Pack a passport, or pass on abroad?

Reza faced a common obstacle for students who hope to study abroad: satisfying departmental requirements while taking classes at foreign universities.

“We insist that the core courses of our major … be studied at Princeton, or at institutions that offer courses of comparable rigor and depth,” economics professor Avinash Dixit said in an e-mail. “Unfortunately, there are very few of these in the world. Therefore we have to make sure that students plan their study abroad very early.”

Senior Associate Dean of the College Nancy Kanach, who oversees the University’s study abroad program, said that departments that insist certain courses are taken only at Princeton limit the opportunities for students to go abroad.

“Sometimes departments are willing to be flexible about requirements, but students just don’t ask,” she said in an e-mail. “Some students worry about doing independent work abroad, but that can be managed with some advance planning. We have added advice by department to our study abroad website, and we think that this has helped students to plan for study abroad in particular majors.”

Economics concentrators who plan to incorporate studying abroad should complete the prerequisite courses in their freshman year and take the core economics courses for concentrators in their sophomore year. The department has made efforts to raise awareness of the necessary early planning, and as a result it has seen an increase over the last two years in the number of student swho study abroad, Dixit said.

Still, fewer Princeton economics concentrators study abroad than economics majors at peer institutions, Kanach said.

“We will continue to increase awareness of the policies,” Dixit said. “However, we will not relax the policies to allow students to get an inferior education in the core of economics and then call it a Princeton economics degree. We are proud of our program and its standing in the world of economics — surely within the top 5, and no. 1 in some rankings, and [are] determined to maintain it.”

Obstacles to studying abroad haven’t slowed growing interest in Princeton’s programs, Giorgio DiMauro, associate director of the Study Abroad Program, said in an e-mail.

During the current academic year, 168 students studied abroad, a 20 percent increase over last year, DiMauro said. Nine students studied abroad for a full year, 58 for the fall semester and 101 for the spring semester.

“Our semester numbers are very similar to those for Harvard and Yale, even though our students have the added challenge of the junior paper,” DiMauro said.

Kanach said that “we don’t know precisely how many students will be abroad next fall,” adding that it was too early to tell until after the May 1 application deadline. But “all indications point to an increase in the numbers.”

Kanach said the economic downturn may actually lead more students to study abroad. “Often tuition is less expensive abroad and the dollar is now stronger,” she said, adding that financial aid is available for students who study abroad.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

What professors think

Faculty opinion of students studying abroad varies considerably, said Peter Bogucki, an associate dean for undergraduate affairs in the engineering school.

“There are certainly differing levels of enthusiasm among the faculty for students going away, and students often mistake anything short of wild enthusiasm as discouragement,” Bogucki said in an e-mail. “Faculty are often cautious and understandably skeptical about the quality and rigor of courses, instructors, and departments about which they don’t have direct knowledge, and for that reason the experience and judgment of the Office of International Programs is essential to ensure quality control.”

Some faculty members suggest that the academic experience of studying abroad may not be comparable with the academic amenities available at Princeton.

“English-based overseas programs also tend to be taught by part-timers again without the technological support, such as web access, lab equipment and access to e-journals, that a place like Princeton provides,” art history professor Anne McCauley said. “[Students also] realize the importance of establishing close contacts with faculty in their major department in terms of getting letters for graduate and professional school,” she said.

The concern over resources extends to students as well.

“The biggest drawback I’ve heard from multiple students is that sometimes the institution they’re visiting doesn’t have the resources that Princeton does — sometimes it’s just a matter of having the right books available for a JP,” architecture concentrator Brooks Yang ’11 said.

Engineering abroad

Opportunities abroad are not limited to students in the College: Participation for engineers is increasing, Bogucki said. Nineteen B.S.E. students are studying abroad this academic year: Five students studied abroad for the fall semester, 10 are studying abroad for the spring semester and four for the entire year.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science has been cultivating programs with overseas institutions, such as the University of Melbourne and Oxford University for the popular Princeton-Oxford Engineering Exchange.

“Due to specific course requirements in the BSE program, and due to the fact that required courses must have specific topical coverage, it is important for an engineering student to be flexible about the term in which he or she wants to study abroad and about the location abroad,” Bogucki explained. “Our experience is that we can usually work out curricular challenges with sufficient advance planning.”

“Departmental coursework is quite important as an [operations research and financial engineering] major due to the department’s specialization — they developed quite a specific regimen that is quite unique to Princeton,” ORFE concentrator Roger Wang ’11 said. “And it appears quite hard to find the same opportunities in terms of fine-tuned classes on financial markets and optimal allocation of resources at the undergraduate level.” Wang is also a photographer for The Daily Princetonian.

Beyond the gate

Aside from academic considerations, many students are simply reluctant to shorten their limited time at the University.

“Princeton has a unique environment that many students love,” economics professor Elizabeth Bogan said. “It is more than just great academics. Many students like the social aspects including athletics, theater, dance and clubs. They don’t want to miss out on opportunities on campus, as four years isn’t very long.”

Others are concerned about readjusting to life on campus when they return from abroad.

“Missing out on an eating club isn’t my first worry — instead, it’s reconnecting with everyone after the crucial junior year,” Wang said. He added, however, that a “lengthy foreign experience is truly a unique and valuable experience.”

Bogucki said he can understand a student’s reluctance to leave campus.

“Princeton students become enmeshed in a web of friendships, activities, classes, sports, clubs and other personal relationships,” Bogucki said. “Breaking out of that web for a semester or a year requires effort, stamina and determination.”

English professor Jeff Dolven said in an e-mail that he feared that Princeton’s “idyllic self-sufficiency — what people seem to call the Orange Bubble — drains away from our adventurousness.”

“There are so many engrossing reasons to turn inward to campus concerns that it can be hard to see as far as Trenton, let alone Beijing,” he added.

But Dolven said the University needs to foster a “more globally exploratory attitude.”

“It gets harder and harder, as you get older, to make the time to go abroad for a span of months, to immerse yourself in a new culture and new language,” Dolven said. “And Princeton will be here when you get back!”