Study Abroad

Studying abroad is one of the most exciting and unique things you can do during your time at Pitt. In this guide, we will explain the basics of how to study abroad as a Pitt CS student. You should use the PittGEO (Pitt Global Experiences Office) website extensively during the search process. Go to geo.pitt.edu/ then "Programs" -> "Search Programs" to browse the entire selection.

In order to study abroad, you must have completed 24 credits specifically on campus, hold a good disciplinary record, and have at least a 2.75 cumulative GPA (some programs have higher requirements, such as a 3.0 or 3.25). geo.pitt.edu/applicationrequirements

The most important thing to know is to talk to your SCI advisor ASAP. Also, look to speak with PittGEO, located in room 802 of the William Pitt Union. You should start planning to study abroad at least one academic year in advance, but it's still possible with less time to plan!

Why Study Abroad?

• To learn about a new culture
• To gain global skills
• To network abroad
• To take unique classes with unique professors/students
• To experience life in a different country
• To put a unique experience on your resume and set yourself apart
• To have fun and develop yourself personally, academically, and professionally

Types of Study Abroad Programs

The first thing to know is that there are multiple types of study abroad programs at Pitt. Each one is slightly different than the other in how the program is run, how credits come back to Pitt, where you can go, how scholarships and tuition benefits affect it, and more.

Note that one provider can offer multiple types of programs. For example, the "Seoul National University Summer Program" listing is a Pitt-Recognized Program over the summer, but the "Seoul National University" listing is an Exchange Program over a fall or spring semester.

Panther Programs

• These programs are the closest you can get to still taking Pitt classes while being abroad.
• The program is designed by PittGEO staff, composed often entirely by Pitt students, and is typically led by a faculty member or someone Pitt-affiliated.
• Courses taken in Panther Programs will return 'fully', meaning that the courses will affect your GPA and will show on your Pitt transcript with no option for S/NC. This also means these are easier to count towards major and gen ed requirements.
• A lot of experiential learning opportunities are provided by Pitt, such as service learning, research, and internships. Note that these internships usually don't equate to industry experience, but are generally helpful for your resume.
• Housing details are listed on individual program pages.

Study Away Programs

• You don't actually study abroad in these (these are USA-based).
• Study Away Programs are designed by PittGEO staff and are taught by Pitt faculty.
• Courses taken in Study Away will return 'fully', similar to Panther Programs.
• These programs are generally shorter (one to three weeks) and have a niche subject, such as Environmental Policy Writing or Bilingual Education.
• Housing details are listed on individual program pages.

Partner Programs

• Not to be confused with Panther Programs.
• These are special study abroad programs at institutions with which Pitt has good relationships.
• These are similar to Exchange Programs, with one major difference. Since Pitt has a good relationship with these schools, they trust the grading schemes of Partner Program schools. Thus, your GPA will show up on a transcript, and credits can transfer back as a letter grade.

Exchange Programs

• These programs allow you to study abroad at the highest variety of locations (PittGEO can't make all programs Panther/Partner programs due to the amount of work).

• This program allows you for the deepest amount of immersion possible at Pitt, at one major cost - you need to navigate with both Pitt bureaucracy and your host university bureaucracy.

• This means that you will need to go to your host university's page, find courses that you think can count as elective credit or replace Pitt requirements (ex. taking Automata Theory abroad to replace Pitt's CS 1502 requirement), and go to your department advisor (Ramirez for CS) and get it signed off.

• If you are studying multiple subjects in which you plan to receive a degree/minor/certificate, you will need to get course approval from the department heads of each of those departments. The good news is that you only need to go to your Study Abroad Advisor to get your general education requirements knocked off.

  • NOTE: You are only permitted to take 2 of your CS classes abroad - so if you plan to take 1 semester, try to take 2 CS classes, and if you take 2 semesters/1 year, then take 1 CS class/semester to balance out your learning.

    • Our suggestion is to take classes that are normally not offered at Pitt and get them approved as one of the five electives towards the CS major. It's a lot easier to do this because Pitt CS is generally skeptical of getting required CS courses (such as CS401 and CS1503) approved abroad. You can also get similar classes approved as course equivalents if the topics are similar enough (ex. 'Network Programming in C++' abroad is similar enough to CS 1652 to likely get approved as equivalent).

  • Additionally, because of the hassle of getting courses approved, I suggest you get CS classes approved and then just take gen eds that can be approved by your study abroad advisor. This will prevent you from scrambling to and from your major/minor head offices trying to get courses approved (in reality, you need to get this done relatively quickly before courses open up abroad).

  • Some universities are on different timelines than Pitt and will have course registration times that will require you to be extra proactive. For example, if you're planning to study abroad in Korea, they open their course listings relatively late due to semester schedules, so you need to look in the course catalog ASAP once it opens to get courses approved for transfer back to Pitt.

  • Make sure you remain in steady contact with your Study Abroad advisor! They are an incredibly useful resource who can help you a lot with obtaining documentation, writing your application, and more. There are mandatory meetings and presentations you must have with your advisor before you can do/even apply for an exchange program.

