Going on exchange is one of the biggest decisions you can make while at university. This guide covers all the important aspects to consider before making the leap!
As a new year and new decade dawns, for many it is the time to delve into new resolutions, new experiences and new challenges. One of the biggest decisions one can make while at university is whether to embark on a semester or year-long exchange, studying in a completely different country and completely new environment.
BUT…What even is an “exchange”, you say?
For those who aren’t too familiar with the concept, an exchange allows you to study at an overseas university for a specific length of time. Your university will have partnership agreements with a range of universities around the world, and usually you will just pay your normal tuition fee for that semester/year as if you were studying at your home university. You will choose a set of courses related to your degree to study while abroad, which can be credited back to your degree once you return home.
One of the best things about exchange is that usually your grades aren’t transferred to your academic transcript, just the credits for passing the course. This changes the entire emphasis of your time to that of having fun instead of worrying about getting the best possible grades!
However, an exchange means leaving behind family, friends, and a familiar living and academic environment for a prolonged period of time. It can be an extremely daunting thought even for the bravest of us, but fear not, as an exchange veteran with one semester in the US and one in Italy under my belt, I can definitely offer some tips and advice 🙂
So…why should you even consider doing an exchange?
1) A Blank Canvas for Personal Growth
Nothing beats being thrown into the deep end of a new country, culture or even language for learning quickly about yourself and the world around you. There will likely be millions of highs and maybe some very deep lows during your entire experience, but they all help shape you to become a better, wiser person than you could ever be otherwise.
Going on exchange is more like starting out in a video game with a new character with all the possibilities to build whatever life you want, and a clean slate to be whoever you want to be.
2) Meet New People and Forge Lifelong Friendships
Out of all the most unlikely possibilities that could ever happen in this world, walking away from an exchange having made zero new friends is about a rarer chance than pigs learning how to perform on Broadway and getting to work by flying there.
Seriously though, you’ll get the chance to meet people from all over the world and all walks of life, and your choice of university will determine exactly who these people will be. You won’t know who they are until you get there though, and that’s literally the most exciting, scary, and beautiful part of it all. Some of these people could even have a lasting lifelong impact on you…and at worst they’ll be cool friends to visit if you ever pass through their home cities in future.
3) Travel ✈️
If you’re a fan of travel like me, this is the best time to get as much done as humanely possible. You could likely be studying in a region where flights to other countries cost less than a Big Mac combo. Or you could be in a country with so much beauty, nature, and culture that you end up exploring every nook and cranny of it during your weekends. Whatever your travel style is, you can likely find a university and location that suits your preferences.
Travelling normally is fun, but travelling while on exchange is a whole different story. Especially if you’re with your newly-made exchange friends, it’s a great way to bond quickly and make memories that last a lifetime!
4) Culture 🤌
If culture is your forté, perhaps an exchange is for you. There could be so many reasons to live in the country of your dreams for a while, whether it’s to connect with your ancestral homeland or to pick up a language you’ve always wanted to learn. You’ll gain a much greater understanding of the country than if you simply went there and did some tourist things.
Although a few months can be quite a short time if you want to be fully accepted as a local, never say never and anything can happen right? We all know that ONE guy/gal who comes back home thinking they’re all cultured and all but barely learnt to say thank you in their country’s language, so at the very least you can become the next meme amongst your ‘normal friends’ back home 🙂
5) Great Memories and Unforgettable Experiences
The months you are away on exchange can be some of the best you’ll ever experience in your life. Since you’re in a completely unfamiliar environment, every day you will encounter new things, places, ideas, people, animals even (Shoutout to the squirrels of UCLA! 🐿️).
This all creates the effect of time almost passing in a completely different manner, as if you’re having fun literally every second of the day. When every day is a new adventure, there’s bound to be some unforgettable memories created and shared with others. So make sure to take plenty of photos and videos, because it’s impossible to ever recreate the same set of conditions you have while you’re there!
6) Academics 📚
Oh yeah…there’s the ‘study’ part of study abroad I guess. This can definitely be an important one for you, with so many high-calibre professors and courses at universities around the world. It’s your chance to do courses within your study area that aren’t quite offered at your home university, or spend time with teachers who think and approach teaching in a different way.
Studying overseas will definitely broaden your views on the ways in which education can possibly be delivered successfully. What’s more, sometimes there is the chance to attend conferences, join clubs or even gain research or work experience that you’d never get the chance for back home.
Things to Consider
So those are some pretty cool aspects of going on exchange, but what about the factors that might be holding you back? As always, there’s two sides of the coin and it is definitely worth pondering over these factors before making the big decision.
