What do need to know to be a foreign exchange student?
First you can start by ignoring the idiot answer! Generally speaking, to become an exchange student you need to be independent, outgoing and somewhat fearless! If you are going to a native French speaking country, you will need at least two years of high school French. Most other countries do not have a language requirement! I recommend that you go for a year — you get the full benefit of culture and language immersion that way. Bear in mind that colleges and universities LOVE exchange students and often offer preferred admissions and sometimes additional scholarship monies. Being an exchange student is expensive. Rotary is the cheapest, but most competitive. Other programs offer scholarships however. The first step is to find an organization. A list of all those certified to operate in the U.S. can be found at www.csiet.org. Don’t use one not on the list. However, you should also talk to your high school counselor for a recommendation. An organization is only as good as its local rep
