Does your college student’s goals include a study abroad program? If your student is going to take advantage of this opportunity, there will be a lot of logistical and financial details involved in the preparations.

Lynn O’Shaughnessy at College Solutions has this post: Studying Abroad – 7 Things Parents Need to Know.

A snippet:

Start early. Studying overseas requires completing lots of paperwork. The biggest pain for Caitlin was obtaining her student visa from the Spanish Consulate, which required a trek to Los Angeles with her file folder jammed with documents. Caitlin had double and triple checked the items she needed, but the consulate still rejected her initial visa request.

What was Caitlin’s omission?  As instructed, she had brought a statement from our local police department that stated that Caitlin wasn’t a criminal. A consulate worker told her, however, that this letter had to be notarized by government employees with San Diego County and the state of California!

Tip: Stay in very close contact with your college’s study abroad office and / or the study abroad agency representative you are assigned to, and give yourself plenty of time before any applicable deadline to get the documents in order.