Study Abroad: Inconvenient Truths, Helpful Tips

Congratulations! You've made it to the third week of the semester. It's time to think about ... leaving?

Fall is Study Abroad season, when advisors, faculty and fair-goers promise that the briefest visit to Anywhere But Here will make you even more smart, kind, fluent and followable on Instagram. But is it true?

Maybe. But before you download TripWallet, consider these five inconvenient truths:

1. Studying abroad is expensive. Studying abroad may not be more expensive than your semester tuition, but if your semester tuition were cheap, you wouldn't work double shifts at the Campus Coffee Bee to pay it.

Why it's okay: You're going to spend money in February no matter what, so you might as well do it somewhere where there's no word for "frostbite" in the native language.

Tip: Smaller programs usually charge lower fees. At USpain, a full semester of tuition, programming, and housing in Valencia is only $8,000.

2. Studying abroad is complicated. It seems like there a bazillion forms to fill out, in ink, on paper, and sent via mail ... by tomorrow!

Why it's okay: Your advisors are familiar with study-abroad paperwork; they'll get your forms and recommendations completed if you give them enough lead time.

Tip: Fill out forms in as much detail as you can before passing them along for a signature. Otherwise, you'll get back a blank sheet, signed by a professor.

3. Studying abroad is college-lite. Most study-abroad classes are taught by part-time instructors in off-campus centers for American students.

Why it's okay: Just make sure your home campus will accept your study-abroad credits before you register for your classes and you'll be fine.

Tip: Choose a program that offers on-campus courses at a host university. At USpain, you can take core, field and independent courses at the University of Valencia.

4. Studying abroad is not Here. There will be times when you crave nothing more than a New York slice ... and you're vegan.

Why it's okay: Back in Brooklyn, you'll bore everyone with how hard it is to find Camparian mozzarella di Bufala these days, even though you are still vegan.

Tip: When you long for a real cheeseburger, do what the locals do: go to McDonald's.

5. Studying abroad is not There. Your peers don't take chaperoned field trips, expect someone else's mom to make their lunch, or go to class with a bunch of Americans.

Why it's okay: Your peers don't earn degree credits for tasting beer flights at Oktoberfest or dancing sevillanas at the Feria de Abril, either, so it's all good.

Tip: Burst the study-abroad bubble: share an apartment with a native college student; frequent family-owned stores; attend on-campus events; stop by langauge-tandem nights at popular cafés. Soon, you'll feel (and speak) like a local!