How I Studied Abroad at a University That Wasn’t Pre-Approved for my Major

photo credit: University of Edinburgh

by Angelynn Huang ‘24

A year ago today, I was studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, gallivanting across different countries in Europe on the weekends and spending time with the incredible friends I made through the program on the weekdays. It was an incredible experience to say the least, and I have an immense nostalgia and longing to go back in time and relive those adventures all over again. While the experience itself was magical, getting approved to go to Edinburgh was a complicated process. 

My study abroad journey began in the Fall of 2023. I had narrowed down my ideal destinations to English-speaking countries since I hadn’t fulfilled any of the language requirements for other places. Through the Dornsife Office of Overseas Studies, I was able to check which programs were approved by Viterbi, my home school, and filter my search from there. My initial instinct was to go to either London or Melbourne because they are big cities and were “Biomedical Engineering approved” in the online catalog. After meeting with my advisor and discussing what courses I needed to take for Fall 2023, I began matching the overseas university courses to my USC course plan to confirm I would receive credit while abroad to stay on track for graduation. Then, once I made my destination decision I filled out the initial online application to study abroad that includes a few short answer questions about why you selected your country of interest and why you want to study abroad. At this point, I was pretty much confirmed to be going to Queen Mary University in London, and I was ecstatic. 

A few weeks later, I chatted with a friend studying abroad in Edinburgh who showed me pictures, and described the university and vibrant nightlife culture and the beautiful, rugged scenery Scotland has to offer. 

“Do you trust me? Do you trust my taste?” she asked me. 

I did. Deep down, there was something that felt so right about Edinburgh despite the fact I hardly knew anything about the place. My friends who studied abroad always went to  London, Madrid, Rome, or Milan. Who was going to Edinburgh? Yet, as I did research online, stared at the images of the Gothic architecture, and read up on the incredible history of the city, it felt right. I decided then and there that I would switch my country of choice to Scotland. 

I started by reaching out to my study abroad advisor requesting the country switch. I had to rewrite my original application essays and attend a meeting to make sure I could still complete the necessary coursework. This last step proved to be the most difficult because Edinburgh wasn’t already an approved school for BME majors. However, I learned that just because a university wasn’t approved yet did not mean it couldn’t be approved.  

I learned the BME department at USC has an Excel sheet for every university that BME students have gone to in the past with the list of approved courses they took. Certain countries are considered BME-approved when the universities there traditionally offer a substantial number of classes related to BME for credit on a regular basis. However, suppose a university is not listed on the sheet. In that case, students can fill out a special form, manually go through the course catalog of their overseas university of choice, and try to match the syllabi of specific classes at their university of choice with classes at USC to prove there are eligible options. The Dean of the department reviews the selected syllabi and decides whether to approve the other university’s class for credit. 

This process was time-consuming, and I spent hours browsing through the Edinburgh course catalog to see if I could match any classes with my engineering classes at USC.  A week after I sent in the form, I got notice that 6/10 classes I sent in were approved for either major credit or technical elective credit. I was ecstatic since this was sufficient to study abroad in Edinburgh. 

The final part of the process was an interview that happened a month after my courses were approved. During the interview, I was asked basic questions about why I wanted to go to Edinburgh, how I handled stress, and what I was looking forward to while studying abroad. It was a fairly straightforward interview because I had thoroughly researched Scotland and could visibly articulate my excitement and passion for the place I was going. Once the interview portion was completed, I received an official confirmation from USC that I had a place at the University of Edinburgh for the next semester. 

If I had one big takeaway, it’s that if there’s a will, there’s a way. There were so many steps I had to go through to make my time abroad a reality, but I’m so incredibly grateful I was able to follow through on my gut instinct in the end. 

I highly encourage everyone to consider where you want to go early in the process, ideally the summer before the fall semester if you want to go abroad in the spring. Don’t be afraid to explore countries that aren’t as traditionally popular and take the time to do research on each place before writing it off. However, be aware that less popular places may have less pre-approved classes, so it’s crucial to start the overseas course petition form early.

Want more from Trojans 360?

Visit Trojans 360 on Facebook & Twitter to stay up to date with more student content! You can also Ask A Trojan an anonymous question, and we’ll try to answer it in a future post. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!

Trojans 360 is USC’s official student-run blog. Content created by students, for students.