7 Reasons Why Every College Guy Should Study Abroad

By Lorena Roberts on July 8, 2017

Thanks to Elise Nelson, we all know why college women should study abroad. But what about guys? Isn’t it just as important for men to experience the world as well?

According to gooverseas.com, only one in three students who study abroad are guys. Weird, huh? Why is it that women study abroad more than guys do? Maybe it’s not a priority. Maybe they feel like they don’t have the time. Maybe it’s just not important to them. But if you’re a college male, you should really consider studying abroad.

Sometimes the financial obstacles are what keep people from taking the plunge and traveling overseas for school. But I promise you, the money you sink into a study abroad program will be well worth it by the time you come back. (You should also look into the scholarships that are specifically offered for studying abroad!)

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Here are seven reasons why college guys should study abroad, too!

1. Perspective

There’s no faster way to change your perspective on life than to live in another country for a few weeks. You’ll be more well-rounded if you spend a portion of your time in college in another country. And when you come back, you’ll be a better problem-solver and see things in a whole new light.

2. Culture

Studying abroad will teach you about another culture. You’ll learn to appreciate what you have here at home.

The next relationship you’re in, you’ll have so much more to offer. You’ll be able to compare this country versus another one, and I guarantee your significant other will appreciate that about you.

3. Help the stats

Most of the college students who study abroad are women (65 percent, in fact). If you’re a male college student, here’s your chance to alter the statistics.

About 10 percent of college students currently study abroad to begin with. The majority of this 10 percent are women. Why? Some say it’s because they don’t think they can make a long-distance relationship work, their major doesn’t offer a study abroad program, or they don’t think they can make it fit into their degree timeline. But studying abroad for college men is just as important as it is for women.

If you’re a male college student, it’s time to step up and take the challenge of changing the study abroad statistics.

Oh, and you’ll probably be surrounded by girls on your study abroad trip. Did I mention that?

4. It’ll give you a “leg up.”

Not only do women dominate the statistics of being in college (at 57 percent), but women also have higher GPAs. This is used as a reason why men don’t study abroad — because they both feel that they don’t have the time and their GPAs can’t handle it. But if you study abroad, your resume will stand out once you graduate.

Imagine your first job interview. The question is: what’s the one thing you did in college that changed your life? You’ll have the perfect answer. 

Studying abroad is going to allow your resume to truly stand out from everyone else’s. You’ll have a leg up against all the other applicants.

5. Find new interests

You never know what kind of experiences you’re going to have when you study abroad. You’ll find new foods that you like, new hobbies, or parts of another culture that you learn to appreciate and adopt.

On the flipside, you’ll discover things you don’t like as well. When I went to Germany, I discovered that I hate schnitzel. I never want to have to eat it again. Along with many other things, studying abroad taught me a lot about what I don’t prefer as well as what I do.

6. Make lifelong friends

When you study abroad, you’ll meet people from all walks of life that you’ll build friendships with. It’s easy to get stuck in the same social circles in college. Studying abroad will allow you to break those circles and meet people you wouldn’t meet otherwise.

How cool would it be to go back overseas in 10 years and stay with the friends you made while you were over there? If anything, there’s a chance at a cheap vacation.

7. You’ll learn more

Studying abroad will teach you more than you could ever learn from textbooks at home. You know how people say that you can really learn about a person by traveling with them? It’s the same for yourself and education. You’ll learn more about yourself and the world by traveling. It doesn’t matter if you’re only there for a few weeks versus an entire semester. The things you’ll come home knowing after you study abroad will be totally worth it.

Studying abroad will help you better yourself. Currently, women are much more likely to study abroad in college than men. But there are benefits for both genders! Studying abroad encourages personal development, broaden horizons, and exploration of new experiences. There’s no reason why men shouldn’t study abroad in college just as much as women!

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