Why Study Abroad?
Study Abroad: The best decision I made at Harvard was to leave.
Why Study Abroad?
Consistently, Harvard students worry about FOMO from campus, but data shows that the FOMO is from missing out on the world. Through the years, Harvard students report that their semester (or year abroad) was the best decision they made as an undergraduate and their time abroad was the most impactful of all 4 years. Similarly, Senior Survey results show that the majority of students who did not study abroad regret it.
Become a more competitive candidate: According to research, study abroad makes students more desirable job candidates and national statistics show that the starting salary of study abroad students is higher than that of their peers.
Identify your goals (personal, academic, and pre-professional) for a semester abroad and let OIE advisors guide you to the programs that best align.
Economic Impact Study 2025 (2025). The Forum on Education Abroad.
https://www.forumea.org/economic-impact-study-2025.html
What are recent study abroad alumni doing?
Examples: Benjamin A. Trustman Postgraduate Fellowship, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Fellowship (Brazil), Fulbright Fellowship, Gates Cambridge Scholarship, George Peabody Gardner Traveling Fellowship, Harvard-Cambridge Scholarship, Harvard Postgraduate Public Service Fellowship, Henry Russell Shaw Fellowship, Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Fellowship, Presidential Public Service Fellowship, Yenching Scholar at Peking University, Other Harvard departmental fellowships
Examples: Columbia Business School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Law School, Columbia Business School, Peking University, NYU School of Law, Sciences Po Paris, Technische Universität Berlin, The Wharton School of UPenn, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, UPenn Law School, Yale Law School
Examples:
- Consulting: McKinsey & Company, BCG, Bain & Company, Deloitte, PwC, Alvarez & Marsal, Penta Group
- Finance/Banking/Private Equity/Asset Management: Global Infrastructure Partners, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Barclays, Northern Trust, BNP Paribas, Liberty Mutual, BBR Partners
- Tech/AI/Data: Microsoft, Scale AI, Google, Tubi, VC Investor, Startup Founder/Co-Founder
Alumni Testimonials
Concentration: Economics
Program: The Swedish Program
After I graduated college, I wrote a screenplay deeply rooted in my experience studying abroad in Stockholm, Sweden. That same screenplay later helped me win writing fellowships. My semester abroad was one of the first chapters of my life that allowed me to tap into my creative side by diving deep into Nordic Noir and Swedish Crime Fiction. As an artist, I cannot thank my four and a half months in Sweden enough for expanding my creative influences and inspiration.
Concentration: Electrical Engineering
Program: St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford
What most shaped my personal growth during my study abroad experience was having the time and space to think deeply about what I was learning. Oxford’s tutorial system encouraged independent problem-solving, which challenged me to wrestle with ideas on my own and expand how I approached engineering. In a discipline that can at times feel rigid, this experience allowed me to think more creatively and engage with the material in a way that felt both challenging and rewarding.
Concentrations: Government, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Program: American University of Beirut
I would say studying abroad has been incredibly beneficial for my language skills. Studying abroad in Lebanon significantly improved my Arabic skills, particularly my ability to speak the local dialect (the formal Arabic I learned at Harvard is very different from the the Arabic spoken in various countries in the region), and this opened many doors for me. From volunteering opportunities with refugees in the Netherlands and Germany, to the current job I have, where I work as a project manager for international cooperation projects in the Middle East / North Africa region (a position for which speaking Arabic was considered a plus).
