Planning
Visits      Parent Right to Data      Acceptance Materials

A study abroad experience significantly influences the way in which students view themselves and the world around them. In addition to assisting with basic preparations for a semester abroad, it is valuable for you to take some time to investigate what you and your child are likely to encounter in terms of cross-cultural experience and adjustment. Work together and evaluate his or her academic and personal goals for the program.

Here are some suggestions for you to help your son or daughter get off to a great start:

• • Encourage your student to get involved with the local community by exploring the cultural opportunities in the host city.
• • Encourage your son or daughter to take advantage of the services offered by the on-site staff, and to seek out the staff to discuss concerns while abroad.
• • If your son or daughter experiences homesickness and doubt, remember that you should keep a sense of perspective. Students may experience “culture shock” when adjusting to a new environment.  Encourage positive actions and self-reliance in your child.

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Visits

If you are planning to visit your son or daughter, please schedule your visit to take place during a weekend, holiday, or scheduled program break, or after the program ends. Your son or daughter may not miss classes, examinations, or attendance at his or her internship or other required program event while you are visiting. Please do not visit during the first and last two weeks of the program so you can allow your son or daughter time to reflect upon adjustment and re-entry issues.

Return Home

“Re-entry” is the process of readjustment to the home culture.  In some cases it may prove to be more difficult than the adjustment to life in a foreign country. Your son or daughter will have adapted to a new way of life and may find it difficult to fit back into former roles. Students may be concerned with how family and friends will react to their new attitudes and behaviors, how they will adjust to being back at their home campuses, and how they will keep in touch with host families or friends made abroad. Parents can help their son or daughter readjust to life at home by discussing their feelings upon re-entry and by encouraging them to talk about experiences abroad.

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Parent Right to Data

Boston University permits parents of dependent students access to the educational records of their son or daughter. A dependent student is a student who is eligible to be claimed as a dependent for income tax purposes. The University assumes that undergraduate and non-Boston University students are financially dependent unless a parent or the student officially informs the University that the student is financially independent.

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Acceptance Materials

Handbooks and Forms

Upon acceptance into a program, students are sent a Student Handbook, General Acceptance Forms, and Program-Specific Forms. Later in the semester, students are sent a Program Handbook, which provides more detailed information on the program in which they are enrolled.  A Parent Handbook is available, which provides details about practical considerations like finances, and also information to help you prepare for your student’s time abroad.  The Parent Handbook is sent shortly before the Fall and Spring semesters to the home address supplied by the student.

To accept the terms of, and to secure a place in the program, each student completes an acceptance packet which includes the following forms: Acceptance Statement, Student Declaration, Medical Insurance Information and Waiver form, Emergency Medical Care Authorization, Medical Information, Passport Information, and Parent Information/Parent Right to Data. For students under the age of 21, a parent or guardian is required to sign certain documents.

In addition to returning the completed acceptance forms, each student must submit a $400 non-refundable program deposit. This deposit will be credited to the student’s Boston University account and will be applied toward payment of the program fee.

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