high school study abroad affect chances?

theatreworm · 06-10-2006, 10:14 AM

how would studying abroad senior year affect one's chances of getting into college? If I did study abroad, it would probably be in a country in which i didnt speak the language (possibly czech republic, hungary or croatia), and therefore the courses i took would not be as advanced... however, i will have completed 95% of my high schools graduation requirements by the end of junior year and could finish those requirements abroad (therefore I would still have a high school diploma from my american high school). how do you think colleges would percieve my year abroad... as a blow off year b/c my courses werent as advanced, or as a unique experience that would make me a more independant and open-minded student? also, does anyone know how foriegn universities, especially in the uk and austrailia would look at this?

Niomi · 06-10-2006, 02:43 PM

I'm curious too. What's the answer to this?

kemet · 06-10-2006, 03:52 PM

I don't think it would hurt your chances. After all, colleges encourage their students to study abroad. I knew an IB student who spent her junior year in Japan and got into Williams, Bryn Mawr, St. Olaf, and a few others.

boho_girl · 03-12-2008, 05:46 AM

It's an old thread, but I am still curious about effects of study abroad year on admissions outcomes.
Any thoughts?

michaelm · 03-15-2008, 10:01 PM

I'd post in one of the other sub-forums because this section doesn't get much traffic.

boho_girl · 03-16-2008, 05:31 AM

Yeah, you're right. Thanks

blondie08 · 03-26-2008, 04:15 AM

hey, i did a semester last year in china, and i think it helped a ton. at least in my experience, it seemed like everyone was able to be a varsity athlete, student body member, club president, and studying abroad is still something that few people do on the high school level, so it really does help to stand out. i had alright-ish grades, and solid test scores, but i really think it was my time in china that got me into college.

allyross · 05-09-2008, 01:39 PM

I'm currently in Portugal wrapping up my junior year of high school and from what I've heard high school exchanges look great on college applications.
I'm looking forward to seeing if that works out in practice though...

boho_girl · 05-09-2008, 01:47 PM

I think it gives more boost to an app if you've gone to a country that not many people usually go to.
That sort of leads me to believe that for us, internationals, USA is just plain and usual place for everyone, while if someone's gone to, say, Ghana, I think that'd be looked on more favorably.
I mean, it's always good to do a study abroad, but to what extent in college app, depends on individual cases.

In the end, in top schools' application pools, sooo many people have lived abroad (or are bilingual), that doing just the usual study abroad isn't enough anymore. While for some other less selective schools...

dollyflower · 05-28-2008, 07:58 AM

I don't know...I think a program like Rotary, or winning a scholarship for study abroad would be more significant than just going to a less popular (poorer?) country. It couldn't hurt having both

but many parents object to study abroad enough as it is and it's hard to convince them to let you go to such and such third-world-esque country.

boho_girl · 05-28-2008, 02:35 PM

^^ I agree. Winning a scholarship for study abroad is an excellent EC list booster

(not only that, of course)
I don't know how it goes in the rest of the world, but in my town, any rich kid, regardless of their academic abilities, can get Rotary scholarship only because their parents are members. Not to say that Rotary scholars are not qualified, but I know of a few cases in which it's obvious they got it just because of their parents.

Yet programs like UWC definitely give an advantage. Not only it is recognized in the world, but their students study by IB program, and their graduates have scholarships at many top colleges.
Plus, their schools are located on 13 locations worldwide. I think you'd stand out more if you say you studied in, for example, Norway or Bosnia and Herzegovina, than in some English speaking country.

But nonetheless, study abroads are fun, and they are a nice contribution to your EC list.

dollyflower · 05-28-2008, 03:56 PM

Oh yeah, DEFINITELY non English speaking > English speaking. But Developed country > Developing country is more questionable. You get more bang for your buck if you learn a foreign language, anyway.

boho_girl · 05-28-2008, 04:00 PM

Well, yeah, I just threw Ghana in there because I didn't think many people often go there on study abroads

But for most of us internationals, English is a foreign language. Only it's too popular of a foreign language that it doesn't really make us stand out if we went to USA for a year or so.
And scholarships would definitely be a way to go. I think parents would be the happiest with that