International Exchange: Don’t Miss this Opportunity

International Exchange isn’t for everyone, but it is one of the privileges and opportunities available to Waterloo Engineering. It also seems to be one of the best kept secrets in our Faculty, despite the efforts of the Faculty Exchange Office (FEO), located inside the Engineering Undergraduate Office in CPH 1320. Cindy Howe, the Administrative Coordinator for Exchange, and I, the Director of International exchange programs, work hard to publicize exchange, but our messages don’t always get through.
If you are in 2B this term, you still have the opportunity to apply for exchange in the Fall 2013 or Winter 2014 terms. But there are very firm deadlines. You must complete the Engineering Faculty Application process before you leave campus at the end of this term if you want to be sure of a place. Even though some of the Engineering schools will accept late applications, you cannot be sure of going unless you meet the due date. Getting the information together to fill in the forms (available on the Engineering Exchange website, www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~exchange. Just follow the links to the forms) can be both time-consuming and arduous. Once you have done that, filling the forms in takes next to no time, but you have signatures to collect and a pre-acceptance interview to complete before it’s all done. You have exams, and then you’ll be leaving for Christmas and a work term, so use the spare time now to get the application done.
If you are in 2A this term, you have more time available. You can think of an exchange term(s) to replace 3A or 3B (or both), which normally take place in Winter and Fall of 2014. In some cases it’s possible to do an exchange term in place of 4A. Many people don’t know that when you go on exchange you can change the normal sequence. For instance, you can move 3A from Winter to the previous Fall, and your Fall work term to the following Winter, if it’s more convenient from the point of view of finding appropriate courses at our partner institutions. After all, there’s nothing ‘set in stone’ about the order in which subjects are taught, or about when you must learn them. We merely require that each term is completed and that you end up with the correct number of satisfactory work terms. Note: if you do decide to move your 3A to Fall 2013, you will have to complete and submit your application before you leave campus at the end of this term.
All of this may seem complicated, and it is, but we at FEO are here to help. Moreover, in your department, there are professors, particularly the undergraduate Associate Chair, and their staff, who will help you in various parts of the process.
Whether you are in 2A or 2B now, or whether you are still in 1A, one important matter is to get yourself ‘on the list’ for an exchange to your chosen destination. Each of our partners sets strict limits to the numbers of students that we can send them. Even though we have more than 80 possible destinations, some are more in demand than others, and we fill the spots on a first come first served basis. You should not fill in the application before letting the FEO know, for there may not be a spot available. But, and this is very important, when you make it on to the list, you are blocking later applicants, so be sure about your choice. If you change your mind, you may have stopped another student from fulfilling a dream, so don’t apply before you have made a firm choice for exchange.
International Exchange is worth all the trouble. I gave a presentation during International Education week this term and there were a dozen students who had returned from exchanges in Europe and the Far East there to help. All of them agreed that the Exchange program was a highlight of their education. Indeed, all the returned exchange students that I have seen, without exception, over the last decade, were enthusiastic about the experience. Typically, they agree that international exchange was an experience of a lifetime.