Mette Tolstrup: Independently arranged exchange

My goal for studying abroad: I lived in Australia for ten months following upper secondary school. That was an intense way of experiencing the country and I wanted to try that again. I would have studied in New Zealand, but the tuition fee (the cost of a student place, ed.) was much too high. In Canada my study abroad scholarship covers two-thirds of the tuition fee. I also think that academically, the subjects I’m going to take in Canada are a better alternative to the courses at AU. 

My experience thus far: Psychology is generally a difficult subject for finding an exchange programme while still a Bachelor student, because we don’t have a module with elective subjects. Plus, only the most popular universities offered courses where credits could be directly transferred. So you need extremely high grades to be considered for enrolment via an exchange agreement. I therefore planned it myself with help from the EDU organisation and it’s been great to have them as an intermediary between me and the host university. Sometimes contact with foreign universities can make you feel pretty worthless.

My best piece of advice: Check out your opportunities unbelievably well in advance! I spent 18 months finding a university and the right courses.

What’s been difficult: Believing that the whole thing would come together. There has been a great deal of uncertainty along the way. What if the university didn’t offer the course I’d chosen, would I have to find a new course and go through the process of advance approval all over again? That was the reason why I bought my ticket at the last minute. There has not been much help available from AU in relation to organising my own study abroad, so I'm happy for the help I could get from EDU.

What’s been great: Finding out how much I wanted to do this. I’m looking forward to it so much, which is actually a little strange, looking forward to something so much even though you don’t really know what you’re getting yourself into.[Translate to English:] Mit mål med at rejse: Jeg boede i Australien i ti måneder efter gymnasiet, og det gav en intens oplevelse af landet. Det vil jeg gerne prøve igen. Jeg ville have læst i New Zealand, men tuition fee’en (udgift til studieplads, red.) var alt for høj. I Canada rækker mit udlandsstipendium til 2/3 af tuition fee’en. Fagligt tror jeg også, at de fag, jeg får i Canada, er bedre alternativer til fagene på AU.  

Translated by Peter Lambourne