Checklist

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• Submit your snail mail and e-mail addresses to the Center for Global Initiatives as soon as you know them. Send in changes as they occur.

• Review your plans with your academic adviser, particularly in regard to any courses that you wish to use to fulfill requirements.

• Obtain passport and visa, as necessary.

• Review State Department travel information.

• Review health and safety information as recommended by your program and the Centers for Disease Control.

• Make sure that you have adequate health insurance and that you know the procedures for accessing benefits while you are outside the US (or your home country).

• Set your MHC e-mail account to forward mail to whatever other account you will be using.

• Arrange with Mail Services to have mail forwarded to you while you are away.

• Ascertain that your emergency contact information is up to date and has been clearly communicated to your family and to the appropriate offices and departments. Have a plan about how you will contact your family in the event of an emergency abroad or at home.

• Turn in your academic status notification form confirming that you will be going abroad, for what period of time, and on which program. Deadline: May 15 (for fall or full year), December 1 (for spring).

• If you want to continue on the Mount Holyoke student health insurance plan while you are away, submit a written request to the Office of Student Financial Services. Deadline: May 15 (for fall or full year), December 1 (for spring).

• Review your plan of study with your academic adviser, particularly in regard to any courses that you wish to use to fulfill requirements.

• Declare your major (if you have not already done so!).

• If you have been awarded a Laurel Fellowship and/or expect to use any federal, state, or other outside aid, or parent loan or payment plans, toward your program abroad:
  • Send the Consortium Agreement to your program or university. Completed Consortium Agreement forms are due in Student Financial Services by June 1 (for fall and full-year programs), or December 1 (for spring).

  • Check with Student Financial Services before you leave campus to ensure that your file there is complete (if applicable).

  • Submit the Disbursement Form to Student Financial Services to authorize Mount Holyoke to release funds to you (same deadlines as for the Consortium Agreement).

• Find and confirm your housing well in advance of your departure. If applicable, ask your host to fill out the Housing Questionnaire.

• Complete all pre-departure forms and make sure you understand what is required before, during and after your program to ensure your funding.

• If you plan to do an independent study based on your project abroad, make arrangements with your major department before you leave.

• Clarify your arrival and departure times with your supervisor, as well as your responsibilities during your project, to the extent possible.

• Establish other local contacts (through other students, alumnae, faculty, family, etc.)