An American writes in the Bangkok Post:
"It may be a well-kept secret, but students in public schools in the US do not wear uniforms. Yet the US is the country with the highest number of exchange students in the world. Why? The emphasis is on content, not appearance; free thinking, not rote memorisation; creativity, not copying."
It would be very odd if the US didn't have the largest number of exchange students since being the most populous western country it has the largest number of schools. I have no idea why students from other countries than Finland opt to go to the USA, but Finnish high school students certainly don't go there for the reasons cited by the above American. It is a well-known fact that students in US schools score worse than the OECD average in the PISA appraisals. So knowledge is not what Finnish exchange students are after in US schools.
By far the most important reason is the English language. Living in total immersion is the best way to improve one's language skills. Also, since the USA is so far away, it may appear slightly exotic to some students; exotic and yet familiar at the same time because youngsters have seen and heard American English in movies and pop songs and have watched American soaps on TV. Very few Finns take holidays in the USA compared with the number of those who go to the Canaries or the Mediterranean resorts, and therefore a would-be exchange student usually has not been to the USA before he goes there. In other words, everything there will be a new experience for him.
Other English-speaking countries are also popular with Finnish students. England is the number one choice for many and some venture as far afield as Australia.
I know personally several former exchange students and none of them has told me the year abroad greatly increased their knowledge of the school subjects they take the greatest interest in. The year always widens their horizons and improves their English, which is what they usually aim at.
CB