Based on findings from a qualitative case study focused on Mexican postgraduate international students at a prestigious university in the south of England, this article explores the coping strategies implemented by the participants prior to departing to their study abroad experience. Findings revealed varying degrees of involvement with pre-arrival preparations where some participants employed a series of creative tactics to ease their adaptation upon arrival, and some others who did not envision any strategies to prepare. However, as afterthoughts, the latter group of students realised such omission had hindered their transition to the new culture. This led to the conceptualisation of the studying abroad experience as a dynamic process enhancing the perspective of the international student as an active agent of their process of adaptation Ward et al., 2001).

基于针对英格兰南部一所著名大学的墨西哥研究生国际学生的定性案例研究的结果，本文探讨了参与者在出国留学之前所采取的应对策略。调查结果揭示了到达前准备工作的参与程度不同，其中一些参与者采用了一系列创造性的策略来缓解到达时的适应，而其他一些参与者则没有设想任何准备工作的策略。然而，事后，后一组学生意识到这种疏忽阻碍了他们向新文化的过渡。