#studyingabroad

My Norwegian excursion!

This blog (Italian text below) is aimed at providing support to any High School or University student from (the South of) Italy, who, in the dark of his/her cluelessness, is considering or already in the process of applying for University abroad (in Europe), whether for Undergraduate or Graduate studies.

My name is Giancarlo, 21, am originally from Naples, about to complete my Bachelor’s degree in Law at the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands and currently on exchange at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. Why help young Italian talents make their overseas academic plans more concrete, you ask? Simple! Because nobody was there for me 4 years ago, when, having never ever ever left my country, I was so resolved to study in Northern Europe. Nobody to tell me “I’ve done that! Look, it is not impossible” – I’m telling you, not even the slightest encouragement of “I don’t know the how-to of studying abroad, but this is a brilliant idea!”. Quite the opposite: in spite of being on top of my class in high school, in a very respectable and uptight Liceo Classico, all my professors just loved to stress how much better education would be in Naples. While I trust they did not have malicious intents and that they genuinely believed University was better in Naples (*cough*), I was convinced otherwise. Accordingly, I embarked in a still ongoing North European adventure whose juicy details will be constantly oozing out of my fact-dense posts.

So, don’t know where to start looking for University matters? Brace yourself, that’s where I step in.

This Blog is divided in two macro-sections: The first concerns primarily all the nitty gritty Academic Aspects of studying abroad – as in, requirements, language, where-to-best-study-what. The second addresses Cultural Differences, as perceived by me and will thrive on stimulating conversations and questions and contributions that you will (hopefully!) pose.

While I will be more than happy to relate my personal experience (naturally), beware: this blog isn’t centred around me – but rather wants to help people who plan to study and ultimately live abroad, even if this thought just crossed your mind and you never bothered look up anything concrete. My experience will only be the lens for my (bold) claims about Northern Europe.

I am warmly hopeful to see some wildly overly excited young, bright, ambitious Italians, to remember how it first felt – the day I headed to the airport for the Netherlands without a return ticket to show everybody at University the irreparable damage (yet, the life-long teachings) that a Liceo Classico can inflict on you.

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Questo blog intende fornire supporto a qualunque studente liceale o universitario italiano (specialmente dal Sud), che, nel buio del proprio disorientamento, considera o è già nel processo di fare richesta per l’università all’estero (in Europa), sia per una triennale o per un master.

Studying abroad is expensive and that makes it seem almost impossible to figure out how you, as a broke university student can afford it. The key to this dilemma is applying for as many scholarships as you can!

Things to research:

Sometimes your university has scholarships they offer for university led study abroad programs

Certain third party programs such as the one I used, USAC, offer scholarships and discounts for your study abroad program through them

Here are some links to great scholarships for study abroad:

https://www.iie.org/programs/freeman-asia

https://gilmanapplication.iie.org/

https://us.fulbrightonline.org/about/fulbright-us-student-program

http://www.niied.go.kr/eng/contents.do?contentsNo=78&menuNo=349

https://www.borenawards.org/scholarships/program-basics/boren-scholarship-basics

Helpful tips:

Give yourself plenty of time to complete these scholarship applications! Deadlines come so much quicker than you think!!

Don’t rush on your essays, give yourself time to write one, trash it, rewrite it, and have someone read it over for you!

Be sure to read the guidelines!!! Include everything they ask you to include in your essay to be sure you have the best shot at getting the scholarship! 

Lastly, be yourself in your essay and show how much studying abroad in a country you are interested in means to you!!

My experience:

I’ve always wanted to study abroad but financially, I knew it would be something I’d have to take on myself. I’ve been saving up since I applied for my third party program but studying abroad requires so much more money than I anticipated. The flight, dorm, tuition, books, food, transportation, emergencies, trips, shopping, miscellaneous fees, any bills back home, and other personal expenses add up to a lot more than you think! Thankfully, after a lot of hard work, applications, and waiting, I’ve been given the amazing opportunity by the Gilman Scholarship and the Freeman Asia scholarship to study abroad in South Korea without the worry of financial strain or loans I have to go back home to pay off!