport not beginning with "GW" in the name. They are still GW-approved and follow the same policies set out by our office. These are programs offered by third party organizations partnering with our office. They often span a spectrum between very immersive and more of an American bubble. In all cases, these are semester and year long programs. Our office does not coordinate summer programs with the exception of a few summer Exchanges. 
• Program Brochures
  • Program brochures are what appear when you select any given program after conducting a search. They each follow the same general layout with 6 pages to toggle between - "Application Process Overview," "Program Overview," "Academics," "Life in [City]," "Housing," "Costs". The button to apply and learn more on the program's direct homepage can be found within the Application Process Overview. That page also reviews the two-step process of applying to any program and how the nomination/approval process works. The Program Overview, on the other hand, is where you will find all important dates/deadlines as well as requirements to apply and a standard academic calendar, which may differ a lot from the GW calendar. This page will also indicate the Tier fee designation for the program. It's important to note that this page indicates that all programs are Rolling Admissions, this is not always the case. It is only true for Provider Programs and GW England - King's College London & University College London. Students can find important course information including links to course catalogs on the Academics page and housing information and additional program-specific cost information can be found on the Housing and Cost pages, respectively. 
• Applying to a Program
  • When you are ready to apply, you will select Apply Now on the Application Process Overview page of the program's brochure. You are permitted to apply to up to 3 programs in a single application cycle. As explained on that page of the brochure, you will now begin a two-step application process. For all providers, with the exception of AUP and DIS, you will apply simultaneously on GW Passport and the provider's direct application. For Exchanges and Study Programs, you will wait till receiving GW nomination before moving forward with a direct application. In all cases, except GW England - King's College London and University College London which are rolling admission, all applications will be reviewed and nominations disseminated after the GW Passport deadline. Exchange and Study Programs are more competitive programs as they often have limited spots available. As such, they must be ranked above Provider programs because if nominated and accepted, you would be required to attend due to our reciprocity agreements with these partners and because you are taking a spot away from other students. The program provider or host institution will ultimately make final decisions on program admission, not the Office for Study Abroad, though our nominations and approvals hold a lot a weight.
  • All programs require some type of approval, for Providers, this is a Home School Approval and it should be sent to your advisor electronically well in advance of posted deadlines. You have to have the matching application open in GW Passport and have been deemed eligible for our team to approve you. As such, it's incredibly important to start your application process with completing the "Study Abroad Eligibility Form" which allows us to check your eligibility with the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities. This process could take up to 2 weeks. For more on Eligibility Requirements, check out our Policies page.
  • To complete your application, you must ensure all Offline Requirements, Fillable Forms and E-Signature Documents are checked off. There is no formal submit button after completion, we are simply looking to see all requirements are complete. 
    • Tip for any Transcript Requirements: We will need official transcripts from all universities attended including your GW transcript which can be ordered from GWeb. We do not need any transcripts for high school credits showing on your GW transcript but we will need any transcripts from credits you transferred back to GW post-matriculation. They all must be official, meaning they cannot come from the student directly and must come directly from the university
    • Tip for Passport Information requirements: This is one of the only requirements that can be left blank and fulfilled after the deadline, if needed. Students should be making sure during the application process that their passport is valid for at least six months after the return from your study abroad program. If it is not, you will need to renew your passport as soon as possible! In the interim, the form can be left blank. Students should also take into consideration that most programs require a visa, which would require you to submit your physical passport. As such, we heavily discourage planning personal travel outside the U.S. during the application and pre-departure process. 

Introduction to GW CATS

GW CATS will also be a system you frequent throughout this process. The quick link for accessing GW CATS is go.gwu.edu/CATS. Direct links can also be found throughout our website. We have provided you with the following few pro-tips to get started in GW CATS with the understanding that you will still be required to attend an additional informational session dedicated to GW CATS and the transfer credit process as part of your application. 

• GW CATS is our only system for approving courses from abroad 
• GW CATS is not registration for courses abroad. That process takes place with your program directly.
• There is no deadline for completing your GW CATS approvals, but delays can cause issues in the transfer credit process so we recommend starting as early as possible
• You do not need to have been admitted to your program in order to begin submitting requests in GW CATS
• The Pre-Approved Course List can be a helpful tool for searching for programs and narrowing down what program options might be best for you, however, you should never feel limited to what you see on the pre-approved course list and you can always submit additional new course requests. New course options can be found on the program's website
• In order to submit a new request, a syllabus is required and can usually be found online on your program's website
• New requests are reviewed by Department Approvers in the varying GW departments, and not by the Office for Study Abroad. If students have not received a response to their request in over 14 days, it's recommended to reach out to the Department Approver to request their review. Their info can be found in the Department Instructions tab on GW CATS's homepage. 
• All courses, whether new or pre-approved, must be submitted via the Submit a Course Approval Request form to be added to your specific profile under your "My Course List"
• It is recommended to submit 5-10 requests to have a variety of options, however, we do not recommend submitting too many to the same department
• We strongly recommend using this time to speak with your Academic Advisors to determine what courses to try to accomplish during your study abroad semester
• Possibly the most important pro-tip is that GW CATS approvals are only approvals of GW Equivalent Course codes and not approval of credit value, which is determined by the program. This means courses on campus that are typically a certain credit value are not necessarily that value abroad. Students must ensure they are taking the equivalent of 12-18 US credits while abroad and are not going over or under. Be sure to be mindful of credit conversions as well, as some programs do not use the same credit system as GW/US

Don't forget! You will still need to attend one of our "Everything You Need to Know About Transfer Credit" sessions to learn all the ins and outs of GW CATS, but this should help you get started! 

Thank you for joining us! Best of luck getting started in the process!