Also, does anyone know of people who made their second choice but not first?
@screenname16 Sorry for the late reply! I’ve been absent from this thread and there was a lot to catch up on.
I talked to people who went on the year program and they said schooling goes like this:
You will be spending a lot of your time on language study. There will also be cultural classes as well. Along with language and culture classes, sometimes you may have gym or even music classes.
You will not be taking traditional subjects like math, science, etc because the purpose of the program is to learn the critical language of the host country therefore you will be spending a lot of time doing so. 
I hope that this helped you and anyone else that was wondering!
Some of the questions they asked through me off a little- my interviewer actually asked me who wore the pants in my family and i had to contain my laughter before i said very carefully ‘my parents do their best to make it equal’
For those of you who do not know, I’m a sophomore applying to NSLI-Y for the first time (China Summer!) You can call me Ang!
Also, with regards to finalist notifications, its anyones guess. This year NSLI-Y has been doing everything much faster. We were all notified about semifinalist status between Dec 1st and 2nd compared to the other years when it took a couple of weeks for everyone to become notified. That being said, if NSLI-Y keeps it up, we will probably be notified much earlier than last year and earlier years.
From what I’ve heard, NSLI-Y semi finalists were notified about their finalist status around March 25th. I highly doubt we will be notified this year any later than that.
It’s anyones guess. We all may be notified within two days once the notifications come out like what happened with semifinalist notifications or, once notifications start to come out, it may take a week or a couple of weeks for everyone to be notified.
With regards to when finalists notifications will come out, I would say sooner than later however this is just my guess. It took about one month after the application closed for our semifinalist notifications. There was a much larger pool of applications to go through the first round so this round, I would say that it should take no more than a month, or maybe less (hopefully).
I think that the interviews will all be done by January. I have mine on Jan 24th! After that, it should take hopefully no more than a month to review the semifinalists apps again. My guess, is that we will be notified the last week in Feb or the first week in March!
I hope that this helped you in any way! Good luck to everyone! I will be sending positive thoughts! I really hope we all become finalists!
Hey everyone I’ve been following this thread for a while and just wanted join in. I’m a junior and my top choice is China Summer. My interview is this coming Saturday and I just have a couple questions for those of you who have already had yours.
- Did they ask your parents any questions about you or speak to them?
- What was the hardest question you were asked?
- Any other interview tips?
I’m just very nervous about the interview and want to be as prepared as I can. Good luck to everyone! From what I’ve seen everyone on this thread is incredibly deserving of this opportunity.
I just had my interview yesterday, so I hope this helps:
- Though it said in my email from the volunteer that a parent's attendance was mandatory and that they would probably be asked questions, my mother came along but she was not asked any questions, interviewed, or anything of that nature. The interview was entirely with me. However, it could be different for you.
- I think the hardest question I was asked was something along the lines of "Name a time when you were in an unfamiliar situation, with unfamiliar people, and what you did about it". I didn't think my answer through before I started speaking, and I came across as sounding kind of hesitant in cross-cultural/international situations. However, there were no exceedingly difficult questions or ones I really had to ponder over.
- Don't think intensely on your answers, and be relaxed. It's an interview, a conversation rather than an interrogation, so don't make it harder than it is. Remember what you said on your application, as that is what you would say if you had time to prepare. Other than that, just reiterate what you hope to achieve by attending and how it links to your future.
Best of luck, I’m sure you’ll do well!
- They didn't talk to my parents either, although they did talk to the parents of some of the students around me. I doubt it matters that much though because on the Facebook page others didn't have their interview with their parents.
- Mine was definitely "what was the biggest disappointment you ever faced and how did you handle it n" if you don't know the answer to a question immediately don't just start talking and hope it comes out right, ask for a minute to think about it or to come back to it later, you will be way better off trust me.
- Don't freak out or be nervous. It's a pretty casual interview that's worth ~20% of the admission weight. Dress nicely and be prepared but don't stress, your interviewer will be nice and will want you to advance as a finalist. It's not that bit of a deal and don't worry if you mess up because they will understand. Just answer everything to the best of your ability.
