Flyer View from Mont Des-Arts, photo taken by Indigo Parlin while studying abroad in Paris

By: Ann Li (SEAS ‘27)

Have you ever considered studying abroad? Read this blog to hear about the experiences of three CS majors who have spent a semester or more studying in a different country!

Indigo Parlin (CC ‘24) studied abroad with Columbia in Paris in Spring 2023 and is currently abroad in Australia with the School for International Training’s Sustainability Program.

Maiya Morgan (Barnard ‘25) is currently studying abroad at Queen Mary University of London.

Martha Njuguna (SEAS ‘24) studied abroad with DIS Copenhagen in Spring 2023.

Motivation for studying abroad

Indigo always knew she wanted to study abroad due to her love for traveling and has wanted to study abroad in Paris since middle school. After completing her program in Paris, she realized she could study abroad again while still completing her requirements on time, so she found a program in Australia that matched her interests.

Maiya did not know she wanted to study abroad until the spring of her sophomore year. She chose to study abroad to take a break from the Columbia and New York City environment.

Martha didn’t know she wanted to study abroad when she first came to Columbia because she didn’t know that it was possible as an international student in SEAS. However, she talked to a few upperclassmen in SEAS who went abroad and considered the pros and cons of going herself. She didn’t see any cons, so she chose to take a break from campus and Columbia’s rigor to experience studying in a different environment.

Choosing a study abroad destination

Indigo chose to study abroad in Paris because she has always considered the city to be the epitome of art, culture, fashion, and food. She chose to study abroad again in Australia because she wanted to find a program that allowed her to do field work and was recommended the SIT program by an advisor at the Undergraduate Global Engagement Center.

Maiya mentioned that options are limited for CS majors depending on what language you speak. Therefore the UK avoided any potential language barriers. There are also programs in Germany, France, Spain, and more for people who speak the local languages.

Martha was mostly influenced by the DIS Copenhagen program itself. She says that since the DIS program has been running for so long, everything about the program was really well planned. She also wanted to prioritize taking classes toward her CS and SEAS requirements while abroad, and DIS Copenhagen offered many CS classes she wanted to take.

Experience studying abroad

Indigo considered studying abroad in Paris to be some of the best months of her life. She took an art history class where she had lectures at the Louvre, joined events at Reid Hall (Columbia’s Global Center in Paris), and took courses at Sciences Po. Her experience in Australia has been very different and has involved building compost piles and starting vegetable gardens, meeting with Aboriginal Elders, swimming in the ocean after lectures, and more. She is looking at sustainability through a variety of lenses and discussing how we can make the world a better place as individuals and systemically; she finds this really motivating and empowering and she can’t imagine spending her senior spring any other way.

Maiya is loving her experience in London since there is a lot to do and a lot to see. The European education system is more laid back which is great since she wanted a chill semester. She has taken trips to Oxford and Liverpool and is also planning trips to Berlin and Paris. She wants to take the opportunity to visit as many places as possible and has purposefully left her Mondays and Fridays open for trips.

Martha had an amazing experience and really hoped she did a whole year abroad at the end of the program. She enjoyed her CS classes since they were smaller (20 people max) and the style of teaching was very different, so she felt it was more personalized and she got to know her professors better.

Approvals and classes

Indigo came into Columbia with some AP credits which freed up a lot of space in her schedule to spend her semesters abroad working on credits outside of the CC core and CS requirements. Neither of the programs she participated in offered proper CS classes. However, while she was in Paris, she took a class on Tech Geopolitics that informed how she sees the tech industry she plans to work in after graduation. What she’s learning in Australia about the environment and global economy is also informing her worldview. With the impact that the tech industry has on our societies, Indigo believes it’s really important that CS majors develop holistic understandings of the world and the far-reaching implications of our work.

Maiya thought it was easy to get classes approved if you can find one that’s very similar to a class offered at Columbia. However, she’s mainly using the study abroad opportunity to take classes toward her minor in translation studies.

Martha thought the process wasn’t too bad, but she needed to be on top of it. She shared that CC students can get approval for classes after starting the study abroad program but in SEAS you must get approval before going abroad. Martha recommends starting the approval classes in August before the school year for spring study abroad and before the end of the previous spring semester for fall study abroad.

Final tips for CS majors thinking about studying abroad

Indigo says just do it! She has never heard someone say they regret studying abroad; in fact, most people remember it as a highlight of their life. Planning is key to making it work with the CS requirements; the earlier the better.

Maiya wished she looked more into each university and the classes offered before committing to one. She didn’t look at the classes before choosing a university but recommends doing it.

Martha would definitely study abroad again if she had another year, and is open to chatting with underclassmen if anyone has questions.

For more information about studying abroad, check out the Center for Global Engagement website at global.undergrad.columbia.edu.

 

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