Preparation for being an Exchange student in the USA part 1

Hello my name is Jan and this is the first post about my stay in the USA. In this article I will be focusing on how to prepare yourself for the stay and life outside of your own country. Before we start I just want to add that these are my thoughts and what worked for me. Let’s start..

First thing I would do is to choose a good company/agency to go with. Read some reviews, call the agency, get a meeting with them- do whatever you can to get to know who you are going to deal with for the time of your stay. Of course the price can also play a role. After choosing, you go and contact someone from the agency and they usually give you paperwork (a lot of it). You write about yourself, your interests, grades, preferences, medical conditions you have and a lot of other things. Then you submit papers and if everything is ok they usually test your English.

About the testing- well you might want to study a bit. It is nothing too hard, but still you do not want to underestimate it. (I will talk about studying languages in an upcoming article). When you get accepted, there is usually some time when the agency will be looking for your placement. They will find you a school and a host family based on what hobbies and other things you filled in the paperwork.

After paperwork with agency is done, there is still more to be done. You need to find a flight to the place, which they usually select for you. Also you need to apply for a visa. (Unless your agency handles that too, it depends on what agency you have). Getting a visa can be a long process. There is a lot of paperwork as well but do not lose hope, it is doable.

Now you are ready to go. But there is more to it than paperwork.. You need to prepare yourself for being away from home for 3-12 months and being in a country which speaks in a different language, than your native one. Yes, studying helps a lot, but still it can be tough to do this, think about why it is worth it to you. I will post some advice for “survival” soon.

Well thank you for making it all the way through

Wish you luck

Regular Jan

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