Kevin O’Keefe did not think highly of LSU his junior year. However, after he participated in the National Student Exchange program to spend a year attending Hunter College in Manhattan, N.Y., he returned with a revived faith in the University and a fresh outlook on academics.
“It made me appreciate what I had here,” said O’Keefe. “It made me stop judging schools in a ‘this school is better than this one,’ [way]. It showed me that there are many different ways of doing things.”
Jared Granier, University NSE coordinator, said NSE offers students the opportunity to attend a different university within the United States.
“NSE allows you to use your financial aid, TOPS and any other aid,” Granier. He also said students have the option of paying the host school’s tuition or paying LSU’s tuition for the exchange.
Peter Wiess, a peer adviser for the LSU Study Abroad program, said students often find that going on an international exchange might be too much.
“Each state has at least one school in the program, and in most cases they have four or five,” Wiess said. “It can get you to most places in this country.”
Wiess said while students come to the office interested in international programs, many students actually follow through with national exchanges. Wiess said the reason more students opt for the more local exchanges is because students incur less out-of-pocket expenses, the application process is simpler and the deadlines for application are less rigid.
Granier said the first step of the application process is signing up to attend an informational meeting with him. To do so, students should stop by the Study Abroad office on the first floor of Hatcher Hall and sign up on the bulletin board. Students can also log on to www.oip.lsu.edu/apa/nse/int/meeting_signin.asp to submit a sign-up form.
At the informational meeting Granier said he gives the interested student an application packet and goes over the application process. He also gives more information about the exchange program and answers questions.
“After the meeting, the ball is thrown back to the student’s court,” Granier said. “It’s up to them to research different schools they might be interested in and also checking out the different classes those schools offer.”
Granier said the application process is lengthy, but well worth the time. He said in order for students’ financial aid and classes taken at the host school to apply to their degrees, all forms in the application process must be completed correctly.
The application fee is $125, plus $100 for each semester at the host school. Granier said the $100 ensures the student remains concurrently enrolled at LSU.
Granier said he will accept applications for priority placement until Feb. 21. He will take applications for the spring 2004 semester until early November.
“I really wanted to take courses in Chinese, so I sought out schools that offered Chinese as a major,” said O’Keefe, now an LSU alumni.
He said while on the exchange, he learned more about cultural diversity because Hunter College did not have a majority of students of one race.
“You’re forced to interact with people of all different backgrounds and different stories,” said O’Keefe.
O’Keefe said the exchange heightened his awareness that America was built on the influx of people from abroad.
“That’s what gives us our vitality and our energy,” O’Keefe said. “The more I thought about that, the more internationally minded I became, the more desire I had to be conscience of things that were happening in the world.”
Before he went on the exchange, O’Keefe said he was divided among which major to choose. However, when he was at Hunter College he settled on English.
“The school was very progressive and had different ideas about literature and other things I was studying,” O’Keefe said. “It got me excited about being an English major.”
O’Keefe said anyone who thinks they’re ready to handle something demanding should go on an exchange.
“It’s not that the courses are more demanding elsewhere, it’s just that being able to adjust through all this different and new environments,” said O’Keefe. “It’s a challenge, I think, for most 20-year-olds. If a student thinks they’re ready for that and they want some different, I think it’s a positive environment and a good idea. If you’re driven and motivated to take a challenge, you want to branch out and get away for a little while, do it,” said O’Keefe.