How to Choose an Agency to Host a Foreign Exchange Student

Interested in hosting a foreign exchange student but don’t know what to look for in an agency? In this blog post, I’ll walk you through 3 steps to find agencies near you and how to learn more about them. As well as one tip for testing the waters. 

My name is Jenni with Host Family, Exchange Student Life where we help you navigate through real life hosting an exchanging to help you create an extraordinary experience though informational content, vlogs and interviews. 

It can seem overwhelming to research agencies in order to host a foreign exchange student. Are there more than one to choose from in your area? Where do you find them? How do you spot a good or a bad one? With a number of factors coming into play, I’ve come up with 3 steps and 1 special tip to help you find an agency that may be right for you.

Step one Do a search. Get on the internet and type in “Hosting a foreign exchange student near me.” If you live near a major US or Canadian city the chances for being near multiple programs is higher. When agencies pop up, make new tabs to look over in a bit, or jot down the names to look into them later.

I like to keep thing organized and I’m a paper and pen person. I came up with this one for you to download and use below. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vW_rpeirCvppKvaKN6b4dBDaNSqOrMg0I3aiIkH2uUQ/edit?usp=sharing

Once you have the agencies listed on your computer, or the sheet I provided, it’s time to give them a look over.

Step two, Organize

First column is the name of the agency.

Second column, list the types of programs they offer. There are Short Term, Academic Program, International School System, Private School Program, and Flagship School, Homestay or internship. The two biggest factors for what these types of programs offer is the duration you’ll be hosting the student for and what they are expected to do while here. Some come to experience the culture, some come for rigorous academics, some for work. If you’d like to know more in depth details of the similarities and differences between program type offers, in 2021, there will be a blog post covering that.

In the next column, note the duration. Does this agency offer hosting for a week, a month a semester or a full a school year?

In the fourth column, note which age ranges they serve. Is this K-5, Middle, High School or beyond?

Next is, do they let you choose the student? This may or may not be important to you. We have a house full of girls and so we prefer hosting girls for now. That is until this little guy grows up :)

The next column is a place to make note if they offer a stiped or not to cover room, board and transportation. Not all agencies provide one and the amount is varied.

The last column is for anything else you want to note.

Hopefully, you have more than one agency to choose from. If you don’t keep reading and we can walk you through if you want to give them a try.

You’re doing great! On to Step number 3, once you have your information let’s look at reviews. We’re going to start on their website. And of course they are going to post the very best reviews, but at least you can get a sense for where the program shines. Do the host families note how prepared the exchange students are in their academic workload? Is the agency extremely responsive in supporting it’s families needs? Jot down any notes you want to remember.

Now for the external reviews. Keep in mind it’s best to do this step with a grain of salt. I did my own mock search, and was sometimes discouraged. In fact, some reviews made me scared to ever host! And I’ve hosted for years with great experience! Then I also stumbled on glowing reviews of people who’ve hosted dozens of students and will continue to. They make it all seem like unicorns and marshmallow clouds dipped in chocolate, covered in sprinkles with whipped cream and a two cherries on top. (The cherries that have the connected stem, lol.) What is up with these opposite reviews of the same agency?

My college communications teacher, Mr. Bean said, “There’s always going to be people who hate you, no matter what you do. There’s always going to be people who love you, no matter what you do. If you really want to see how you’re doing, look at where the top of the bell curve lands.” Helpful thinking, Mr. Bean.

The negative reviews usually come up because the student doesn’t obey program, academic or house rules. The agency could be great! Some issues come up because coordinators don’t care to do their job of keeping in touch at and mitigating issues satisfactorily. Some reviews are because host families host for the wrong reasons, it causes problems because the agency won’t play their game. And other issues are truly minor misunderstandings, but they get blown out of proportion due to stress. Like I said, a grain of salt.

As for our experience, for 3 years we have had the same coordinator and our agency has changed administrators, some guidelines and protocols 3 different times. So bad agencies rarely change and have an obvious bell curve you don’t want to try. Good agencies adapt. Great agencies innovate. All in all, if agencies take care of their most vital participants, the students needs and the host families needs, (and the parents who send them!) it doesn’t matter how many times the board meets, what the emails or brochures say, how fancy their website or Instagram account is, or if the coordinator has a long resume. The bread and butter is in the people!

I know someone from the bad agency is reading. Step it up and take care of the students and families better, deliver on your promises, or you’re toast!

Here is my special tip for testing the waters of any agency you check out. The tip is to talk with humans! After researching online and comparing options, give them a call! Speak with a live human to ask them any general and specific questions you have.  How do they treat you and your questions? Do they value your time or treat you as an inconvenience? Do their answers seem complete or are they unsure?

Second, ask to meet, virtually or in person, with a coordinator, or two or three. And do the same questioning with them. Present them with scenarios about host family and exchange student conflict and ask how they have responded in the past, including the timeline. And lastly, ask them for names and numbers of 2-3 host parents you can call and questions to about the agency and their experience hosting.

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There you have our 3 steps for checking out if agencies are a good fit. Do internet research, make a list outlining their varied offerings, look at reviews with a grain of salt. And my special tip to find out their vibe is speaking with humans.

Question of the day: Which tip did you find most helpful, or what other tips do you feel should’ve been included. Type them in the comments below, I look forward to reading them.

This is Host Family, Exchange Student Life and we exist to help you get ready for, spend time with and say goodbye to each other, along with Agency and Coordinator relations. Everyone should do their part to make an Extraordinary experience. Find peace in your world, and we’ll connect soon!