Franklin & Marshall - Get Started with OCS

Get Started with OCS

In order to study off campus, you must work through our office to make sure both financial aid and credit transfer, and to receive other important information and services that will help you have a successful experience.

Step 1: Watch Starting Points video series

This 12-minute video series will discuss basic policies regarding credit transfer, cost & financial aid, scholarships, the timeline you should expect for the process, how to get started working with our office, and much more! Watching this video series is the very first step you must take to begin the process of off-campus study.

Starting Points video series
Step 2: Enter your information in the online Off-Campus Study portal

To begin working with our office, please go to offcampus.fandm.edu and click on “Begin Advising”.

Complete the Starting Points assessment. Refer back to the videos as much as you need to answer all the questions correctly.

Complete the Initial Interest Application, which will ask about your intended major, your interests, and what you hope to gain from studying off-campus. This will give us a little more information about you before you meet with one of our advisers.

Complete any other questionnaires or signature documents that appear.

Off-Campus Study portal
Step 3: Make an appointment with one of our advisers
To do that, go to offcampus.fandm.edu, click on “Staff” in the upper right corner, and click on each advisor's name to review their portfolio.

If you already have an idea of where you want to study, you can meet with the advisor who specializes in that location.

If you are unsure where you want to study, just book any appointment with the adviser of your first-choice program location. You do not need to make an appointment with more than one adviser for your initial appointment.

When you are ready, click the link at the bottom of the advisor's staff page to access their appointment calendar.

All students interested in studying off-campus must meet with an off-campus study adviser at least once. In that meeting, you'll talk about:

Your academic and long-range career goals

Your goals for off-campus study

Ways each off-campus study program offers unique cultural learning opportunities that can help you reach these goals

Academic requirements and credit transfer policy

Cost and financial policy

Program application timelines and procedures

What your next steps should be
Off-Campus Study Advisors
Additional steps: Search programs and talk to others!

You can view the 1 00+ pre-approved programs and use the simple and advanced search functions to find what you’re looking for.

You can get exposure to more information by talking to the OCS ambassadors and other OCS alumni, attending our OCS Fall Fair, and reading stories from other students who have studied off-campus.

And be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Ideally you should be planning your off-campus study at least a year in advance. For science majors, you should begin as early as your freshman year. Refer to this timeline as often as you need to as a reminder of when you should be working on certain tasks.

Which term should you study off-campus? Consult the Choosing your Term page for important advice.

Download a printable OCS Timeline Checklist to keep track of your progress!

You may also find our 2-minute Off-Campus Study Timeline video useful. All students are required to watch this video before meeting with an OCS adviser.

Other Ways to Connect

Come to a Dips Abroad News Hour! Throughout the semester, our office will be offering info sessions and workshops on a variety of topics related to Off-Campus Study twice every week. They will take place in the Joseph International Center at the following times:

Noon-1:00pm every Tuesday (pizza provided!)
2:00-3:00pm every Friday (and stay for International Coffee Hour!)

Please consider attending even if you cannot stay for the full hour!

FALL 2018 SCHEDULE (scroll under chart for intended audience):

Oct. 2: F&M in Argentina Summer 2019 (P) NOTE! 11:30am - 12:30pm	Oct. 5: Summer 2019 Travel Awards info session (P)
Oct. 9: NONE (Fall Break)	Oct. 12: Letter Writing/Creativity Hour (R)
Oct. 16: Summer 2019 Travel Awards info session (P)	Oct. 19: F&M in Russia Summer 2019 (P)
Oct. 23: Course Approval Process (S) ; F&M in Italy Summer 2019 (P)	Oct. 26: Course Approval Process (S)
Oct. 30: ASE Bath, England Fall 2019 (P)	Nov. 2: TBD
Nov 6: Costs, Financial Aid, and Credit Transfer! (P)	Nov. 9: ASE Bath, England Summer 2019
Nov. 13: NONE (Off-Campus Study Fair!)	Nov. 16: ASE Bath, England Fall 2019 (P)
Nov. 20: NONE (Thanksgiving)	Nov. 23: NONE (Thanksgiving)
Nov. 27: Study at Oxford (P)	Nov. 30: Costs, Financial Aid, and Credit Transfer! (P)
Dec. 4: TBD	Dec. 7: TBD

Intended Audience:

R = Returned OCS Students who have returned from their OCS program

P = Prospective OCS Students who are planning to study off-campus

S = Spring 2019 OCS Students ONLY

2017 Off-Campus Study Ambassadors

The Off-Campus Study Ambassadors are F&M seniors who have studied off-campus previously (sometimes more than once!). Ambassadors organize events across campus for both prospective and returned off-campus study students and are available to communicate with students and answer questions.

Meet the 2017 Ambassadors

Off-Campus Study Student Stories

Animal Behavior majors conducting field research in the Australian rainforest. Government majors interning in Scottish Parliament. Art majors taking studio classes in Florence. Classics students walking to class through the streets of Rome. Read about F&M students off-campus, where they went, what they studied, and how it impacted their studies.

Browse Our Stories