For the 2nd edition of The Exchange Guide’s College Deep Dives, we take a trip to South Carolina to hear Bridget’s exchange journey and why she was so keen to extend her exchange journey for another semester!
Bridget is a Deakin University student studying a bachelor of Public Health & Health Promotion/ Commerce majoring in HR. Bridget decided to utilise the unique opportunity of studying abroad by deciding to go on exchange to Clemson University in 2016.
1. Why did you want to go on exchange to America?
As cliché as it may sound, I always wanted to live the typical ‘American life’. Watching predominantly American movies and TV shows gave me an insight into what college life was like and I always knew I wanted to experience it somehow. I had also never travelled to America and was interested in doing a long-term trip there, so this gave me the perfect way to obtain a student visa that allowed me to stay longer than the usual 90 day tourist visa.
2. What attracted you to Clemson University?
Orange, orange and more orange! When I started researching possible locations, I first of course looked at each college’s websites. The second I found the Clemson website, I was completely hooked! Every inch of the website was covered in photos of beaming college students covered in head to toe orange – The Clemson Football team colours of course! It was from there I started to understand the obsession Clemson students have with their football team, the Clemson Tigers. I instantly knew this would be an experience so different to attending an Australian university and it was something that I had to experience. As strange as it sounds, that’s almost all it took for me to know Clemson was the right choice for me. I just had this gut feeling Clemson was for me and I’ll forever be grateful that I trusted it!
3. What was the toughest part of getting organised for exchange?
The toughest part was definitely organising a visa. There are not a lot of strict guidelines to follow and I found the overall process quite overwhelming. The process was very unclear and trying to fully understand what was included in the process was difficult. Legally, my Australian university was not able to give us any advice on obtaining the visa, so I found this process a little daunting. It was mainly a matter of reading lots of online forums and talking to past students who had previously obtained the same student visa.
If only something like The Exchange Guide’s Getting Your Visa page existed when I was trying to organise my visa, this would have been so much easier and less stressful!
4. How did you organise and find your accommodation?
Accommodation was actually probably one of the easiest aspects of my exchange. As an exchange student at Clemson, you are automatically assigned to on-campus living, in a specific exchange community. This made for a lot of fun, a lot of noise and way too many house parties. Basically I lived with one American girl, one Scottish girl and one German girl. There was a questionnaire that I had to fill out which tries to align your personalities and living styles, and subsequently align them with other like minded students.
Even though the apartment was super old and run down, the location was amazing! Living on campus was awesome and being able to go downtown and then just walk 10 minutes home was very convenient. However, it sometimes felt a bit claustrophobic living on campus because you spent everyday on campus for class and then you’re there every night too. After the first semester I was a bit over living on campus and wanted to explore what off campus living was like. For my second semester I was fortunate enough to sublease off someone who was ironically coming to Australia on exchange. It was a huge four bedroom house about 15 minute drive from campus. I lived with 3 other local Clemson girls who I didn’t know before moving in, but we ended up getting along so well and we are still close friends to this day.
To anyone going on exchange longer than one semester, I highly recommend looking at your options before moving. I think being able to experience both on and off campus living was really important in my experience. They really are two very different lifestyles. I know some schools lock you into leases and you can’t leave for the second semester, so it’s definitely something to think about and look into before you sign anything! Make sure you think about the pros and the cons of each – look at Stage 4: Finding Accommodation for a good run down of the pros and cons of on-campus vs. off campus living.
5. What was your favourite moment of exchange?
There are so many moments that made my college experience incredible! In a general sense, I think my favourite part was meeting so many incredible and kind people. I was living in South Carolina, where southern hospitality was very real and something I had never experienced. Everyday I was blown away by the kindness and generosity of my fellow Clemson students and their families. I always felt cared for and loved.
If I needed help with anything, I always had people I could rely on for support and advice. So many people went out of their way to make me feel at home. It wasn’t just friends that showed me such incredible hospitality, the second ANYONE found out you weren’t from the area, they wanted to make you feel at home. I guess you could say that being an Aussie in a place like Southern Carolina has its perks! I will forever be so grateful for the love and hospitality I was shown during my Clemson experience.
6. Did you do any travelling prior/during/after exchange?
I mainly travelled throughout my exchange. I did lots of road trips with a combination of my exchange friends and American friends on weekends and holidays. I was lucky enough to be invited to a lot of my American friends homes and even on family holidays. By the end of my exchange experience I had ticked off quite a number of states and cities.
For some tips on travels and destinations around America, I would definitely recommend checking out the Flights and Travel Stage on The Exchange Guide.
7. You made the decision to extend your exchange for another semester. Why did you do this and what was the process to organise this?
The decision to stay longer was not at all a hard decision for me. I fell so madly in love with Clemson and I was not at all ready to leave! I was due to leave in May of 2016 and was fortunate enough to extend my stay until October 2016. I honestly would have stayed longer, but I had to come home to Melbourne to sit my exams. This was also a very long and grueling process.
A lot of behind the scenes research was required to enable the extension. I was able to secure an on-campus internship that enabled me to apply for an extension on my student visa. Because the internship was related to my field of study there were grounds for extension as long as I was sponsored. However the overall process was very long and involved a lot of back and forth. For anyone thinking of doing this, I would recommend researching early and trying to secure an internship sooner rather than later.
8. What advice would you give to prospective students looking to go on exchange to the USA?
I was pretty lucky with my choice of Clemson. It all kind of worked out for me, without too many hiccups. However, I would definitely recommend researching, researching and researching!
Don’t just research the college in a general sense. Make sure you know the answers to the following questions. (But more importantly, know what you are looking for in a college):
- How big is the college?
- Is it near public transport?
- What college sports does the college offer? Is that important to me?
- How many exchange students are enrolled each semester?
- Do the exchange students live together?
- Is it a college town or city?
- What is the weather like?
These are all aspects that will definitely affect your exchange experience and questions that I strongly recommend researching before you commit to any college.
Now it’s your turn!
Keen to begin the journey of a lifetime just like Bridget? Click here to explore the Exchange Guide.
What do you think of Bridget’s experiences? Do you have any further questions you want to ask about Clemson University? Comment below or Contact us for more information.
