Bonjour,
When you go on to apply for your exchange it will ask you to put in your name email phone number etc. Easy, right?
Don’t be fooled after the quick 5-10 questions you will quick realize that you have many more pages of information to fill out. Depending on how motivated you are you could probably finish it in about a week. I finished all of the application in one day but then you will also need to get forms signed by your school which took my school about a month to fill out (very slow) and you will also need to get a form filled out by your doctor with vaccinations and things like that.
Depending on what country you are going to may have to get additional vaccinations. (France did not need any) Therefore I would give yourself about a month at least to fill out your application. The more time the better so you don’t have to be stressed.
After filling out the application you will receive an email from AFS USA (or where ever you may be from) This email will usually take between 2-4 weeks. The email will be your acceptance into the program. This means that you will get to go on exchange. This does not guarantee that you will get to go to your first-choice country but you will go somewhere.
***If you do not get your first-choice country don’t back out! You will love anywhere you go trust me! Even if you don’t know any of the language or anything about the country. Sometimes the least known places can surprise you! If I were to go on AFS again I would go to the country on the list in which I know nothing about! ***
Then once you get the email confirming that you are going on exchange after about another 2-4 weeks you will receive an email from the AFS country in which you want to study in! This is your acceptance into the program. It guarantees you that they will find you a host family in that country.
The next thing could come 2 hours later (like mine) or the day before you depart for your new home. That is your host family letter. I got my host family extremely early but one of my really good American friends who went to France also didn’t get her host family until the day before we flew to New York. Don’t be worried if you don’t get a host family right away. That doesn’t mean that you won’t get a good family it just means that they haven’t found the right family for you yet. Also Host family applications are on a rolling basis, so some families just haven’t even been accepted yet to pick their student. Host families are not all the same don’t worry if you have tons of siblings or just parents because they are all awesome!
I hope that this helps you learn a little more about the process. Let me know if you have any questions and I would be happy to help the best I can!
à bientôt
xoxo Gina