@Zsophia
Hi! I applied for China Summer as my first choice as well, but I’m a sophomore this year~ (Korea Summer and Any Summer were my other choices 
)
A lot of people are saying how their parents didn’t get interviewed haha but I just wanted to put it out there that my parents DID get asked a few questions. I did a Skype interview for about 45-ish minutes by myself and my parents joined in for an additional 10-15 minutes. However, the questions were fairly simple: How does your daughter react being away from home? What does she like to do outside of school? …
I found that practicing my interview really helped too (just thinking through answers to questions that have been mentioned in the forum or on blogs/vlogs and thinking through major events in your life that you might want to use as examples, etc.)
Good luck on your interview! 
@sawtalarab @stvika Thank you! that was very helpful, good luck to you both!
@exoplanet99 Hi! thanks for the advice, I think I’ve prepared fairly well for the interview! Hopefully we’ll both be accepted and maybe see each other in China this summer haha Best of luck to you!
Hey guys,
I’ve been following this thread for awhile, and I was wondering if anyone could answer some questions. I’m a junior and my choices, in order, of programs are Russian summer, Arabic summer, and Hindi summer. I just had my interview yesterday, and I wanted to know if any of you have some opinions on it.
My interview was in a local bookstore, and it was only 20 minutes long, which seems incredibly short in comparison to some of the others, especially considering that we spent the first few minutes going over what the interview would be about.
I was given a piece of paper that detailed some other AFS programs I might be interested in if I didn’t get in, but that was it.
My interviewer didn’t ask my mom any questions.
I had questions about my placement preferences and home life, and then a few about how I would handle difficult situations and why I wanted to study Russian.
My interviewer seemed impressed, and told me that she thought I was a good candidate. I’m only concerned because of my interview’s brevity and the lack of in-depth questions. Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
@Camicita So I don’t know how accurate this is, but I think that the interviewers only had a handful of questions they HAD to ask. Everything else was mainly natural conversation at my interview. Your interviewer just may have not been too chatty.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it
@Zsophia My interviewer had me and my mother fill out a packet with a bunch of questions before the actual interview.
With the interview, they’re trying to get an idea of how you’ll handle the culture shock/homesickness/everything else that comes with packing up and moving to another country. So to “prepare” I’d suggest thinking about all the experiences you’ve had that would help you during your time in your host country. Good luck with everything!
@lovinglife01 THANK YOU SO MUCH! I wish NSLI-Y was more clear about how this worked haha
Thanks! That was the impression I got. She was very to-the-point and we didn’t make much small talk.
I basically just bombed the interview. Do you guys know how much it weighs into the decision? Thanks!!!
I think someone on this thread said 20%, but I’m not positive. My interviewer told me that they write a report and send it to a nationwide panel of judges who evaluate all the semifinalists who interview, so the interviewers don’t make any decisions themselves. That means that even if you didn’t answer the questions well, if you made a good impression on them and they liked you, they might give positive feedback anyway.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the help! Do any of you guys know if the interviewer recommends whether I should go or not? Meaning does he put his opinion or just my answers in the report. Thanks!
@nelsonjonq According to my interviewer, they do not put in any personal input whatsoever when sending the report. It would just be your answers to the questions, so I wouldn’t worry if your interviewer wasn’t the most amiable fellow. Also, as was said, the interview is indeed 20% of the final decision ¨grade¨, and so it’s very possible to still be accepted even if your interview went terribly.
@nelsonjonq I’m also on the facebook page for Korean applicants and a person posted that they emailed their interviewer asking if it was worth 20% and they said no it was not.
@JustinH Thanks! So do you think it holds a lot of weight?
@nelsonjong both of my interviewers (for some reason I had two) made a point to mention that it was “only worth 20% of the decision.” Not really sure how they factor that, it kind of makes me think that they use a rating system to determine who receives and who doesn’t. So if you’re really strong everywhere else then you could still totally be near the top!
Hey guys! I have been SUPER busy, and our WiFi hasn’t been working, so I had a lot to catch up on!
I just wanted to welcome all the new people to this thread!!! I hope that we all are accepted and get to meet!
@lovinglife01 GOOD LUCK TOMORROW!!!