Exchange students adapt to campus life

No, it's not a British invasion. This year, 12 students from Oxford University are studying at the University as part of its new foreign exchange program. The exchange initiative, which had a bumpy start last year, now appears to be operating successfully.

"The little kinks in the first year have been worked out, we've learned a lot," Associate Dean of the College Nancy Kanach said. Last year, two visiting students from Oxford returned home almost immediately after arriving on campus.

In addition to the 12 from Oxford University, one exchange student this year is from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po.) in France.

Six of the Oxford students are in their fourth year of studies, and the other six are second year history students. The fourth-year students are either engineers or biochemistry students.

The foreign exchange programs involve a direct student exchange with the University. A similar number of Princeton students are going to Sciences Po. and Oxford.

"The number [of students] should be balanced out in three years," said Kanach, who directs study abroad programs at the University.

At their home institutions, students go through a rigorous selection process to study abroad at Princeton. It involves an initial nomination by the institution followed by further reviews from departments here and finally approval from Kanach's office.

"They basically want to ensure that we are good people. They want us to be aware that we are representing Oxford while we are over here," said Matthew Cartwright, an engineer from Oxford.

Princeton social life

The Street and the residential colleges are an important part of a visiting student's experience. Seven of the younger students live in residential colleges, while the other five live in upper class housing.

When students arrive, they must adapt quickly to the new environment.

"When we came over here, we realized that Princeton is not America, it's sort of isolated," Cartwright said. Orientations helped to ease the transition.

"They are all invited to the international student orientation in the fall," Kanach said. In addition they are taken out to shop and buy necessities for their rooms. Marie Reynaud, the student from Sciences Po., said she benefited from the orientation experience. "From the first days of school I knew people in Forbes," she said.

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"The residential colleges give them a much better environment," Kanach said.

However, fitting into the upperclassmen social scene has been more challenging for Kanach to orchestrate.

"One of the concerns was what to do with the upperclassmen. Some of the clubs have responded very nicely [this year]."

Several of the students from Oxford made arrangements to join Colonial Club this fall.

"We were eating in Frist. It wasn't very pleasant. We just sat in our rooms bored," Alex Quayle said about his experiences before joining Colonial.

"When we first came, it was quite hard to meet Americans," Lewis Ansell concurred.

"Everything has gotten much better. I am enjoying it much more," Rachel Armitage said.

Beyond stereotypes about the large food portions, students come from abroad with certain expectations about American and Princeton life.

Princeton was Reynaud's first choice out of 250 colleges all over the world. "I wanted to be on the East coast and have a traditional campus," she said.

Others were motivated to study here for other reasons.

"Princeton has a good reputation," Cartwright said.

In addition to figuring out the Street, visiting students have to deal with different academic systems. In England, students begin to specialize in a subject when they are around 16 years old.

"The academic system is very different. It's slightly more relaxed here. We are restricted by Oxford, but we can choose a bit more here," Armitage said.

Cartwright also sees differences between the two systems. "I found the professors here are more approachable," he said.

In addition to academics, most of the students have become involved in several activities.

"There's something for everyone," Ansell said. "The facilities here are amazing." He and many of the other Oxford student participated in club sports this fall.

Armitage was disappointed to learn that despite qualifying for the varsity field hockey team, NCAA rules would not allow her to play.

Overall, the students appear to be enjoying their stay at the University. Some might even be willing to come back to live in America. Quayle said he will soon be going to a job interview in Texas.