- About -

The Exchange Guide is all about making the complexities of going on exchange simple and easy to understand. We know just how confusing and overwhelming all the information is and the number of hours exchange students need to put in to research this. That's why this guide exists – to give you an end to end playbook of the exchange process, combining information from government agencies, universities and student experiences all in 1 convenient place.

Sometimes it can feel frustrating being on your own and not knowing where to get valuable information and resources for your exchange journey. This causes many prospective students to throw in the towel saying "this is too hard, I give up". At The Exchange Guide, we feel it is such an important personal development opportunity to experience an exchange program abroad.

Marc Jocum

Founder of The Exchange Guide

I travelled to the University of Texas at Austin as an exchange student in 2014, so I have been where you are. I spent a ridiculous number of hours researching different websites, reading forums, and speaking to people to help me understand everything I needed to get me there. I was shocked that there weren’t any adequate resources that gave an end-to-end view of the exchange program process in a student friendly manner. Having experienced the problems first-hand, such as walking the streets of my campus trying to find accommodation, I know how complicated and frustrating the process can be. Luckily for you, The Exchange Guide now exists – here are some useful tools and tips to lead you straight through the exchange process so that you know exactly how to do it!

About

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page"

- About -

Marc Jocum

Founder of The Exchange Guide

Why not let us guide you through the entire process of everything there is to know about applying and going on exchange to the USA

Find out the best way to get home from the local bars and clubs. Many colleges have free late night rider buses, but otherwise its always useful to have Uber and Lyft on your phone.

It is probably best to befriend people who are part of greek life (e.g. in classrooms, around campus etc…) This way you bypass the whole rushing process, and can get some exposure to greek life through your connections

It’s a good idea to call your credit card company (e.g. Citibank) to inform them of the dates you are travelling and where you are going. This way they are expecting to see overseas transactions and won’t treat them as suspicious.

Scan every document you receive and save it somewhere safe (such as your email, dropbox or in the cloud). You never know when you might need to access these forms and documents.

If there are prerequisites for a course you are interested, email or call the direct professor in the USA to express your interest in doing this course and to see if they could waive the prerequisite requirements

If you need the OS HELP loan, do not go on exchange in your final semester (since you are ineligible for the loan having no credit points to come back to). You should rather do this in your penultimate semester.

Look at your college’s semester dates on their website to find out when semester begins and ends. Try book your outbound international flight date for 30 days PRIOR to the start of semester, and your return flight 30 days AFTER the end of semester.

Save your electives for exchange