But what is the added value of sending a child to South America over, say, a volunteer program in SD? People were paying the $10k for voluntourism and expecting it to have more pull in getting into college than it does. Do the activities your child enjoys the most without expecting that activity to get you to the head of the line when it comes time for admissions.
I don’t agree with the ‘former AO’s advice’ given in the OP. I really doubt Harvard or Duke get many applications that don’t contain some type of ‘pay to play’, whether it be years of private piano lessons or sport or robotics teams that travel to the national championships. Are there many kids who haven’t been on a class trip to Washington DC that cost $2000 (my own middle class kids didn’t go because it cost $2000) or band or orchestra camp? There are ways to do the adventures much cheaper, but are you going to list 'Traveled to Wash DC with family, Summer ‘18’ on your app?
The app is supposed to show the kid. If this is a kid who went to Space Camp and traveled to the Amazon, that’s who the kid is. I don’t think there is an AO at any school who would rather see nothing listed on the application.