NYCKevin

This summer (summer before junior year) I really want to attend a field study program in Ecuador and the Galapagos. It complements my other extracurriculars so well, which are focused largely on environmental science, ecology, and conservation. Even my science research is focused on environmental science and evolutionary biology -- it's a passion of mine.

However the problem is the price, which is about $7000 for four weeks. After financial aid that the program gives, my family is able to pay for it, maybe with the help of a little fundraising. But I'm concerned on how this will look to colleges. Will it be useless in the terms of a college admission officer, because of the hefty price tag? Or will colleges look beyond that, and see that I'm simply following my passions? By no means is my family wealthy either, we're lower middle class and are in an income bracket that qualifies me for Questbridge.

Thanks.

NYCKevin

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naoman16

In my unexperienced opinion, I think that you SHOULD be fine with this, depending on a few things, and I'm not talking about for college. It would be a waste of money for you to go on this trip, only for it to have activities that are merely there to keep you busy. This $7000 sticker-price would be acceptable for a program that's at least one month long. Any shorter than that and they're most likely just trying to extort money for themselves, like many college summer programs. The only way to know if this program is any good would be to closely examine the itinerary. Compare it to other well-known, prestigious foreign-study programs; how does it fare under that scrutiny? Does it seem to have about the sameas the other prestigious programs, or does it fall severely beneath the bar? What will be provided for you in terms of housing and meals? Those are the types of questions that you should ask yourself before committing to the program. If you still want to attend the program, and you feel that you would truly get something out of it, then, by all means, definitely go on the trip! It does not matter what colleges' preconceived notions of the program exist; what matters is how well you represent the enlightening experience you were able to get out of the program. I know a kid who only did Columbia's summer program, a known money-machine program, who managed to represent his experience so well that he was able to get into Stanford.
So, as you can see, you should only take into account how interested YOU are in the program and how much YOU feel you could take away from it. Forget the colleges; you can make working at the MCDONALDS seem enlightening if you truly did get something out of it.
However, what program is this, anyway?

NYCKevin

thanks for your insight this is the program: Overland | Field Studies Ecuador & Galápagos | Summer Spanish Service Exploration