[samantha__]

International Exchanges

BY SAMANTHA ASARE; MACINSIDERS

Imagine yourself at the airport. It’s 5 am and you’re exhausted because you spent the whole night speaking to your friends before setting off on your trip. You’re sitting in the lounge, staring at the words on your boarding pass – London, it says. An hour passes and finally you’re sitting on the plane, with a window seat thankfully. Half an hour later you’re in the air, heading to the destination on your boarding pass. Six hours pass and you’ve finally landed in England. You leave the airport, with an open mind on what your new school for the year will be teaching you and how things will go.

Wait... new school? But you’re a McMaster student right, so how is this possible? Well, it is completely possible through an official McMaster University exchange program. Through the program, you can immerse yourself in a whole new culture while gaining credits towards your McMaster program back in Hamilton.

So how do you begin? You think it would be fantastic to go on an exchange to an exotic country but you don’t know how to start. First things first, go to the OISA website – they’re the best resource at McMaster for International Student Services, whether you’re a student from outside who wants to come to McMaster or if you’re a Mac student who wants to try out another school for a year.

All students who are interested in applying for an official exchange need to attend an information session in the Fall 2008 term. These info sessions will provide you with all the necessary information you need about exchanges – academic considerations, financing and assistant with the decision making process. At the end of this article, I have listed all the dates for the information sessions.

Any McMaster student is eligible to participate in an official McMaster University exchange program as long as they adhere to the following:

• Undergrads must be in an Honours or Combined Honours program; Graduate students can be in any program
• The typical exchange would occur during your third year of the four-year program you’re enrolled in. You’re expected to return to Mac for your 4th year.
• Your cumulative average must be at a 7.0. This is based off of at least 60 units of work.
• You can participate if you’re a part-time student, but the exchange must be persued on a full-time basis.
• Grad students must consult their individual departments as well as the School of Graduate Studies before submitting an application.
• You must be proficient in the language of the country you’re attending.
• All interested in applying must attend a study abroad information session in the Fall; if you cannot attend, you must make an appointment with MacAbroad before submitting an app.

Do you pass all these requirements? Awesome, because now you can look at the actual list of official exchange agreements that McMaster has with several schools around the world. As of right now, depending on your program, you can go to the following countries: Austria, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Japan, Korea, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabic, Singapore, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine and The United Kingdom. Within these countries, you have a large selection of universities to choose from!

In addition to the countries listed above, McMaster has partnered up with three special programs between Ontario-Rhone-Alpes (France), Ontario-Badden-Wurttemberg (Germany) and the Ontario-Maharashtra-Goa (India) Student Exchange Programs. Applying for these special programs is separate from applying for the university-wide general programs. The special date that coordinators from these programs will be coming McMaster is listed at the end of the article.

The application process includes meeting with an academic advisor in order for them to approve the courses you will be taking at the international school, submitting an online application (available later in the year), securing two Letters of Reference and submitting an Assessment of Language Competence. You also need to request an official transcript from the Office of the Registrar and submit it to the International Student Services (ISS) office. Please note this does not mean you can simply go into MUGSI and print out your grade report. You need an official transcript.

Next there’s the selection process, likely the part most students do not look forward to. Once your application has been submitted, you meet with the Selection Committee for an interview. If you’re successful, you will be nominated to the host institution of your choice. Placement is based on your choices and the availability of spaces at the host institution. I know many of you will be excited to make your travel plans and such, but it is important to not make any travel plans until you have been notified of acceptance by the host school.

Probably the best part of this whole process is actually being accepted! The ISS will contact you once your acceptance is received form the host school. At this point in time you can apply for your visa(s), but still, do not make travel plans until you receive your acceptance letter from the host school.

It is important to note that even if you have received your nomination from McMaster and you have been accepted by your school of choice, it does not mean that you are 100% going to be attending the school. There are still several ways one can be removed from the international exchange program such as: Not adhere to program proceeds, not completing/submitting required documents by deadlines, not following the McMaster Student Code of Conduct and among others, not making required payments.

So at this point, after reading this much of the article, you’re likely thinking “Wow... this sounds fab, but, it sounds expensive”. That is the beauty of this exchange program: You pay the same McMaster fees that you have been paying since you stepped foot at Mac! Tuition and incidental fees are paid to McMaster, but travel, boarding/lodging (residence) and other living expenses are paid for by you at the host institution. So in simple words, you pay your tuition fees to Mac but your residence/spending money/books/whatever is paid to your school abroad. You are saving thousands of dollars by participating in an official exchange. Exchanges that aren’t official (not listed on the official exchanges page) can cost way more than doing an official exchange through McMaster.

The selection committee is big on meeting deadlines and it will look bad on you if you hand in everything late. For the Ontario/Baden-Wurttemberg, Ontario/Rhone-Alpes and Ontario/Maharashtra-Goa programs, the deadline is December 19th, 2008. For all the regular exchange programs, the deadline is February 5th, 2008.

So to conclude, here’s a quick recap of everything I’ve just said.

• Undergrads: Honours or Combined Honours program. Graduate Students: any program
• Occurs during 3rd year of 4 year program
• C.A of at least 7.0, based off at least 60 units.
• You may be a part-timer now, but when you go, it’s full-time
• Grad students consult individual departments and School of Grad Studies
• Proficiency in language of host country
• You pay tuition and incidental fees to McMaster while you pay everything self through the host institution.
• You must attend an information session in order to be eligible for an exchange; if you cannot attend one, contact MacAbroad.
• Regular exchange programs deadline is February 5th, 2008
• Ontario/Baden-Wurttemberg, Ontario/Rhone-Alpes and Ontario/Maharashtra-Goa program deadline is December 19th, 2008

An exchange can be an amazing experience and if you are given the chance to participate in one, I strongly advise you to go through with it. The benefits are plentiful and the program is much cheaper than you applying for an exchange yourself, instead of through McMaster’s ISS office. The world we are entering now is all about globalization, international relations and knowing how to adapt to a world that is becoming increasingly interconnected. Having an exchange under your belt is not only beneficial for work but it allows you to immerse in another culture while going to school.



University-Wide Exchange Information Sessions

As said previously, here are the dates for the information sessions. You are only required to go to one. Each take place from 4:30 to 6:30pm; at the moment, the locations are still to be announced.

• Thursday, October 30th, 2008
• Thursday, November 6th, 2008
• Monday, November 10th, 2008
• Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
• Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
• Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Ontario-Rhone-Alpes (France), Ontario-Badden-Wurttemberg (Germany) and the Ontario-Maharashtra-Goa (India) Student Exchange Programs Information Sessions

• Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 from 4:30-6:30pm; The location is TBA. Stay tuned to the OISA site for the location.

All dates are subject to change, so check the ISS website for updated listings.

[Chad]

Very comprehensive article, thanks Samantha!