Many Harvard students say that studying abroad is a financial impossibility. But the Administration makes efforts to allow all students to study abroad, Pavese says.

"Harvard does support study abroad and financial aid abroad is a way of showing that support," she says.

According to the OCS Guide to Study Abroad, "If you are receiving financial assistance from Harvard-Radcliffe and your program has been approved for academic credit, you may be eligible to receive aid while studying out of residence."

But some students say they had financial difficulties studying abroad due to Harvard's Core system.

"I am not able to matriculate as a full-year student at Beida [Peking University] because of Harvard's strict constraints on the Core Curriculum, so I was forced to go through the exceedingly expensive route of CIEE, the Council on International Educational Exchange," Brian P. Betty '97 wrote in an e-mail.

"While CIEE-Beida is much cheaper than Harvard, it is upwards of 18 times more expensive to use CIEE [than direct enrollment in Beida]. If I went myself to Beida, it would be phenomenally cheaper for a year as a private student than for one semester with CIEE," Betty added.

Some departments lend themselves to study abroad more than others as students often discover the difficulty of fulfilling course requirements in foreign languages.

Students agree it is much easier for those concentrating in foreign languages to integrate time abroad into their four-year academic plans.

"I'd love to spend a year abroad, but I couldn't fulfill my biochemistry requirements in a foreign language, and my parents definitely can't afford an extra year of Harvard tuition," Robin K. Litchfield '97 says.

Harvard's academic schedule poses a common problem for students who plan to study abroad for only their spring semester. Because final examinations fall in January, many programs overlap with reading period and exams.

"I had to take my exams from Harvard in Oxford. [The administration] wouldn't let me take the exams early. I went for two eight-week terms and the first term was really shot because of the exams," de los Reyes said.

A Vacation from Harvard'

Despite the difficulties of approving their plans for foreign study, all students interviewed say they highly recommended the experience of studying away from Cambridge.

"Studying abroad is a great experience. Everyone should try it, if only to get a semester of vacation from Harvard, and to see things from another point of view," says Joshua E. Greenfield '97, who is currently at the University of Strasbourg.

Although it is necessary to file paperwork specifying a student's intended coursework, the administration allows for change and students say they appreciate this flexibility.