Study abroad: a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a thrilling adventure, the thing your parents told you they most regretted not doing in college. It is frequently described by those who participated (including myself) as one of the best experiences of their lives.
But after you return home and the magic of living in a different country has worn off, you are left to deal with the not-so-fun logistical aftermath that comes with studying abroad — namely, the credit conversion process.
I was told that I wouldn’t have to worry about this until April, two months before I graduate.
While that turned out to be true, the credit conversion process that I went through with the UW study abroad office and various advisors turned out to be my biggest headache for a week. I was sent numerous faulty or incorrect links and even a malfunctioning form, and then was gaslit by the advisers.
I participated in the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), a study abroad program where students choose their study abroad destination, courses, and duration. It’s not affiliated with UW specifically and partners with schools across the country. Because it is not a UW study abroad program, students are required to determine which departments their courses belong to and email the corresponding departmental advisers in order to receive UW credit by converting the CIEE courses to equivalent UW courses.
Other UW students who participated in CIEE programs have voiced similar concerns about the credit conversion process. Fourth-year student Maya Rigler-Gryj said that she did not anticipate the complication of “cold-calling” various UW departmental advisors.
”It was difficult to have to reach out to all these departments that I have no connection to or no experience with,” Rigler said. “It would just be kind of nice if there was somebody helping with [converting courses], especially because there are repeats of classes they teach each year.”
I acknowledge that deciding to study abroad requires an extensive amount of paperwork and emailing back and forth with UW study abroad and departmental advisers. For me, this was not so much of a problem: what I had trouble with was a disconnect in communication — and frankly, the attitude — when reaching out to these parties.
Most of the CIEE to UW course conversion process comes from filling out a spreadsheet that includes links where students upload course documents including syllabi, course assignments, and other information that assists department advisers in figuring out which UW courses are equivalent.
I had completed this step and emailed the form to two department advisers: one adviser completed my course conversion that same day without issue, and another insisted that I had not uploaded said supporting documents.
I emailed the adviser who tried to gaslight me into thinking that I had not uploaded my course documents and asked for comments on the course conversion process. For the sake of being professional, I’m choosing to keep this person anonymous.
“My experience with the credit conversion process run by the UW Study Abroad Office has been excellent,” the adviser wrote in an email. “The issues I have had with it are most often when students do not keep evidence of their classes, and when they do not read the instructions given to them by the UW Study Abroad Office in emails, websites, and on the forms themselves.”
What I learned from this adviser is that, if you’re wrong, you can always just be petty about it to feel better. All in all, an incredible study abroad journey is worth encountering a couple of difficult procedures — and people — along the way.
Reach writer Savannah Helming at [email protected]. X: @savannahhelming
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