<p>Hi all,
I’m currently enrolled in sophomore year of an engineering major (4 year program). </p>
<p>I’ve recently found out about a rather attractive exchange program offer which pretty much covers ALL the financial cost of a 1-semester trip to a foreign university. Now the thing is that despite the cost coverage, it’ll still be a bit of a hassle since I’ll probably miss out on a few courses at my own uni which I’ll have to make up for later on, and the only reason I want to do this is if it’ll make by grad school application look significantly stronger (so far I have a pretty strong plan of pursuing a masters degree).</p>
<p>So my question is: is it worth it? I don’t have much of an idea of how grad school applications are judged, but I’ve heard that your CGPA at uni, internships/jobs/research experience and GRE scores are pretty much all that matter. Does an exchange program fit into the equation anywhere?</p>
<p>Why would the only reason you want to take an exchange program be to make yourself look better for grad school? Sometimes you just do things in college (and life) because they’re fun and attractive to you as a person and you think they will enrich your own life. If you can go on a one-semester exchange for the same price as you are already paying, you should do it.</p>
<p>Foreign exchange programs only really help your grad school app directly in two cases:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you are interested in international programs - IR, international business, global health, etc. - or some kind of cultural studies program - Portuguese studies, East Asian studies, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>If you do something overseas to enrich your academic program. Like doing environmental engineering research in Ecuador for engineers, or teaching English in Japan for English majors/potential teachers, or working in a government office for potential public policy folks.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In other cases it doesn’t have a direct impact on your admissions. But again, not everything you do in college should be for the purpose of grad school. You never know where that study abroad experience will come in handy, and even if it doesn’t, it’s just a cool thing to do.</p>
<p>If looking good for grad school really is the <em>only</em> reason you want to do the exchange, you’re probably not going to enjoy it.</p>
<p>And juillet is right, I think: in most cases, it’s not going to be a significant factor on your application, unless it’s specifically related to your field or you had some really great opportunity there. (For example, I’m spending this semester at a Max Planck Institute in Germany, which is a really fantastic research opportunity that I couldn’t get elsewhere. However, I wanted to come to Germany to spend a semester in Germany, not to enhance my grad school apps.)</p>
<p>If you want to do the exchange because you think it would be fun or an enriching experience or something like that, go for it. Don’t think of this in terms of grad school. This is generally the type of thing you do for yourself.</p>