How Does Exchange Work?

Exchange is one of the many options universities offer, but surprisingly few people take advantage of it. This really baffles me because the process is so straightforward, thanks to the great folks at the Queen’s University International Programs Office (IPO).

The process starts early in second year when I had to start looking at schools and countries in which I wanted to study. I chose to go on exchange because I knew this would be the only time I’d have to live abroad and explore before I started working. Additionally, I thought it would be interesting to study politics from a non-Canadian perspective. I also decided to step out of my comfort zone and study somewhere that wasn’t Western Europe. This left me with East Asia or Turkey or Morocco. I found the school in Morocco was more focused on politics in the Middle East and was a much smaller school than any of the others. I decided that this was the school I wanted the most.

Of course it wasn’t as simple as just saying “I want to study in Morocco” and then going; there was an application process. With it, I needed a resume, a prof recommendation, and an essay on why I wanted to go on exchange and what I thought I would gain academically from it. I could not have done any of this without the support and advice from my family. They helped me so much with this process. This was all due in January, then the waiting game began.

Just before Reading Week in February, I received this:

which meant that Queen’s had nominated me to the school in Rabat. It wasn’t a full acceptance but it was about 60% of the way there.

Next, I needed to apply to the Ecole de Gouvernance et d'Economie in Rabat. This involved filling out a ton of paperwork and writing a new essay. Basically they wanted to know who I was and why I wanted to study in Morocco. After submitting that (the day before I left Kingston with 3 minutes to spare) the waiting game continued.

A few weeks after that, I got this:

Which is my final acceptance to the university in Rabat. I want to give a HUGE shoutout to all the people at the IPO for all their advice, as well as to my family and friends for all their support over the last 6 months or so. So excited to be spending the next nine months studying politics in Rabat!