Skip to Main Content Skip to Footer Toggle Navigation Menu

Change of Plans

If you make any changes after SARC has approved your plan, you must talk to the staff at the Center for Study Away. In many cases, these changes must be reviewed by SARC.

Study Away Cancellation

You must both submit the form and tell your program or university. We urge you to do this as early as possible, as there could be financial consequences. When you cancel your study away plans after the program has begun, it is imperative that both these steps are completed promptly.

Request To Change Study Away Semester 

Deadline: Requests should be received no later than 30 days prior to the start of the Macalester semester for which you were approved to study away.

You may request to change study away semesters for compelling reasons, such as health or family circumstances. Changing your study away semester may not be used to manipulate the semester balance provisions of study away policies and procedures.

You may need to resubmit parts of your application if there have been changes in planned coursework or other academic content. SARC and the Center for Study Away will review it. Please note: if you are considering changing your study away semester in order to take a leave of absence, consider how it will affect your eligibility for study away.

You are responsible for making all necessary arrangements with your study away program. This includes any financial consequences.

Request to Change Study Away Program

Deadlines: The deadlines for submitting a request to change study away program, along with revised parts of the study away application, are:

  • March 15 for students requesting to change a program for the fall semester, and
  • September 15 for students requesting to change a program for the spring semester.

You can change your program for a compelling reason, such as program cancellation, denial of program admission, issuance of travel warning for program location by U.S. Department of State, a change in educational goals, or personal reasons related to health, family, or finances. In all cases, you must demonstrate clear justification for requesting a program change.

In situations where a change of program is required after either March 15 or September 15 due to circumstances beyond your control, study away staff will work with you to establish reasonable deadlines.

Some program and university applications are due before these deadlines. In these cases, you should submit a request to change programs prior to the program deadline.

You may need to resubmit parts of your study away application. Requests to change programs are reviewed by SARC and the Center for Study Away.

Feasibility of program change requests may rely on factors beyond Macalester’s control such as individual program deadlines and capacity. Approvals for Faculty-Led and Exchange Programs will depend on availability.

Should a program sponsor ask you to accept an offer of admission before SARC has completed its evaluation, talk to a study away advisor so that they can contact the sponsor to make alternate arrangements. This is usually sufficient. If you put down a deposit on the program before SARC makes an approval decision, you do so at your own risk.

Extension of Study Away

No student approved for one semester of study away will be permitted to extend that term.