My Thought Process and Experience Through Applying For Student Exchange

To Begin with, I would like to discuss how I decided to apply for this program. Since I was in middle school I knew I wanted to study abroad. A lot of my family had studied abroad, so hearing their testimonies really excited me to eventually go abroad myself. When deciding which college to attend when I was in high school I had this in mind as well, and knew Ohio State had a great outreach abroad and had many partner universities. 

Last year, my freshman year,  was taken over by lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing, so naturally I knew I did not want to do an online education abroad because I would still be in Columbus taking classes. Consequently, I decided this past fall to study the Spring of my Third year, since I was concerned about missing football season, and thought it would be perfect to travel afterwards since I would have the summer off. This plan was interrupted when I was told that since I was in the Accounting Honors Program I would be unable to attend a study abroad program in the fall or spring, as it would interfere with the curriculum plan. 

When I heard of that rule I immediately did research because I wanted to continue with the Accounting Honors Program, but I did not want this to interfere with my dream to go abroad. I went to the website of the Fisher' Office of Global Business and looked through and studied the vast opportunities they had for the summer. Between internships, exchanges, and global consulting. I realized I wanted to study instead of work abroad. I wanted to understand what it was like to be a student in Europe, and I had two options to choose from. The two choices I had were between Koblenz, Germany and Strasbourg, France. There was a difference in length of time, with Strasbourg being the longer program, and knowing that Strasbourg was a combination of German and French culture with it being in the Alsatian region of Europe, I wanted as much culture as I could get (I can actually ride my bike to Germany in 15 minutes!). So ultimately, I chose Strasbourg without knowing half of its significance to the European Union and Europe. 

I applied for this program in October and the application took about two weeks to process before I had an interview. The interview was pleasant. I felt that I was able to express freely why I wanted to study abroad, how much it meant to me, and how I valued the opportunity studying abroad would give me to develop my character along with my academics. 

When I received my letter of acceptance about three to four weeks later I was extremely excited to have this opportunity to study abroad through Ohio State and the Ècole de Management Strasbourg, developing my knowledge at a prestigious business school in one of the European Union’s capitals. 

My next task was to figure out how I would finance my studies. Luckily, Fisher has great opportunities for grants and scholarships that we can apply to for study abroad. I am currently using the Fisher Global Grant and the Fisher Passport Scholarship. Each of these was extremely straightforward with the application process, and the coordinators for each were exceptionally helpful, I cannot express enough how much I recommend applying for scholarships and grants. One opportunity I did not take which I wish I would have would be completing the STEP program, and using the money towards my travel abroad as you can use it for flights and food. 

With the excitement and thrill I had for the program came common nervousness. I was told in my interview that this program would be a highly independent experience. Meaning I had to find my accommodation, contact the host institution, figure out the visa standards, COVID regulations, travel, the currency exchange, and many other obstacles on my own, in a country where I did not speak the native language. Independence was important, but there are a lot of resources Ohio State and your host institution can give you that help relieve the burden of this stress. In my experience, the program coordinators from Ohio State, and the foreign institution are more than willing to help guide you through this process, but you will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting, because they want to see that you are invested in this opportunity, which made it more rewarding for myself. 

Hopefully, this post helps those who are looking for more information on the application process, and want to hear the thought process of someone who has been through it. Always check the Fisher's Office of Global Business website, as there are many sources of information that will supplement your needs and answer your questions.