How will I look to an admissions officer?

I attended public school for my freshman and sophomore year, then went to private boarding school in Jordan for my junior year. Will it help me to stay in the boarding school or go back to the US and attend public school again for my senior year (however it would be a different public school from my first one)?

Help you with what? Admission in general? Admission to an elite school? Admission with financial aid? Will you be applying as an international candidate or are you an American currently studying abroad?

I am an American studying abroad and I want to be seen as a competitive applicant. If I stay in Jordan another year I will be seen as a two year study-abroad student. I am looking to go to an elite, competitive school and I am not as concerned about financial aid admissions.

Although study abroad is in many ways the ultimate EC, I’m not sure what you’d gain by staying for a second year in terms of admissions advantage. What’s the main language spoken at your boarding school? If it’s English, and your contact with Arabic is limited, you lose the biggest plus of a study abroad - gaining fluency in a foreign language in addition to the kind of cultural flexibility and maturity you have to show by living with a local family while abroad.

Anyone else?

I think it’ll be better for you to stay at the JOrdanian boarding school because it’ll give you more time to improve any language skills but most importantly you’ll have had more time developing a relationship with teachers who’ll be writing recommendations. If you go to a new high school for senior year, your Jordanian teacher will only have one year to base their evaluations on.

That’s a good point, MYOS

Fortunately my contact with Arabic has been very high. I entered this school as a “specialized” (so-to-speak) student who was part of a small, intimate group of Westerners learning Arabic (with Arabic classes twice a day, immersion opportunities, etc). I think (but I am not 100% sure, maybe you will know the answer to this question) I will be looked at within the pool of students in this region from an admissions officer which would be an advantage. If I move back to the States I will be compared with other students in the North East with notoriously churns out some of the most intelligent students. For this reason I wonder if continuing here is beneficial?

As an American, you will be competing against other Americans educated, at least in part, in other parts of the world.

There is no doubt that being part of a select group of students doing something difficult/challenging (the Arabic program) will set you apart. Will it be enough to get into an Ivy League-caliber school? Very hard to say.

Is your boarding school an international school - with AP, IB, A Level, IGCSE’s?

It has APs. Currently I’m taking 2 APs (AP Capstone Seminar and AP Psychology) next year I plan on taking AP Literature, AP Capstone Research, and possibly AP European History.