by Jane Rutherford

Created on: May 02, 2010

International Exchange poses many challenges to students. Packing your bags and studying abroad for a semester or two is just the end result. Preparation and various decisions before you start your Exchange stay are crucial to make your study abroad experience as pleasant as possible.

Choosing your University

First of all, you need to choose the host University. It's not as easy as it seems. It's best to make your choice based on what courses that University offers, how many International students study there every year and whether or not they offer dormitory placement for the International students.

True, sometimes you just want to study in a beautiful country, surrounded by a culture you desperately want to learn about. But if you don't consider a more practical approach, you could find yourself homeless and lost in a completely unfamiliar environment.

If a University of your choice has a lot of International Students every year it means they know the challenges you'll be facing and know the most common solutions. They will be prepared to answer most of your questions, because they've been asked similar ones before. They will also, most likely, have a support system in place to help their International Students settle in and acclimate quickly after their arrival.

And finally, if the University of your choice has their own Dormitories, it usually means that the rooms are close to the campus and are relatively cheap. Which takes away all the stress of getting to the right part of the City during your very first day of classes and guarantees that you will quickly meet people with similar interests to yours (after all, you're all studying at the same University!).

Money

Your financial situation is another thing you need to consider. If you want to participate in an International Exchange program it's usually the best idea to study abroad at one of the partner Universities. A partner University is a University, which has a general agreement or an International Exchange Agreement with your home University. Why is it that important? Mostly because when two Universities enter an agreement regarding Student Exchange, they usually write a stipulation which says that the Student pays tuition at their home University, the tuition fee at the host University is waived for them and they get a guarantee the credits they get during their Exchange Program will be transferred once they return to their home University.

Before choosing which country you wish to study in, you

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>