8 Tips for the End of Your Masters Degree Program Abroad

Wrapping up your degree abroad? Congratulations! ☆ After hours of research, writing, and preparation, you’re about to finish your Master’s degree abroad! Soon, you will be on your way to whatever comes next, whether that’s a gap year, more schooling, an internship, volunteering, adventure travel, or some kind of work opportunity. But in the midst of wrapping up the final details of your graduate program and preparing for life after post graduate school abroad, you also want to make sure you give yourself space to enjoy the remainder of your time abroad before heading on to your next adventure and your next location. So how do you make that happen without losing focus in these important final steps of your degree process? It might be helpful to look at what you set out to achieve at the beginning.

Think back to your initial checklist from when you made plans for your Master’s degree program abroad. You likely consulted all kinds of resources to ensure your success. (Hopefully, you were able to make use of Meaningful Tips and Tales of Getting Your Masters Abroad!) Perhaps you explored advice on budget-friendly financing, working while in school, and how to avoid burnout—but the one thing you might still have questions about is how to finish strong while enjoying the culmination of all of your hard work and dedicated efforts. Here are 8 tips for finishing your Master’s degree abroad.

Our best advice for the end of your Master’s degree program abroad

1. Check your original goals list

What did you set out to do in your planning process? Have you achieved those goals? Did you take the courses you planned? Did you connect with the mentors you wanted to engage? Have you traveled to the nearby places you wanted to see? If you’re getting close to the end of your Master’s degree program abroad, now is the time to explore your options. Maybe you can’t take that class you thought would be interesting, but can you connect with the instructor? Can you take that intended mentor out to lunch? What would it take for you to plan that day trip you’ve been daydreaming about? Remember, you can always return; however, you’re where you are right now, and there’s no time like the present to check off some of those initial goals!

2. Get recommendations from professors and any legal documents supporting your graduation

Make sure that you have copies of everything you might need to support essential processes once you leave the program. As you think about what will be most important when preparing for life after post graduate school abroad, do you need a copy of your transcripts uploaded to a document center? When you head back home (or wherever you might go next), will you have difficulty obtaining that signed letter from your advisor in a sealed and embossed envelope? 

[Will My International Degree Get Me A Good Job?]

Get the drudgery of closing out accounts and obtaining sign-off information from local agencies behind you before you travel to your next destination. You don’t want any utility bills following you home, and you don’t want to regret the fifteen minutes it might have taken to walk into an office and get a paper copy of something you assumed you could simply get much later.

3. Allow time for celebrations, parties, visits, and fun 

Make plans to go dancing; get back to that incredible museum one more time; and, plan one more trip to the beach! Get your graduate cohort together for another evening of pizza and beer or organize your research team for one more brunch….Whatever you might choose for yourself when you think about how best to relax, unwind, and celebrate, schedule the calendar space you need to really enjoy it. This is a time of achievement, reflection, and opportunity. You’ve likely put in a good amount of time working as you completed this phase of your education, so while you’re preparing for life after post graduate school abroad, you need to carve out space for the things that make this place (in which you’ve just spent over a year of your life) the kind of location you chose in the first place!

4. Eat all the food!

Wherever you might be, odds are there is that restaurant/café/food cart that you’re going to tell everyone about after you leave and head back home. So, get those Portuguese malasadas you love so much! Eat your fill of those fresh oysters from Catalonia. Don’t miss the chance to have another portion of esh asarya for dessert before leaving the UAE. Food memories are some of the strongest we have, so savor the culture and culinary staples of your location abroad. You won’t regret soaking up just a bit more of local flavor as you give your senses one more opportunity (or several) to experience the smells, tastes, and sights of some of the area’s best food. And, if you have the chance, take photos and ask for recipes for your favorite dishes. That way, some Saturday afternoon when you’re hungry for that experience abroad, you can throw on some Brazilian music and whip up a batch of feijoada for a trip down memory lane.

5. Make plans for staying in touch

Did you tell the barista at your favorite café that you would send photos from your hometown park? Do you have all of the contact information you will need to stay in touch with your friends and colleagues after you leave? So often, we just plug everything into our phones and then forget about it. Why not pick a nice day to grab a cup of coffee or tea, and write out postcards or address envelopes to send to the people you will miss? 

[How to Live an Inspired Life After Study Abroad]

Or, make sure that at the very least, you have backup copies of the contact information for the people you will most want to connect with when you return home. It’s easier than ever to get information digitally when we need it, but there’s something really nice about sending a handwritten note. And you might even send some postcards to family and friends from your location abroad while you’re at it.

6. Support the local economy and shop!

Does Aunt Catherine get a chess set carved from local wood? Will you surprise your BFF with a beautiful leather bag from a nearby shop? Maybe you want to stock up on oodles of tchotchke to bring home for friend and relatives, or handmade toys from the marketplace. Now is the time to spend whatever might remain of your gift budget or mad money, and you can even explore economy shipping options so that you don’t have to try to pack it all in your luggage. Finishing your Master’s degree abroad is a time to celebrate your academic accomplishments, to be sure—but it’s also a time to grab some souvenirs and live like a well-informed visitor for a few more days (or weeks). Part of that experience could include shopping for keepsakes that will help you remember your experience, or share that experience with others!

7. Make a packing and travel plan

While you’re at it, this is a great time to develop a detailed to-do list for packing your luggage and itemizing everything you need to do before you travel home. Make notes of everything you’re bringing back with you, and create a project plan or checklist to keep your process organized and stress-free. There are plenty of task management apps and programs to help you manage complex processes, including those that will send you time-bound notifications and reminders, making you feel like you’ve got a digital assistant to help you stay on top of everything you need to do. You might not feel like you need that kind of help right now, but after spending enough time abroad to complete your degree, you’re going to have enough to manage that this kind of help will keep your focus on enjoying your last days abroad.

8. Leave something good behind

Finally, allow enough time to leave something positive behind, whether tangible or intangible. If you don’t need books, or furniture, or clothing, or other items that you used while abroad, find a local organization to donate them to in order to make sure that they can be shared with those in need. If you have extra time, in addition to saving ample hours to really enjoy yourself, why not volunteer at a local welfare organization to share your talent? Whether you donate your possessions, or your knowledge, or your sweat equity, adding an opportunity for meaningful travel is a wonderful way to wrap up the end of your Master’s degree program abroad.

9. Put out feelers for a job abroad

Not quite ready to head home after your extended studies abroad? Can’t say we blame you—there’s likely an international market rife with opportunity for your newly minted skills. Be sure to start tapping into your international network (especially your faculty and professors) to learn of any other opportunities that might require a passport.

From there to here and back again

When you decided to pursue your Master’s degree abroad, you might not have been thinking about preparing for life after post graduate school abroad, but you hopefully discovered that the steps you took to get to your program set you up for success. Now that you’re getting ready to return home (or head out for your next set of discoveries) it’s time to do everything you can to allow yourself the time, space, and opportunity to celebrate your achievements, enjoy your surroundings, and provide yourself with some closure to cap this experience.

As you prepare for the end of your Master’s degree program abroad, make sure you write a review of your completed program to share with others! What do future learners need to know about completing their Master’s degree program abroad? When you look at your experiences overall, what do you want others to understand about the location, the program, or the support you received? Whether your program was wholly positive, or you were confronted with several challenges, use the available resources to leave a review of your program abroad for others to read. While there may be some elements of your experience that are subjective, the honest and candid feedback you leave in your review will help others know what to look for when they create their own to-do lists and make inquiries for themselves. Congrats, grad!

Leave a Review of Your Master’s Degree Program Abroad