efexchangeyear.orgReviews of efexchangeyear.org

Beware of using EF to host an exchange student. They tell you that all you have to do is provide a bed and 3 meals, and transportation to school. But the students come over entitled like it's a vacation and we're supposed to pay for everything, and also complain if they have to do any chores or get asked to help around the house(all we asked for was empty the dishwasher as they refused/made excuses for how they couldnt do anything else). They also got upset when we didn't do a ton of traveling. We even went out of our way to take them to Disney and 2 other trips, and never even got a thank you. They just complained how they haven't gotten to do more like other students. Also, they were super picky on what to eat, and when offered other options like a sandwich, didn't chose to eat at all, and left us feeling like we needed ot cater to their needs. In the end it got worse with things like them constantly saying phrases like "dumb americans". It started off "ok", but then got worse after I expressed my concerns to the coordinator. Then we suddenly became the bad guys. They also never checked in on us. I always had to reach out to ask for help. EF clearly doesn't screen these kids well and/or seems like they're in the money. Sadly, because of this experience, we will never host an exchange student ever again!

Do not send your child on an exchange year with EF! Yes, your child has a chance at having a normal, positive exchange year but if ANYTHING goes wrong you will regret using this company. First, don’t expect anyone in the USA side of the company to respond to you. They will make you wait to talk to your home country organization, even if it is an emergency and your company is closed for days on end for weekends and holidays. Your home country organization has no power. They are puppets and will do whatever the organization in the USA wants to do in your situation. If you do send your child, check in with them frequently and make sure they are being checked on by their academic coordinator. Chances are, if they are in a bad situation, they are not being cared for by EF. When something does go wrong, the communication is abysmal. They will leave you hanging while you wait for answers. They will make multiple phone calls to your child to ask them the same things over and over. They will outright LIE to you, your child, and anyone else involved in the situation - they will tell you one thing is happening when, in fact, it is either not happening at all or completely the opposite. You have no power - other than to know that your child is not safe with this organization. They will tell you how wonderful all the other kids are doing while your child is in the middle of a crisis. They will hire “experts” to talk to your child and then ignore the opinions of those experts because “they don’t work for EF”. They won’t even listen to their own counselors. All EF cares about is money. They do not care about your child. If your child wants to do an exchange year, GO WITH ANOTHER COMPANY!

Wow.... I'm absolutely shocked at our experience hosting the last 2 days. We spoke with our exchange student several nights ago about privacy in the house when we saw her on our hallway camera listening outside bedroom doors at 1:30am and sneaking around the house "we're the 4th host family for her since August". She arrived home from school the next day and the exchange coordinator arrived at our house 1 hour later and removed her. The coordinator was in constant contact with our student, and it seems both were spinning stories. It's absolutely shocking to see how both of them acted when we've been nothing but welcoming and showing great consideration for our student. Both the EF coordinator and student went out of their way to cause unnecessary issues. No wonder she's been removed from 4 host families.

Our family has hosted 9 students from 7 different countries since 2018. 7 of those students being through the EF High School Exchange Year. Sadly after our experience with this organization this past year we will no longer be hosting with EF. 

The majority of our students we consider to be our own kids and part of our own family. We plan to travel and visit them as we are able. We continue to stay in touch after their arrival home. The last 3 students were received from the program were absolutely unacceptable for a variety of reasons. One student we hosted from Germany snubbed everything our daughter had to say to her. She cared a lot about her appearance and boys. We went on many trips with her and received no thank yous which can wear on you after awhile. We took her to Disney and the “thought the castle would be bigger.” Towards the end of the year she thought it was ok to have a boyfriend in her room with the door closed in our house. Being an only child and this being her first boyfriend her parents did not have rules or boundaries at home. She continued to ask if she could sleep at her boyfriend’s house. At the same time was failing her classes. She wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to participate in graduation until the day her parent’s showed up from Germany. Overall her pushing the boundaries with her boyfriend was embarrassing and challenging, right up to the day she went home with her parents. We received 2 students for the 2023-2024 school year. Both did not speak any English to start off with coming from Asian countries, Korea and Japan. 

