Completing Your Application

Guidance for completing your Application to be a Rotary Youth Exchange Student

Before you begin this application, read these instructions carefully as well as the instructions attached to the application online. This may be the most important and life-changing document that you have
completed in your life-so far. It will be great practice for other applications you will write in the future for other very important opportunities (college, internships, jobs).

This application must be typed!! We will not accept handwritten applications. The only parts of the application that should be handwritten are signatures and dates of the signatures.

What information do you need to know before you fill out this application?

• The name of your Sponsor club (the club that is sending you out on exchange)
• The official number of your sponsor club
• Your Sponsor District (District 5100)
• The name, address, phone number, and email of your District Chairperson
• The name, address, phone number, and email of your club president
• The name address, phone number, and email of your club Youth Exchange Officer

Where do I find this information?

The information about your club president and your club Youth Exchange officer should come from your club’s Youth Exchange Officer. They are the people who arranged your interview.

Who will be reading this application and making important decisions about your future as an RYE Exchange Student?

• As part of the interview and application process your written application will be read by
  • The Interview Panel for your Club
  • The District Youth Exchange Committee
  • The Youth Exchange Chairperson in your Host Country
  • The Youth Exchange Committee in your host club
  • The Principal, Counselor and your teachers in Your Host School
  • Your Host Families

What kind of decisions will be based on this application?

• Your application is THE KEY how you present yourself to others who will have a say in the decisions about your year abroad. The better you can use words to describe yourself and your goals, the better we can get to know you.
• Did you clearly put time and effort into this application? Are there typos or misspellings?
• Did you demonstrate that you read and can follow directions? Is it complete? Are all the signatures in blue ink as directed?
• What are the quality of the photos?
• Your country placement will also be significantly based on the information that you share with us in your application.
• Your community, club and host family placement will also be significantly based on your application. Since your host district will not meet you before you arrive, your application is the only information and the only impression they will have of you.
• Your Photo
  Your photo is the first introduction to many people who are going to be making big decisions about your exchange. This photo needs to be an original, not a copy of a photo. It needs to be on photo paper and it needs to be a crisp, clear close-up of you with a huge smile on your face.
• This is the first and very important impression you will make on people making very big decisions about your exchange. Make
  sure it is a great first impression

Applicant Information

• Your legal name needs to be the name as it appears on your passport or your birth certificate (which you will need to apply for your passport.) Your family name (your last name ) needs to be
  in all uppercase letters). Be sure that your name appears in this form at the top of every page of your application.
• Your email needs to be one that is befitting an ambassador. Hotsstuff@gmail.com is not appropriate. It needs to be an email that you will keep active for a very long time. This is how our district will communicate with you to keep you involved in the Youth Exchange program as alumni. It is how your host families and your host club will stay in contact with you. For the near future, it is how our district will communicate with you as you prepare to go out and while on your exchange. Whatever email you put on this application you must keep as your email. . You will need to check this email on a very frequent basis.

About your Family – List all members of your family

Your Background

• Be completely honest
• Languages
• Ask your language teacher for their honest opinion. Ask them if you were to take an international standardized test fluency test at this moment, where would you fall?

Your Education – You will need to check with your school registrar or your school counselor to get your class ranking.

Student Letter:

• This is a critically important part of your application. The first impression that they will have of you is your photo on the first page of your application. They will deepen their impression of you with this
  letter. While you were given a list of questions to respond to, your answers will be in letter form. You don’t have to answer them in order. Think about what makes sense. Be sure that you have addressed
  all of the questions. Have an organized logical flow to your letter as you answer the questions. Don’t jump from topic to topic. Imagine that an exchange student was coming to live with your family what
  kind of things would you want to know about them? Think about that as you are writing this letter. Do not use any abbreviations; spell out the whole word: Junior Varsity, Advanced Placement, etc.
  Remember that most of the people reading this will have English as their second language. You do not need to dazzle them with your vast vocabulary. Write from your heart with simple eloquence. This is
  actually rather hard to do. Be prepared to do many drafts of this and get feedback from your parents and your language arts teachers at school. There should not be one typo or spelling mistake. As a letter, it should start out with “Dear Host Family and Host Club”, and have a warm follow-up with something like “Thank you for inviting me into your home and community”. Introduce yourself and tell them something about your name: who you were named after or a nickname that people call you, perhaps something about the origins of your first or last name.
• Where do you live?
  The next most logical thing to tell them about you is where you live. Help them find you on the globe. Write it as if you were zooming in on Google Earth. “I live in Western Canada in the
  Province of British Columbia. The nearest metropolitan area near my town is Vancouver. My town is _________. Describe the population of your town, and the three or four most important
  industries that employ people. Describe it physically. What makes it beautiful? What do you love most about living there? Where is the first place you would take a new visitor and why? What
  kinds of things would you want to know about the city/town that you will be going to? Share that information about where you live. After introducing yourself and explaining where you live, answer the rest of the questions in a conversational style. What follows are some ideas for several of the topics:
• School:
  How big is your school? Is the building new? Describe it a little. How do you get there every day. When does school start and end? Explain that you have some choice in the classes that you
  take. Describe the classes that you chose and why. How many periods are in your school day? What are your favorite classes and why? Do not bore them with the details of the start and
  ending time of each class period. What extracurricular activities are you involved in . Most schools in the rest of the world do not have extracurricular activities as a part of school. Sports
  and the arts are community-sponsored activities. What do you like most about your school or being in your school? What is your school best known for?
• Your Home:
  How old is your home? What is the architectural style? One floor or More? Single-family home or apartment? Right in town, just outside of town? Or out in the country? Do you have a big yard?
  A garden? Animals? What is your favorite room in your house and why?
• Parents Occupations:
  This is always of great interest. Don’t’ just give their job title. To say your mom is a “sales representative” does not give very much information. Give some detail about their job and what
  it entails. What does she sell and who is she representing?
• Interests and Accomplishments
  There are two questions about interests and accomplishments. One asks about school and the other outside of school. Often these overlap. For example, you might do music or sports both in
  and out of school. You can combine these two questions. Be sure to talk about any roles of leadership or initiative you have taken. Be sure that you also talk about any volunteer or service
  projects that you have been involved in. Remember – the focus of Rotary is service.
• What do you feel are your strengths and your weak characteristics?
  If you are having a hard time thinking about your strengths, ask some people who love you for their opinion. Ditto for your weaknesses. When you identify your weaknesses, tell the readers what you are doing to turn them into strengths.
• What do you hope to accomplish as an exchange student both during your exchange and when you return?
  When you answer this question, write not only about what you hope to learn and gain and do, write also about what you hope to contribute, and how you hope to give back for the privilege of
  having this amazing opportunity. You can have up to three pages. Remember to make your letter easy on the eyes, This is especially important for second-language readers. Avoid tiny fonts
  and use white space to make it less intimidating.