• For exchange programs, you pay normal Pitt Tuition/some fees, and you pay for housing/living expenses abroad.

• Classes show up as S/NC (Pitt's way of saying Pass/Fail) on your transcript, with the class showing up as "EXCHANGE PROGRAM" with some ARTSC course number. You need a C or higher at your host university to get S credit back at Pitt. The host university will use a letter grade(s) on their transcript, but it will not be attached to your Pitt transcript.

• You will need to apply twice, first to Pitt's study abroad page to get their nomination as an approved candidate for study abroad. Once you receive that nomination, apply to your host university's study abroad page. You will need to show acceptance by the host university to get Pitt's approval to study abroad. In almost all cases, if you have the university's nomination, your exchange application will get approved.

• Housing will also need to be coordinated through the host university or done on your own.

• Exchange programs require a lot of proactiveness and work but can be the most 'worth it' for you!

Pitt-Recognized Programs and Institutions

• These are programs that are organized by trusted third-party organizations such as CIEE, API, ISA, and more.
• These programs have a lot of international students as well as students across the US.
• Your grades return as S/NC, so you need to get a C or better in order to receive credit from Pitt.
• Your application/experience with these will vary depending on location/organization, so check out more information on the study abroad website.

The "Other" Program Type

If you have a study abroad program in mind that is not on the PittGEO website, it is technically possible to still attend that program and get credit from Pitt. However, this is not recommended. A long time prior to your program's start, you would need to talk extensively with your advisors and others about getting the program approved for your credit to transfer since the provider is pretty much a stranger to Pitt.

When to Study Abroad

There's no best time to study abroad, but studying abroad in your final year at Pitt can potentially delay graduation by up to a semester. For example, programs may take too long to send their transcript back to Pitt in time for your graduation.

Most students study abroad sometime during their sophomore or junior year's spring semester. Additionally, because Pitt's spring semester ends very early, students are able to take a "Maymester" (May semester) study abroad program, which can end before a summer job starts. If you've taken more than 24 credits at Pitt, you can even study abroad in the summer following your freshman year!

Study Abroad Finances

Program cost depends a lot on not only the program but also the program type (as listed above). If you are on financial aid, tuition benefits, or other circumstances, it is extremely important that you talk with both PittGEO and Financial Aid (or your scholarship provider) about studying abroad. In general, when your program states you will pay "normal Pitt tuition," this means that you are paying Pitt directly (as opposed to paying a third-party or host university), as if you were still at Pitt with a potentially different tuition price. This means that scholarships and tuition benefits will apply as normal, yet "normal" may mean that programs where you earn less than 12 credits may not be paid for.

There are many scholarships that specifically help students study abroad. Some include the ones hosted by the Nationality Rooms and those listed in "Finances" on the PittGEO website. Additionally, find scholarships after listing that you are studying abroad in PittFund$Me. The Frederick Honors College also has many scholarships for studying abroad, and various larger scholarships may include travel stipends. Furthermore, international and national scholarships exist such as the Boren Scholarship.

Applying to Study Abroad Programs + General Tips

Generally, there's going to be some short-answer questions and maybe a quick essay (plus some opportunities for supplementary information). Don't be afraid, the entire process isn't that bad. All the information can be found on Pitt's study abroad website.

Unfortunately, however, Pitt isn't going to let you go to Germany because you're a fan of German-brewed beverages. Here are a few tips that we've collected when applying to study abroad programs.

Tips for Applying

1. Have a good reason to go. If you're trying to learn about a culture, write a good explanation about what you've done to learn about the culture already and what's making you curious. If you're looking for academics, explain professors you've looked into at the University you've applied to. Looking for professional development? Explain how the university/country has programs that will help you become more experienced. Show that you've done your research and make it seem like this program is the perfect program for you.

2. Get your essay reviewed by friends and colleagues. This is a no-brainer, just ask them to read it over a couple of times and give their thoughts. It's really easy to explain your thoughts when you understand them to begin with, but by asking others, you can get a good understanding of how clear your case is.

3. Mention the Frederick Honors College if you're in it. Studying abroad fulfills experiential credit, and maxing your experiential credit allows additional experiential credit to flow into your required academic course credit.

General Tips

1. Get your visa approved as fast as possible. There are lots of guides online for this.

2. Be very quick to reply to your emails; you'll get a ton of them.

3. If you're going to Ramirez for course approval, have a case planned out for why certain courses should transfer the way they should. Show up early to office hours and have questions ready (if you have any). Ramirez is a very busy man, so the quicker you can make the approval process, the easier on the both of you.

4. Make sure the SCI has access to your Study Abroad course approvals - this is big because in some cases the SCI can take upwards of a year to get your courses properly set into your PeopleSoft degree requirements. If you're a senior, you need to be especially proactive.

All in all, studying abroad is an incredibly exciting experience and is the main highlight for many people's college careers. We hope this article helped you learn more about what it takes to study abroad in CS at Pitt!