How strictly do I need to follow my 4-year educational plan? For example, if I move classes around to different semesters, will I be in trouble? Or do I need to get the adjusted schedule approved each semester? Am I allowed to add minors?
How easy is it to get study abroad approved? Has anyone here ever completed study abroad for electrical engineering? If so, please share where and how your experience was!
Lastly, has anyone here completed a site visit before and can explain what it is like/what to expect? My visit it at the end of June, and I have not received any info other than the dates of the trip. Does it last more than one day? Do I need to pack anything other than professional clothes?
Your educational plan does not need to be followed strictly, just update it as you go and update the SMART program as well. It is there to help you plan out your studies more than anything. Mine has changed every semester of grad school for me, because of changes in class availability or classes that I was more interested in appearing that I enrolled in instead of the one on my plan.
No idea on the study abroad, and I never completed a site visit because of COVID. However, it will be a good idea to do business casual for dressing at minimum. Can never go wrong with a button-up and slacks.
When I started SMART I did an academic year study abroad, then added 2 more months on when they said I was not interning that year.
Their goal is that it fits in your program. If you can take classes that work toward your major, or gen ed requirements, they are fine with it. My academic year completed all of my general education requirements in that year. The 2 months added on was not a problem for them, since summer is not usually scheduled in the plan. I did not have to put in a request as much as it was in my plan and I filled out the required form saying I would be out of country.
The site visit for me was touring the facility, hearing about the teams, etc. You can move teams inside the facility potentially, so knowing what teams they have can be very helpful. My first boss has been great and I have 0 desire to move teams. My study abroad ended up being very useful, as my familiarity with the country lead to me managing an international project agreement and I expecting to be sent over for 10 months to support efforts from their side during an engineering exchange.
