I wanted to make a post on here about my honest review of the CBYX program as I feel mislead whenever I began researching and applying for the program in 2019. I am a 2 time recipient of the scholarship and finally after 2 years of waiting I am in Germany. Initially you are given the impression that you will have a lot of freedom and the ability to integrate into German culture but my personal experience has been anything but that. My first problem with the CBYX exchange is the organizations which place us with host families called Partnership International (PI) and Experiment. My experience is primarily with PI and god are they awful… They gave me a temporary host placement in June and still do not know where I am going to be in November… (it is almost October) in addition several friends in the program were placed in abusive families who would body shame them and bully them for not knowing German. That’s not to say that every host family is bad, mine is sweet, but there is definitely a chance you will be placed in an environment where you will not be happy. In the case that there should be a problem with your host family PI and Experiment have been known to try and ‘work it out’ even in situations where the student is being forced to buy all their own food or in an unsafe environment. Overall the general experience is that the organizations that place us with host families do not care about the participants like they claim to. Another problem nobody ever warned me about is the constant sexual harassment women experience in Germany. On a daily basis I am followed and cat called even in my small village which is very uncomfortable. The advice I was given- “cover up”. It is attitudes like that which run rampant through the program that makes it very difficult to flourish. That’s not to say that every aspect of the exchange is miserable, personally I have a lot of fun on weekends going to teen clubs and parties with people but the day to day feels very boring and unproductive. If you are applying to this program as a gap year before college be prepared to be bored out of your mind. I am in classes with students 2-3 years younger than me which is standard for this program and since I have graduated high school there is very little for me to do. I ask myself everyday why I am here… If you are the type of applicant who is strictly academic and a bit quite/nerdy/compliant then this program is probably great for you and I urge you to apply but if you are more of a social/ambitious/adventurous applicant I would maybe recommend a paid exchange program or just doing independent travel. If anyone has any questions about the program I can give an honest answer.
Hi, My brother is currently in this program and is facing some of the same issues that you mentioned that your friends were in. Is there anyway I could reach out and talk to you more about your experience?