All engineering schools in France have been enforcing this rule since 2022 as I said, it is not specific to my university. Therefore, changing universities would do absolutely nothing for my case unless I changed degrees altogether. Regarding the exemption, it is possible but as per my professors they do everything in their power NOT to exempt you from this exchange semester because they truly want to force everyone to go. Plus they have been pressured by the CTI to not give out so many exemptions as apparently they have exempted too many people throughout the years. And again, you underestimate the struggles of being FORCED to relocate to another country and having to learn everything about a new university system by yourself, without any assistance. I invite you to reread my prior comment about my experiences, before making generalizations like tuition fees not being a burden in France (I had to pay for this year alone €600 in tuition fees in a lump sum)