A high volume and changing areas of interest characterize this year’s applications for study abroad.

According to Study Abroad Coordinator Katherine Yngve, some applications were not approved because this year’s junior class is larger than usual (most students study abroad their Junior year) and the college cannot afford to have too many students leave campus.

Fewer students went abroad this fall semester than usual, possibly because applications were due in the spring amidst the uncertainty of the Iraq war. Yngve said that student and parent concerns over safety and anti-American sentiment were the main reason that applications were down.

These fears may no longer be dissuading students from going abroad, as more juniors than usual will be studying abroad spring semester.

“I think that, right now especially, it is very important to continue doing cross-cultural exchanges, not only to expose our American eyes to different ways of viewing the world, but also to show people in other countries that we really do mean well,” said Erika Jerme ’05, who is going to Madagascar for an ecology and conservation program.

The selection process was based on students’ GPAs, whether their major required study abroad and if they had all of their paperwork in on time.

Students who apply for study abroad must first be approved by Macalester and may then apply directly to the program of their choice. Most students are successful in both applications. “I think that once a student gets into Macalester, they are good enough to get into any program,” Yngve said.

Yet some students were not accepted to their first-choice programs. Yngve said the most common reason for rejection was that the students applied to programs with rolling admissions that were already full.

Yngve said that interest in studying in Arab countries has dramatically increased over the last three semesters. This spring Macalester is sending three students to Middle Eastern countries: Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. In the past, fewer students applied to programs in these countries.

Interest in New Zealand also rose for spring semester, with three times as many applications as in previous semesters.

Sea Semester, an oceanographic research program, is also more popular than it usually is.

Programs in Argentina are making a comeback for spring semester after several semesters of decreasing applications because of parent concerns over economic and political instability.

According to Yngve, potentially dangerous situations are a real concern when sending students abroad. Last semester, a Macalester student was studying in Turkey when the United States attacked neighboring Iraq. Additionally, one student left China last semester because of the SARS crisis in that country.

Macalester runs two of its own study abroad programs. The German department has had a Vienna program for over 30 years that has produced over 50 Fulbright award winners. Nine students will attend this year and for the first time will study in Berlin as well as Vienna.

As reported in The Mac Weekly earlier this semester, the Environmental Studies department is working with Swarthmore College and Pomona College to run a new program entitled “Globalization and the Natural Environment: South Africa.” Three Macalester students will participate in the program this spring.

Macalester students cite various reasons for wanting to go abroad. “I think that Macalester as a whole creates an atmosphere that really encourages study abroad,” Jerme said.

Many students expressed a desire to experience another culture firsthand and believe that a semester away provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do so.

“I feel like the opportunity to live in [a place like] Paris is much easier to encounter later on in life than the opportunity to live with a family in Senegal, in a country and a way of life that is vastly different than what I am used to,” Anna Plumb ’05 said of her decision to study in Senegal next semester.

“In a way, I sort of wanted to take myself out of what would be easy, because I thought that I would gain more from it in the long run,” Plumb said.

Other students are looking for a break in their routine. “Sydney is a perfect fit: a big university—a change I am craving—in a world class city surrounded by ocean on three sides,” Rachael Finn ’05 said.