Preparing Your Parents For Studying Abroad

It goes without saying that unless you’ve been saving up money since birth, you’ll need some support in your decision for studying abroad. Of course you may be personally financing with loans, but it’s still good to do some personal PR and get the decision makers on-board with your desire for international study (this is also an incredibly useful exercise if you plan on a career in sales, if you can pitch this, you can pitch anything).

Do your homework before studying abroad

I went abroad initially for a semester before my final year at undergrad and my mom was pretty much in favor of the experience. She had her concerns about cost, logistics and safety, so I did my homework. I think most parents want what’s best for their kids and while they may have some reservations about letting go (maybe for the first time) and having you go not just out of their home in the same city, but another country, they need some general reassurance and piece of mind that everything will be fine when you fly the nest!

If you haven’t already, put together your cost comparisons. If studying abroad is cheaper than studying in your home country, it’s helpful to lay out the basics of cost of living, tuition fees, housing, etc and do the exchange rates so you can see what the overall cost is likely to be like. If a program is offered somewhere that has a slightly higher cost of living but is of shorter duration; you’re actually saving money... so don’t just look at per-year, look at the whole degree. Your parents will appreciate your commitment to planning!

Communicating half a world away

If distance is an issue, it’s always a help if you can liaise with family members or friends of the family that are living abroad (if you’ve got this option, sometimes there’s that stray uncle that lives in Spain…) or re-assure them that you’ll be bringing your laptop and set Skype dates.

Maybe I’m of a particular generation, but I had to get my mom into Skype and she only really logged on sporadically, but at least I could say I was available! Check into flight prices and let them know how much it would be to visit if they want to come and check out your destination (which is also a nice way to plan a holiday if they haven’t been to where you are going and you can play tour guide).

Keep your parents in the loop

Your parents aren’t stupid and even though you’re studying abroad, they know you want to go for some fun as well. So what you’ll need to do is do some research and find out some stats on the area you’ll be living, if you can re-assure them that you’ve checked into this already and you’re on the path to housing that is on campus and not in stab-ville.

If they think you’re going to starve to death because you haven’t demonstrated the ability to cook for yourself *cough* *see Mansoor’s entry on recipes* then maybe look into if there’s a student meal plan or whip up a few things around the house and let them know you’re not going to be living off of fast food every day.

Your parents will probably just have the biggest problem with the fact you’re going somewhere they can’t easily visit and there’s really not much you can do about that. Just research thoroughly and present the facts, if they respect your decision, they’ll hopefully support it. If all else fails, tell them that studying abroad your Plan A, and Plan B is living in a van down by the river.