I Dropped Out of College

College Dropout meets… World Traveler

This article is for anyone who is interested in a non-traditional study abroad/college career or who may be leaving their current university to travel; all while simultaneously maintaining your track for a four year undergraduate degree.

I often am asked how I have been able to study abroad more than once during my undergraduate years. Well, the answer is: I dropped out of school.

 I have still been taking university classes during my study abroad and am still receiving college credits even though I am not currently enrolled to my original university. I studied abroad in Argentina and Spain through International Studies Abroad as a non-traditional student. After completing the courses, I received transcripts from each university.

The next step after your study abroad: applying to a university to finish your degree. In many cases, your study abroad credits will transfer over to a new university. Of course, this depends on the university, but in my experience, all of my study abroad credits are transferring over. This means that I didn’t miss a beat of school even though I have studied abroad three times and am headed on my fourth trip. 

After this semester in Spain, I am attending a university in the US for three semesters. After the three semester, I will have completed a degree in Global Studies and Spanish. Plus, I have had over a year of travel and living abroad!

This path is a risk. Originally, I was going to take a gap year after my Freshman year of college. With this said, I was prepared to not receive credits and pursue a new path after the year. However, being a fan of risk-taking, I recommend this path for any student who has done their research on college credits and the right study abroad program for their area of study!

Studying abroad as a non-traditional student has the potential to be LESS expensive than studying abroad through a home university. For example, I studied abroad during Fall 2015 through my home university and had to pay that university’s tuition. This method is extremely common for home university study abroad programs. However, direct enrolling as a student at an abroad university or enrolling as a non-traditional student through a study abroad program, will be less expensive and less paperwork (always a plus)!

If you are just studying abroad once, and plan to return to your home university after your travels; I recommend the most common method of studying abroad which is through your university. Not only are the Study Abroad Departments incredibly helpful with preparation but you technically still remain a student at your home university even if you are studying elsewhere.

Bottom line: it is POSSIBLE to study abroad more than once or drop out of college to travel and graduate in the typical 4 year undergraduate career. So, for all of you risk-takers out there, this is a decision that has changed my life and has the potential to provide a global education that you never knew existed.

Want to learn more specifics about my non-traditional study abroad and global undergraduate education?

Contact me at: themoonoverseas2016@gmail.com