Application Process

The application process is a multi-step process. It begins locally, with the club in your town, and then goes to a second round of applications at the district level. Expect the actual application process to take 2-3 months.

Preparation before Application

There are a number of things you can do to prepare even before you apply.

• Talking with your guidance counselor at school is the primary thing to do, so that you can ensure you have enough credits to graduate according to your plan (this will be true no matter if you go abroad as Sophomore, Junior, Senior, or "gap-year".

• Talking with your parents and family members about what it will mean to be away for a year, and how to help guarantee that you will be able to focus on your life over there and "cut ties" except for occasional contact with home so that you can focus on your integration.

• Talking with your parents on what to do if there is a family emergency while you are away, and how to handle that situation.

The Club Application

The very first thing you need to do is contact your local Rotary club. With them, you will work with the YEO (Youth Exchange Officer) of that club to start your process.

This can be done at any time before Mid-September.

(For example, if you start the process anytime from (November of 2018-September 2019), you would be preparing for the application in fall of 2019, and planning on leaving for a 2020-2021 academic year abroad).

To kick off the process, you need to:

1. Obtain a Club-Level Application from your local YEO, who will represent your Sponsoring club.

2. Be Interviewed by your Sponsoring Club.

3. After your YEO sends in the results of your Interview, you will be sent a Welcome Letter by the District Outbound Coordinator, which will have a link to start your "District Application"

NOTE: If you plan on doing the much less common "Winter Outbound" process, where you would be leaving in January, and coming back in December, then you still need to contact your Rotary club, and have them interview you ASAP. You will need to ensure this is done by the End of January, so that you can participate in the February Outbound Orientations.

The District Application is typically available starting in Mid-September, and will be due by Mid October. It consists of a number of parts:

1. On-line Main Application

2. Supplementary Paper Forms. These forms are in a fillable PDF file, and you will fill them out, and then print 3 copies. These 3 copies then need original signatures (of your physician, dentist, etc. depending on form).

3. Online Country selection Form

4. Online School Referral Form

5. Additional forms, such as

   • A newly-reissued Birth Certificate (requested in within 2 months of the month of application), so, for example, if your district interview is in November, it needs to be dated from September or October of that year. If you are being interviewed in February as a winter outbound, it needs to be in January or February. Note, you'll only need to give us ONE official copy ... but you may want to order more if you will be sending them in for a passport, etc.

   • Letters of Proficiency from your Language Teacher, and others as specified in the Welcome Letter. (only one copy of the letter is needed)

     • • The Letter of Proficiency must be on School Letterhead, and signed in Blue ink

       • The Letter must also include the Rubric (downloadable below), filled out and signed by your teacher

• • • An Official Transcript from your School (only ONE official transcript is needed).

    • If one or both of your parents are deceased, you will need to send their death certificate(s).

    • If one of your biological parents is non-custodial, and still living, they will need to fill out the Affidavit at the end of the Supplemental forms, and have it signed by a Notary Public. (like the other form in the supplemental packet, you'll need to fill out 3 copies first, then have them signed).

Your YEO will help you with the application process.

Note that the Letter of Proficiency (which is required for each language you listed on the online form) should consist of two parts:

1. A description of your ability as noted by your teacher, typed on school-letterhead, and signed in blue ink

2. The rubric available below, to be filled out by your teacher

The Application Review takes place in mid October. Your YEO should help you look over your application and make sure all the small details are correct. Things to check for (among others) are:

• European Dates yyyy-mm-dd , typed as often as possible.

• No blank boxes (Fill in with N/A instead of leaving it blank)

• Home phone must always be specified .. if you do not have one, put your cell-phone in that box too. It is OK to have the same number in the cell-phone and home phone boxes.

• No misspellings

• The Emergency Reference on form E and G need to be the same, and cannot be someone who lives in your house

• The first page of form E needs to be fully filled out, with help from your YEO.

• All signatures must be Original and in Blue ink (No copies can be made of signatures, even if they are in color)

See the FAQ for more detailed guidance (these were sent or will be sent to you once the Outbound Coordinator receives your Club-Level Interview results), and can be also found below.

Do not gather signatures until after the forms have been reviewed....if there are mistakes, they will need to be fixed, and then the forms will have to be resigned. White-out is not allowed, and the only thing not typed should be the signatures.

Use the CSRYEApplicationChecklist (which will be posted in October), and the ExampleSupplementalDocs_6490_Kent.pdf, available below, to make sure all items are done correctly.

The District Interview, conducted on either the first or second Saturday of November, will be similar in form to the Club level interview you had with your local club. You will be given a 2 hour time slot for your interview. Please arrive on time, which will allow you 30 minutes for settling in and getting forms ready, 1 hour of interview time, and 30 minutes to wrap up.

Finding 3 Host Families, ideally we would like this form (which can be found below) to be turned in with your application, but we understand that for late applicants, you may need some more time. The purpose of this form is for the health of the program. Exchanges work only when there are host families on in both countries ... and so the only way you will be able to go overseas is for there to be host families in the US to receive someone from abroad. However, we believe that exchanges work best when Host Families are not under any obligation to host, but rather are doing so voluntarily, and because they are looking forward to hosting. To encourage positive hosting, but also obtain the required number of host families, we ask your help in finding families that would be willing to take a student at some point over the next 3 years.

So, to summarize, we are not asking for you to find people who commit to hosting during your year abroad, but rather help us find families who would seriously consider hosting over the next 3 years. This way, the program can grow, we can offer more opportunities for students to grow and develop, and you get to play a greater roll in the promotion of international understanding.

You should hear by Mid to late December if the application is accepted by CSRYE.

Once your application is accepted you will be tentatively a part of the RYE program. However, your participation in the Outbound Orientation, the Grand Rapids Conference, and showing goodwill toward preparing for your year will be part of the conditions needed to ensure your year. Rotary reserves the right to prevent a student who is unprepared from becoming a Rotary sponsored Ambassador for our Country.

Shoemaker Scholarship.

The Districts of Central States Rotary (CSRYE) have gone together to create the Shoemaker Scholarship for potential students of low economic means. The application below is available to students of Non-Rotarians, and though spots for the scholarship are limited, we encourage you to apply if you qualify.

Application Documents

Downloadable documents to help with the application process are available below.