Hi everyone!

I recently stumbled upon the McMaster Exchange Program (via the International Student Services directory), and I, being a wanderlust kid at heart, decided that this was a program that I absolutely must do. However, there are a few questions that I would like to be clarified.

1) I noticed that in order to apply for exchange, one of the criteria is that the student must be enrolled in an Honors or a Combined Honors program. I do not know what this means. I will be pursuing a degree in Mechatronics Engineering. Is my program of study an Honors/Combined Honors program?

2) There is obviously a very large volume of students who wish to do an exchange program. Is there any way to find out how many students do an exchange program at partner universities? For example, my first choice is University of Copenhagen. Is there some statistics that shows how many students have applied to do an exchange program to this university and how many were successful?

3) Let’s assume that I successfully got registered as an exchange student at the University of Copenhagen, and as a result, I am living in Copenhagen. If I were to find a job related to my degree (Mechatronics Engineering) as a means of supporting me financially, would this job count as co-op experience?

Thanks for your time!

- Nash

In engineering, there is no honors, it's just engineering. So for your case it will be "Mechatronics engineering" nothing more/nothing less (Unless you do management or society, but still that doesn't mean honors).

Regarding question 3: If the co-op office in JHE approves that it's engineering-related, then it will count as co-op. So it doesn't matter where you do it, as long as it's approved by the office.

Look here for more info regarding co-op.
Good luck!

You can't just work in Denmark. A Canadian needs a workers permit to be able to work there. Seeing as though you are only on exchange and will likely be a study visa, employment will not be possible for you. Even if they didn't require you to get a visa to do the exchange, you will not be able to work.

^ To add to that, but not to stomp on your dreams, Denmark is extraordinarily expensive. Without a job there, you need to be financially well off to just live and study there. Why not another country though?

Best of luck

Hey nashsth,

I'm pretty sure the exchange program is more or less the university saying, "you can go study abroad if you want, we won't stop you." That's really about it. They aren't going to give you any money (afaik), and you will need to pay international tuition to attend the new school. I'm not sure how much schooling in Copenhagen would cost, but at McMaster, the international students pay about 3x annually what we do. Then factor in the increased cost of living, plane ticket etc...If you have the money for this, then by all means give it a shot. As for actually getting a work visa, that may be complicated as the other posters have pointed out.

I do appreciate your enthusiasm, so sorry for pointing out some unpleasant truths, but you still have other options!

It would be very expensive for you to leave for a semester/year, but what you can do is stay 4 months during the summer! The Department of Engineering offers the McMaster Engineering Student Mobility Award for international experience. It's fairly new. It will cover $4000 of travel expenses if you can find a career/volunteer/research opportunity abroad that you feel will be valuable to your personal and professional growth, then the department may give you one of these awards. Lynn Stewart ([email protected]) is in charge of this program if you have any questions. There are additional bursaries you can apply for as well from either the university itself (both McMaster and your new one), and your department (Tron, then if you're in Society or something, they also have a travel bursary).

If you have any questions about international experience, feel free to PM me.

According to the iss page on the mcmaster website, if you study abroad at one of the univeristys that Mac is partenerd with - Copenhagen is on the list - then you continue to pay Mac tuition fees. Which, as the post noted above, is substantially lower than that of an exchange student.