When it came to choosing a college, Waters Cahill knew that what she wanted most from a school was exposure to different perspectives. The Chicago native applied to several U.S. colleges with diverse student bodies, but also put in an application to Canada’s McGill University, a school in Montreal that she’d fallen in love with during a spring break visit.

Once she got in, she knew she had to go. The academic experience would be too good to pass up, she says. Plus, she was excited to practice French with locals.

“It’s a totally new challenge,” says Cahill, who plans to graduate this year with a degree in international management. “What other time in my life am I going to live in a different country?”

For one set of college students, studying abroad for a semester provides just the right amount of time to experience another culture. But for another set — a group with a stronger or earlier itch to leave their country — pursuing an entire degree abroad can be a worthwhile option.

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Earning an undergraduate degree abroad can help students expand their cultural horizons and, in some cases, expose them to a better education. But the choice may not be right for everyone. Before high school graduates commit to heading overseas, experts suggest they consider a variety of factors.

Adapting to cultural differences may be one of the biggest challenges for international students, and one they should be ready to confront, experts say. Day-to-day customs may be different. The higher education system may be unfamiliar. And some students may need to adjust to speaking in a different language.

“Students should think about leaving their friends and their family and their culture behind and about whether they are good at adapting to new and different ways of doing things,” says Monique Nri, senior director of international student services at the New School, which often enrolls some of the highest percentages of international students in the U.S.

For Chakrit Jacky Mettakhun, a Thai citizen who enrolled at McGill for a better education, leaving his country was both thrilling and terrifying.

“I was excited but at the same time I was thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can make friends. I am moving to the Western world and I have no idea what it was going to be like,'” says Mettakhun, now a senior getting a bachelor’s in physics and economics. “It was really scary.”

At first, Mettakhun says he was insecure about his English skills, out of his element and homesick. But after the first month, he began to feel settled.

While having too much anxiety about leaving home is a red flag, Nri, with the New School, says it’s totally normal for students to feel some level of trepidation. Fortunately, most schools host orientations and other programs for international students to help them acclimate, she says.

“Many students leave their home countries without being prepared for those things and part of the job of an office like ours is to help them to adjust,” she says.

Another factor students should consider is cost, says James Tibbert, head of student information and immigration at the University of Oxford, where 16.5 percent of undergraduates come from outside of the United Kingdom. Many universities charge a higher rate or extra fees for international students, experts say, and scholarship opportunities for them can be limited.

At Oxford, for example, Tibbert says most scholarships for international students are reserved for postgraduate study.

Calculate the cost [of earning a degree abroad as a U.S. student.]

Before students decide to pursue a degree abroad, they should also investigate the location, says Jocelyne Younan, who heads up recruiting of international undergraduates for McGill University, where 22 percent of undergraduate students are international.

“Time zone differences are important,” she says. “How far do you want to be away from home? There is a difference from being so far away that you can only go home in summer, versus being able to go several times a year. There is a financial consideration to be made when going to the other side of the world.”

Students should also think about how they will adjust to the climate, she says. Can they handle four seasons — or the lack of them?

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Finally, Younan suggests students think about the brand of the school they are attending, and whether it will help them land a job after graduating.

If students attend a well-respected world institution, it will work to their advantage, she says. “The more global your university experience, the bigger the chances you will have an alumni network that will be very global as well.”

Mettakhun says he hopes to work in Canada for a few years before he returns home to Thailand. Looking back, he says he’s happy with his decision to study in another country.

“If you make the right choice, it can be the opportunity of a lifetime,” he says.

See the complete rankings of the Best Global Universities.

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Assess Your Readiness to Earn an Undergraduate Degree Overseas originally appeared on usnews.com