I have been plagued for months about finding a program through which to go abroad. The process to get a non-Tufts program approved put me through endless amounts of confusion over whether I would be allowed to even apply for the program of my choice. And although I ended up getting what I wanted, there are still many flaws in the process.
Choosing a program should be fun, not stressful. For many juniors, going abroad is the highlight of their year. It is an experience of a lifetime, something unique and special to each individual. Because this is such a huge endeavor, the planning has to start at least a year ahead, when one is a sophomore.
While Tufts has many programs spanning the globe, it does not cover everywhere. This was my first problem, as I want to go to Florence, Italy, which means that I had to find a program run by another school. Tufts has a list of schools that they accept credits from automatically, which includes Syracuse, NYU, Rutgers, and Middlebury.
I examined the different programs these schools offer and concluded that none of them fit my needs with classes offered, living arrangements, language requirements and of course price. For example, NYU can cost up to $23,000 for one semester in Florence, which is unreasonable in my eyes. I did a little research on my own and found a program through Fairfield University. It has a huge class selection, lets you live in an apartment, and costs $10,000 less than NYU.
This brings me to the second problem - Tufts does not automatically accept credits from programs not on the list. The way to get it approved is through a special committee of faculty members, who determine whether a program's academics are up to the same quality as Tufts and the pre-approved programs. This is completely reasonable, except for the fact that Tufts students have gone on the Fairfield University program in the past - meaning the "quality of academics" has already been approved. If the academics are approved for someone else, they should be approved for anyone from Tufts.
The petition process in itself is not that bad. It involves the petitioner writing some basic information about the program and their personal reasons for wanting to go. What caused me a lot of trouble was that I was kept in the dark about the whole process and found it very hard to find good reasons that the process exists in the current form.
Tufts does not publicize these petition approval meetings, which only take place every few months. If you miss one you may be screwed. I could not get straight answers on who makes up the committee, the prospects for my approval, or what the proceedings are actually like - such as do the faculty members get to read my petition or is it presented to them? How strict are the members? Do they have to have a unanimous opinion or is it majority rule?
Even after the process is over, I am unclear about what happened. The whole time I was waiting for my program to go up for approval, I worried over what I would do had it not been approved if my petition wasn't good enough. At the end of this, I feel incredibly relieved and lucky that my program got approved, but there has to be a way that does not involve constant worry and anxiety. I only hope that the administration on my non-Tufts abroad program is better organized.
Lauren Amira is a sophomore majoring in child development.