 

Parent’s Letter:
This is an opportunity for parents to speak heart to heart with the family that will be caring for their child. What is it that you want your child’s host parents to know about your child? If you were hosting someone else’s child, what would you want to know about them from their parents?

Photo Pages (s)

• If your parents are not together and you have two homes, feel free to have two photo pages that describe both and honors your family constellation.
• Make sure that your photos are clear and detailed.
• The photo of your family should be as up close as possible. If you include a photo of you with a group of friends, be sure that it is enough of a closeup to be able to recognize you in the group.
• The photo about your “special interest” and “something important” to you should be mentioned in your letter.

Medical History and Examination

• Important Note: It is critical that you are totally honest and upfront about your medical history and health status. Your health and well-being while on exchange is our primary concern. We want to make
  the best placement possible for you taking into consideration your health issues.
• When you make your appointment with your physician’s office, let them know why you need the physical exam and let them know that you will be bringing a form for them to fill out. Ideally you will be
  seeing a health care provider who has known you for some time. Bring a copy of the two-page medical history and examination form that has the first part filled out and your name on the second page already typed in. Have your provider fill in the history and examination section, and the certification of your health status on one copy.
• Important note: Have the office make 3 copies of the original and then have the health care provider sign all 4 copies in blue ink.

Immunization Section:

One of the major objectives of Rotary International is the eradication of vaccine-preventable disease. Rotary will not send out or accept exchange students who are not fully immunized.
You can obtain a printout of your current vaccinations from your healthcare provider.

TB Test:

If the TB test was done on the day of your physical examination, the results will not be able to be determined until several days after the test was administered. It is acceptable to have a separate
form documenting the results of the test as an attachment to the medical examination. This is a required test.

Dental Examination:

• If you have had a dental examination in the last six months, you can use the results of that examination unless your dentist objects.
• If you have braces and they will not be removed before you leave, you need to have an orthodontic plan laid out for your year away. This needs to be an attachment to your application. If your braces are
  recently off, we need to know what the plan is if you lose or break any follow-up devices like a retainer.

Student, Parent and Sponsor Endorsements (Guarantee Form)

• Important reminder! Everything on this page must be typed except the signatures and the dates of signatures which must be written in BLUE INK
• Host Club, District and School Endorsements (Guarantee Form from your Host District)
• You only need to be sure that your name is typed into the Applicant Name box at the top of the page.
• The rest of the form will be filled out in your host country and district.

Rules and Conditions of Exchange

• In essence, this is your contract with Rotary. You and your parents need to read this section very carefully. If you have any questions you need ask your local club Youth Exchange Officer. On the second page of this section type in your name, and your parents’ names . You may not know ahead of time who from your club will be the witness, it is OK for them to print their name on the form. Again, all signatures must be in blue ink. The information about the emergency contact in your home country must all be typed in. This is the person who would be called in an emergency if your host family or club was not able to reach your parents.
• Important note: If one of your parents has died you must provide a copy of the death certificate. If one of your parents has sole custody of you, you need to attach a copy of the legal document that states that. Your host country will not grant you a visa without these documents if there is only one parent named on your application.

 

Secondary School Personal Reference

• You want to give this form to a teacher who knows you very well. If you are at a new school and no one at your new school knows you well, you may give or send the form to a teacher from you previous
  school.
• Contact your teacher and ask their permission to use them as a reference for your application to be a Rotary Youth Exchange Scholar. Ask them if they would be willing to fill out a reference form.
  (Remember this step for the future – you always want to ask someone for their permission to be used as a reference.)
• Tell them you would be most appreciative if they would take the time to share any additional information on a separate sheet about your qualities and character that would make you a good ambassador.

Additional Documents:

• For each application packet, you must upload a copy of your passport. Your passport must be valid for 6 months after your scheduled return from your exchange. If you do not have a passport. Apply for one now. If you do not have a passport, you must include a copy of your birth certificate.
• You must include a copy of your school transcripts. These do not have to be certified copies of your transcripts. Copies of your report cards are not accepted. It must be a transcript. Rotary
  International requires you to have an above-average grade point average (GPA) to be an acceptable candidate. If you cannot manage school in your own country, in a familiar school system, in your own language, how will you manage school in a foreign country, in an unfamiliar school system in a foreign language?

Remember – You are applying for a scholarship that is valued at over $25,000. We are very selective about who we choose as ambassadors. This application should reflect your understanding of the value of this opportunity.