 The Korean student spent the entire year with us and did not speak to us. She was sent several warning letters throughout the year and EF did not send her home. It was a miserable year for everyone involved. Instead of leaving us a thank you letter when she left, she left us a card with money in it to “send her things home” which didn’t even cover a small box. She left her room a disaster that took us an entire day to clean. The other student from Japan did want to have some interaction with us but could not understand directions or rules. This resulted in her getting in an accident resulting in a concussion 3 weeks into her exchange year before school even started. This resulted this situation consuming our entire lives for 2 months. Driving to the hospital during her stay, arranging for her mom (who also didn’t speak English) to come to the US. Providing food, transportation and housing for the both of them. The student and the mom wanted her to stay and EF would not let her continue her exchange year against everyone’s wishes. EF staff (a lady by the name of Amber) dealt with this situation completely unprofessionally without any compassion. This resulted in anger and emotions on our side, the student and her mom. EF forced her to return to home. After returning home and being cleared medically she requested that EF send her back to the US. The Japan office told her that she did not have host family acceptance, which was NOT the case. They told us that EF would not sponsor her visa and would also not be giving her a refund for the experience. What a total loss for everyone involved. EF told us that they could “see what they could do” regarding the expenses and stress we endured during this time. They sent us a very very small check that didn’t even cover what we went through. When EF “sells” these kids to American families they say they come with their own insurance, spending money and speak English. These students are a liability to families if they get hurt when you are their guardian. If we decide to host in the future, we will be choosing a program that screens their students properly and that requires their students to pay their own way. NOT EF EXCHANGE YEAR.

I had a great exchange year through EF! I would definitely choose EF again because they have a great ambassador program for students who want to enhance their year, and want to inspire future students and share their amazing experiences. It gives you the opportunity to share your stories, in a way that suits you, through webinars, social media, hanging up posters etc. You can also earn points and trade it in for awesome prizes for your efforts! I grew as a person during my exchange year, which I have really benefited from. I'm more open-minded, adventurous and independent. I would recommend EF because they have a great support-network, and awesome opportunities throughout your year. They also have other great travelling programs if exchange years aren't for you!

My experience was awesome. I was placed in a town in Michigan and my mentality going into the exchange year was: “I’m ready for anything and I want to try everything fun and exciting!” I would choose EF again and again because they really showed interest in finding the perfect match for me, in regards of host family. I couldn’t have asked for a better host mom, host dad and double placement. In addition, I felt supported throughout the whole experience and all of my questions were answered when they needed to get answered. I absolutely loved welcome days as well, I thought it was a great way to start the exchange year and it alleviated some of the departure pressure. I grew in so many ways thanks to this experience. I not only became more mature and independent, but I realised what I’m truly interested in. I took part in cross country and track and realised I really enjoy running and I understood how much I like studying economy and taking the class in my American high school actually contributed to my choice of major in university. My brother came to me and said he really wants to go on an exchange year as well, and that he had been thinking about it since he had visited me in the United States. I recommended EF without second thought for all of the same reasons I chose it for and I just know he is going to have a great experience and I’m so happy for him.

sto vivendo il mio viaggio di studi in Colorado, America. MI trovo molto bene con la mia famiglia ospitante, non posso negare che la scelta che ef ha fatto è stata perfetta: sto viaggiando molto, per ora sono stata in 11 stati diversi, il che è impressionante. Inoltre ero molto preoccupata rispetto all'aspetto del cibo, non ho provato trovare niente di meglio, la mia famiglia ospitante mangia salutare e pochi fast food, ma in ogni caso non mi è mancata l'esperienza del della cultura culinaria americana sporadicamente.

EF gave me so many opportunities beyond this exchange year! I left on this crazy adventure in 2019 not knowing what to expect... This semester abroad brought me so much! I achieved my goal of becoming bilingual but more than that, I know have two more families! A wonderful American family that treated me as their own daughter (4 years later we still spend hours on the phone every week) and an international EF family thanks to the opportunity of being an EF Ambassador. Furthermore, this experience made me grow as a person. I had to get out of my comfort zone and I am now more confident, more outgoing than ever ! Honestly, going on an exchange was the best decision of my life! It allowed me to learn more about myself, and about the world we are living in. It opened me to a new culture and opened so many doors for my future!