BACK TO CONNECT FORWARD TO TRANSITION
During the fall semester, January Program students have the opportunity to pursue their own interests in any number of areas. Through their fall semester, they discover their own pathway to their intellectual and personal growth.Students in this program have participated in the following:
Students also can pursue their interests through courses at local institutions.
While January Program students have the freedom to make their first semester their own, they also have the benefit of an advisor who works with them during the late spring and early summer to consider their options based on their personal and intellectual strengths and interests. Through resources on this web site and conversations with their advisor at WU, students can begin the search for their fall activities. Ultimately, however, students are responsible for finding and securing (or enrolling for) their fall activities.
As students plan, they should keep in mind that their choice of FSAP or the Fall Program shapes the options available to them.
DOMESTIC COMMUNITY SERVICE
WU students are committed to community service, and January Program students are no exception. Over the past years, students have used their fall semester to volunteer for presidential campaigns, tutor students, coach at their high school, and serve their religious organizations.
January Program students interested in community service in their home towns can contact Stephanie Kurtzman, Director of Community Service at WU at stephanie.kurtzman@wustl.edu for tips on locating and getting the most out of their opportunities. They also can search for local service opportunities through their United Way or visit http://www.networkforgood.org.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SERVICE 
WU students also understand the importance of being useful members of a global society, as seen in their international service. Like domestic volunteerism, international service opportunities carry no credit, only the experience of a lifetime.
Those interested in global service opportunities work with Jenni Harpring at JHarpring@WUSTL.EDU in our Gephardt Institute, who helps January Program students to locate, secure, and reflect on international service experiences through third-party providers. For a list of providers, please visit the International Service Opportunities page at the Gephardt Institute web site.
Some funding may be available; students should contact Ms. Harpring for more information.
DOMESTIC INTERNSHIPS
An internship can be a transformative and powerful learning experience for students planning to work in a business,
academic, or government office. It can help prepare students with the attitudes, skills, and habits of lifelong learning and leadership skills. While most WU students first complete an internship only after their first year, January Program students can do so even before entering as a full-time student. Students can earn from 1 to 3 credits through an internship.
For Art internships (counting for Art elective credit), January Program students should first consult with the Art academic advisor, Dean Binnington at gbinning@WUSTL.EDU.
For all other internships, students work with Jennie Marchal at marchal@wustl.edu in the Career Center at Washington University. The Career Center helps students to develop their resumes, search for internships, reflect on their experience, and receive credit for their internships. For step-by-step instructions, see the Internship Timeline.
Please note that internships tend to be limited for students with no prior college experience, so students should be prepared to draw on their family's networks to locate and secure internships.
INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIPS
As members of a global society, WU and January Program students also have participated in international internships. 
Students can earn from 1 to 3 credits through an internship.
For international internships, students work with Jennie Marchal at marchal@wustl.edu in the Career Center at Washington University. The Career Center helps students to develop their resumes, search for internships, reflect on their experience, and receive credit for their internships. For step-by-step instructions, see the Internship Timeline.
Also to begin the search for an international internship itself, students contact Jennie Harpring at JHarpring@WUSTL.EDU in our Gephardt Institute. She guides student through the process of working with organizations like Cross-Cultural Solutions (CCS) to identify potential internships in countries such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Morocco, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Thailand. Students may also draw on their own networks. As with domestic internships, students can earn from 1 to 3 credits through an unpaid internship.
STUDY ABROAD
January Program students also develop as global citizens through study abroad, 
which offers language and cultural study, as well as cultural immersion.
Please keep in mind that study abroad programs at Washington University are closed to freshmen (being designed for students pursuing their major in a global context). If you're interested in study abroad at another site, please contact your WU academic advisor as early as possible to discuss sites where January Programs students have studied. The following two opportunities have been particularly successful for a number of January Program students in the past.
American Institute for Foreign Studies in Cannes, France
Center for Cross-Cultural Study in Sevilla, Spain OR Alicante, Spain
To ensure that the credit will transfer, students need to submit BOTH a completed Credit Transfer Form and course description to their advisor for approval PRIOR to enrolling for the course.
Please note that many study abroad programs are limited to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Also, Washington University is not affiliated with the sites referenced above, and cannot guarantee student satisfaction with these or other study abroad programs.
WILDERNESS EDUCATION
In the original spirit of St. Louis as the Gateway to the West, our students have attended outdoor leadership schools like NOLS, a premiere wilderness program offering outdoor-skill and leadership courses ranging from 10 days to full semesters in the wilderness.
January Program students can transfer up to 5 elective credits to WU for semester-length NOLS programs. For more information, visit the NOLS web site.
COURSES AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS
January Program students are also eligible to take courses at other institutions during the fall and transfer them to Washington University.
Please note that WU must approve courses to transfer prior to those course being taken, accepts courses only from accredited institutions, and does not accept "distance" courses (those taken on on-line).
Arts & Sciences students almost always have these courses transfer as elective credits, so these students are recommended to select courses that interest them personally, and/or that would advance their placement in calculus or a foreign language.
Art students would benefit from taking an art history or studio course like drawing during the fall.
Architecture students would benefit from taking Calculus or an introductory history course like Western Civilization during the fall.
ALL STUDENTS interested in coursework at other institutions during the fall should talk with their advisor at WU before enrolling in the courses. To ensure that the credit will transfer, students need to submit BOTH a completed Credit Transfer Form and course description to their advisor for approval PRIOR to enrolling for the course.
"While studying abroad in Cape Town, my Hoopes Undergraduate Research Award allowed me to film a documentary on the role that education is playing in the reconciliation process in post-apartheid South Africa and move outside of the classroom in my exploration of the practical application of classroom knowledge in everyday life."
