A foreign exchange student is a young person who goes to another country for a semester or year to study culture and language. For high schoolers, they are homestay programs, which means you live with a family and attend a secondary school.

It works like so …

Think of a country or culture that interests you (it’s best to have three choices). You should bear in mind that one of the biggest benefits to an exchange year is language immersion, so pick a country where you don’t speak the language, or have only studied it in school.

Find an exchange organization to work with. You can find the entire list certified to operate in the U.S. at www.csiet.org. You should also ask your school counselor for a recommendation as an organization is only as good as the local people. Rotary is the cheapest, but it is the most competitive. Costs range from $3,000 – $11,000 for a year.

Talk your parents into it! Make a good case! This is expensive! However, it also has great benefits in college admissions (and sometimes additional scholarship opportunities) and in the work force later.

Apply! Make sure you tell the truth on your application. That, and your letter, are what potential host families look at to choose you!

Pack! Don’t take a lot. You’ll want to fit in when you get there and you can buy clothes there. Make sure to take hostess gifts for your new family!

GO! Today’s the day! You’re on the plane to your new adventure.

Study! You will study harder than you ever had before! Most schools in other countries are more difficult than the ones in the U.S. AND you’re learning a language too.

Have fun! Not as easy as it sounds, while this is a wonderful opportunity, it is also challenging. In addition to being happy, excited and having a great time, you’ll be sad (homesick), bored and frustrated! But you are at home too .. that’s the reality of life!

For information on being a student, this page was written by former exchange students (one of them mine!). It’s mostly all in English now, with some Swedish.

www.exchangestudentworld.com

Good luck!

The IES aboard program paid the tuition part, but we had to put up the deposit, the plane fare [round trip] health and medical insurance, cell phone, and a zillion other things.

It’s worth it though…..it will broaden his horizons and will be a valuable experience for him in later life. He’s enjoying it…though it’s difficult at times.

He has a wonderful host family and his Italian is getting better everyday.. *smiles*

You can contact IES ABROAD.ORG

800 995-2300 toll free

312 944-1448 fax

312 944-1750

IES ABROAD has been sponsoring students since 1950

Best wishes to you.

Study abroad is usually for one or more years, but it could be shorter.