Can a 13 or 14 year old become a Foreign Exchange student to The UK, SPAIN, or, ITALY?
In the United States, to be a traditional exchange student, you must be at least 15 years old by the time your program starts — you can apply at 14. You should really go during your junior year of high school. That will give you some maturity and also allow you to arrange your schedules so that you graduate on time (you may have to take some summer classes or correspondence classes). I would suggest either Spain or Italy. If you go to the UK, you will lose one of the primary benefits of a student exchange — language immersion. The three premier organizations (meaning the ones you SHOULD use) with the best reputations are YFU, AFS and Rotary. I’ve listed the web sites below (or your counselor might have some info). Language training may or may not be necessary for the country in which you’d like to study. I know it is for all French speaking countries, but not for Germany and Japan. Check with the program representative to be sure. I’ve also given you an on-line information center and