1) Money 💵
Yup, let’s face it, going overseas on exchange is expensive. There’s costs of travelling there, living there, and enjoying yourself there. Flights, accommodation, insurance, food are all things you should expect to cover. If the costs are simply too much for your financial circumstances, exchange may not be an option.
Although every country, city, and university has different living costs, for New Zealand students I’d say around $10,000 should be put aside for an exchange (not including tuition fees as you are paying that to your home university anyway). If you plan on doing a lot of travel I would up that figure proportionately.
There are ways to minimise these expenses if you need to though. For example, you can choose a country with low living costs for things such as food, or somewhere on a cheap flight route from home. If you already live away from home in New Zealand, the accommodation costs won’t cause much of an extra drain on your finances. The weekly cost of living in most countries won’t usually surpass the cost of living in a New Zealand hall of residence as a rule-of-thumb.
A lot of financial support, grants and scholarships are also available depending on your university. Student allowance and student loan living costs can be used while on exchange, while programmes such as the Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia & Latin America can even see the most frugal exchange students make a profit for being away!
2) Course Crediting and Admin 🙄
This is probably the bane of every exchange student’s existence but it is a necessary evil to ensure you have a great time overall. It’s the part that usually brings about the most uncertainty. Each university and academic department will have different procedures for exchange students and sometimes you will feel like you have hit a bureaucratic wall.
The best advice I can give is simply to never give up, as everything will be worth it once you begin enjoying the fruits of your labour. Do your research early, and always have backup plans in mind for courses, accommodation, or anything else that can change suddenly.
Rocking up to find that a course you need to complete your degree on time back home is full or cancelled can be worse than any horror movie, but exchange is all about adaptability and overcoming obstacles so keep calm at all times and use whatever resources you have available to fight the good fight! Unexpected situations will always arise in any new environment so try to be as flexible as possible. Sometimes it’s the things that don’t go our way which really teach us the best lessons in life and makes us stronger 🙂
3) Personal Circumstances
Everyone has a different life back at home and you’ll most likely have to consider yours as well. It may be that your family aren’t as supportive as you think about their favourite child living alone in a foreign country, or it could be a long-term relationship that you need to consider when going away for so long. There are all sorts of barriers possible, but in general keeping the communication strong to all relevant people will make your chances of a successful exchange much higher.
4) Timing ⌛
They say that timing is everything, and that can be true in every sense of the word. Many degree programmes will have an optimal period for students to be studying on exchange, be it in second year or fifth year for long degrees or conjoint programmes. Make sure you know when this is for you as soon as you can.
Sometimes, it’s just not possible past a certain point or you would have to completely rework your degree in order to make it work. Don’t let it catch you out, so if you’re in first year and you think there is even the tiniest possibility you might want to go on exchange later on, do a bit of research now and save the disappointment later down the line.
The earlier you start thinking about it, the better your chances are of planning your courses to not delay your degree or graduation. That being said, sometimes people do have to stay back at university for another paper or semester as a result of exchange, but many end up realising it doesn’t actually have the same catastrophic effects on their life that they thought it would!
Now if you made it this far, CONGRATULATIONS!
You must be pretty serious about embarking on a journey that could potentially change your life. But this is just the start. The real fun part is looking through your university’s information on potential places you could go…and then you must pick your choices! There is so much to cover about the topic of exchange but this article will only focus on whether to go on exchange or not.
Obviously I’m pretty biased about going on exchange, and there’s a massive list of people I’ve lowkey encouraged over the years. All in all, I would say it’s definitely a worthwhile experience if your personal circumstances allow for it. Out of all the people I’ve talked to, I’ve never heard anyone say they regretted going on exchange but I have heard a lot from people who regret not going despite having the ability to do so. And honestly speaking from the two times I did it, every exchange experience is completely different, so there’s no use trying to compare yours to what your friend’s exchange looked like on their Instagram.
For all University of Auckland students who come back from exchange, we have to write a report about our experiences. I’ll leave you all with a snippet from mine since it may not actually be published anywhere else. I think it sums up the idea of taking the leap pretty nicely:
Money will come and go throughout your lifetime. Many people will come and go. An opportunity for this life-changing experience only ever comes once.
Want to hear some real-life exchange stories from some people who’ve been there and done that?
Check out Chillin’ with Dylan’s podcast episode about exchange – you won’t regret it!
If you’re still unsure about taking the leap on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, why not listen to the CwD episode about these kinds of opportunities? 🙂
Chillin’ with Dylan 