Quote:
Originally Posted by jhan523
In the end it should only be twice as expensive. Tuition is normally 3 times as high, but supplementary fees are so high that it normally reduces the total payment to 2 times as much. But yeah, it's because of international students that local students can attend university at a much lower cost. Imagine if there weren't any international students! :o
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I think International fees are so high to make up for them not paying the taxes that subsidize higher education, not as a means to lower tuition costs for the rest of us. Tuition is heavily subsidized by the government, so just think how unfair it would be if anyone from any country could come to Canada and have Canadian tax payers pay for their education. That would be totally lame.
Exchange programs work as a partnership where students basically trade places, avoiding any imbalances that could leave governments having to fund education for students who are not citizens.
Anyway, McMaster has a good exchange program, so unless you are wildly wealthy and want to go somewhere we don't have a partnership with, its probably better to stick with the exchange service.
Under the exchange program you pay your tuition to McMaster, and I'm not 100% on this, but I think you need to sign/agree to come back and finish your degree at McMaster.
Residence costs as well as food and entertainment depend on the country you are going to and the cost of living there. I think most of the destinations are in large cities and/or wealthy countries so I would expect things to be more expensive than Hamilton just about where-ever you go. (though probably comparable to living in downtown Toronto)
One thing to keep in mind though is while it's probably possible to do exchange on a budget, you don't go on exchange to save money, you go to experience a different culture and explore a new place. Based on what I've heard, this costs lots of $$... but so does tourism, and if you go on exchange, you can pass off your tourism/partying as an educational experience. (not that exchange isn't an educational experience!)
I think usually you apply for exchange in the fall of your 2nd year, and leave during your 3rd year. (this is a strict rule for commerce, other faculties may be able to do it differently) You also get setup with previous exchange students from McMaster (and sometimes from other countries!) to find out more about their experiences while abroad. (this is the best possible marketing for the exchange program, people are ALWAYS thrilled with their exchange experiences)
As for courses, the business faculty keeps a record of course equivalencies between partner institutions, so you will always know in advance if courses at other schools will satisfy your requirements at Mac. (I would assume other faculties do the same) So it is easy to get your courses pre-approved if you go to a school that has had many prior visits by McMaster students.
I'm leaving for my exchange to Oslo later this summer, so I can't really comment to much on the actual experience of it, but I can say the application process and lead up has been smooth and relatively easy, and as a whole I have been made to feel very optimistic about the whole thing.
