Communication

E-mail

• The Office of International Education communicates with students through their RMC email account or another email address, if you have provided one. Check yours regularly while on campus and before leaving the U.S. We assume that you are checking your email regularly before leaving and while abroad; this is critical!
• Do not expect the same level of email access overseas as in the U.S. and at the College. Depending on your destination, you may have easy and free e-mail access or very limited and expensive e-mail access.
  

Phone Calls

• Telephone calls may be expensive in your host country, and access to telephones may be limited.
• Depending on where you stay, you may have to pay for local calls and/or incoming calls.
• Plan to take your cell phone overseas, but check with your cell phone company to determine if your phone will work in your host country/countries. This service can be affordable or very, very expensive!
• Before you leave home, verify in writing the cost of using your cell phone abroad, specifically international phone calls and sending/receiving text messages.
• Turn off your data plan while abroad – you do not want any $400 charges!
• Depending on the length of your stay, it may be simpler and less expensive to lease a cell phone in the host country, or to purchase a local SIM card for your phone once you arrive. An international SIM card can be one of the best ways to cut roaming costs and international calling expenses when you study abroad.
• Major telephone companies such as AT&T, MCI, and Sprint issue calling cards that you can use by dialing an access number. Check with these and other long-distance carriers for prices and availability.
  

Apps

• Investigate apps such as WhatsApp (a messaging application that allows you to exchange messages and make calls without paying for SMS) https://www.whatsapp.com and GroupMe https://www.groupme.com/en-US/
• Services such as Skype (http://www.skype.com/), Zoom (https://zoom.us/), and Discord (https://discord.com/) provide inexpensive alternatives to long distance phone calls.
  

Social Media

• Be thoughtful about the information you post on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. Friends and family become alarmed if they believe you are encountering difficulties, but they often don’t have the whole story.
• Wait to make a post until after you leave a location to avoid letting other people know where you are at that moment.