Ted Said:

international exchange programs?

We Answered:

I'd like to add some on YFU:

You can host for a summer term (six weeks). You can also be a temporary family for those who have trouble being placed in a host family.

Dianne Said:

Student Exchange Question?

We Answered:

My only experience with student exchanges was with the AFS. My daughter and I hosted a Japanese student for one school year and then my daughter went to Mexico for a year. We received scholarship money from the local chapter, and her Girl Scout and church youth groups both hosted fund raisers.

You will need to discuss with your school which, if any, courses you take as an exchange student will be transferable back to Canada when you return. As for what you study while in a foreign country, it depends on where your host family lives. The Japanese student who came here knew before she came that her school in Japan would not accept any credits from the US. My daughter took her exchange year between high school graduation and entering university, so the question didn't arise for her. Your host family will have a student about your age and you will go to whatever school the host student attends. Our student attended a public high school in a rural town in central California with my daughter. My daughter attended a private girls school with her host family's daughter.

Here's the AFS site:

http://www.afscanada.org/can_en/home

Although my daughter did not earn any transferable credits while in Mexico, she became fluent in Spanish while there and received course credit at university when she returned. We were not expecting this and were very pleasantly surprised. As a result, my daughter was able to graduate from university with a double major.