Im super excited I have my interview tomorrow at the interviewers apartment complex. Hopes it goes well. Is anyone else applying for the year in South Korea or China?
Good luck @JustinH !!! 
Wow, they had your interview on a Thursday!!! I thought that they were only on the weekends… 
You learn something new every day!
@JustinH Good luck with your interview! I’m applying for Korean year as well
(If you haven’t already, I highly suggest visiting the Facebook pages for all things NSLI-Y, there’s even one specifically set up for us Korean applicants!)
Good luck Justin!
Did anyone else have their interview at their house? I can’t make the big twin cities east metro interview event, so an interviewer is coming to my house to interview me after school on friday(as in tomorrow) XD
@katewithak
Good Luck with the interview tomorrow. I just got out of mine.
The interviewers said that they would be very surprised if I didn’t get accepted. Just for some advice ( I don’t know if it’s the best) try and bring up your motivation for doing the program and that you are willing to push yourself so you can succeed in it other than that be yourself.
@screenname16
Awesome hopefully we both get the scholorship. My odds are a little less for being picked because I’m a sophmore in Highschool and they said mostly older students are picked.
Does anyone know how much weight NSLI-Y has in the college admissions process? Just wondering; I am a junior so I am going to have to decide about college very soon. Thanks!
@katewithak
No, I had my interview at a church (the same one that @EmmaPotts was at! But different times… ). But at least you should feel more comfortable!!!
@JustinH
That is what my interviewer said too! Apparently she would be really surprised if I didn’t get accepted… But she didn’t seem to know that much about the NSLI-Y program (she was an AFS volunteer)… On the bright side, she was really nice and seemed to like me.
And about the not getting accepted as a sophomore… Being younger doesn’t necessarily mean that it is less likely to get accepted! You just have to show that you are as mature and responsible as a senior would be! Being younger could even help you in your application, to really show that you want this and that you are passionate about languages at a younger age! Usually older kids are picked because the freshman and sophomores who apply are not really mature or really passionate about the program. Btw, I am a freshman… But that also means that we have more years to apply if we aren’t accepted THIS year!
And I don’t really know how much weight colleges will put on it, but going on an exchange does help your application because exchangers are known for being mature, responsible, confident, flexible, and world citizens. Colleges know that going on an exchange isn’t easy (you could talk about your exchange in your colleges essays also!), and takes a lot of courage and maturity. I do think that earning a full-ride scholarship for an exchange will help you in some way for your college acceptances.
Sorry for the really long answers… Hopefully they helped at least a little bit!
Btw, did anyone else notice the change in smileys??? And that smileys are now shown in PMs???
@fromUSA2Russia
Thats what my interviewer told me if I didn’t get accepted make sure next year to apply to it again and also different ones. But now the worst part comes having to wait another 2-3 months before getting the notification.
@JustinH I think really as long as you are mature and confident and passionate, you’ll be fine. I’m a freshman applying for a year program so I feel the am-i-too-young thing!
Okay guys- I just finished my interview. It was at my house, which I think made me a lot more confident. If anyone has any questions, message me!
@fromUSA2Russia THANK YA DEAR!!!~
I just finished my interview. I’d like to think it went really well, but we’ll see! They were telling me that the interview counts for about 20% of the admissions decision.
@reecie569
Only 20% that doesn’t seem right considering we only had to write 2 essays unlike most scholarships that make you right 5 or more.
@JustinH Well if you think about how colleges manage to choose amidst tens of thousands of applicants using only a couple of essays and a transcript, I’m surprised it’s even 20%. The alumni interviews they offer usually don’t have any weight in the admissions decision. Interviews are too subjective to put too much weight in them. We’ll find out though!
To those who interviewed: did anyone else pay attention to like the second to last question where it asked about friends/family in specific countries? I’m curious because it looked like all of the countries/languages were represented, BUT I didn’t see Morocco or Oman, but Egypt. What does that mean, I wonder? Is it possible that instead of Morocco for Arabic, they’re doing Egypt? It’s not even listed under NSLI-Y website anymore, so just curious!
@westcoasterrr Yeah, I’m a bit freaked out about that too! But I think most people heard by April 14 last year, which is after we should have heard back from everywhere. It still doesn’t give us a ton of time, but at least all our options will be out on the table!
I was wondering about that too @writeallnight! Does anyone know why they ask if you have relatives or friends in your country? My parents think it’s because they don’t want to send you there if you do because it’s like you’re visiting them for free which scared me because I said I have distant relatives in St. Petersburg (Russia is my first choice) but Gatchina, a city next to St. Pete, is where I hope to get sent to if I make it.