<p>I’ll be a rising junior next summer, and I’ve received an invitation to be a student ambassador for People to People. I was planning to do the European Odyssey trip - France, Italy, and Greece. The trip is twenty days long.</p>
<p>But I was also thinking of applying for the Iowa Young Writers Studio. Even if the schedules do not conflict, I doubt my parents will be able to dig so deep in their pockets to pay for both programs. And I do understand that the IYWS is quite prestigious and only 120 students are accepted.</p>
<p>So, should I even apply for the IYWS, or should I just do People to People?</p>
<p>Here’s the deal with people to people. It is a fun experience. You’ll get to see a whole lot of amazing things. However, it is not an honor to be in people to people and it will not help with college applications at all. So if you go to people to people with that understanding, you’ll probably have a fantastic time and be terribly sad when it’s over. Iowa Young Writer’s Studio is very prestigious and you will most likely learn a great deal about writing. While this might not be a hook on your college apps, it will certainly look good and you will learn a lot about writing that will help to improve your college essays.</p>
<p>I would say that anything´s better than People to People
You just pay a ton of money to travel.</p>
<p>I guess it´s a fun experience but nothing more…</p>
<p>^eunjilee90 said it. It’s a valuable experience, for sure, just like any abroad experience would be. But it proves nothing to adcoms except that your parents can pay for you to tour Europe for 20 days. Admission to People to People isn’t based on any critera. IYWS proves your writing ability to an extent, but it isn’t as prestigious as a lot of the summer programs out there (TASP, RSI, etc…programs that have admissions more competitive than top colleges themselves). I personally would go to Iowa because it demonstrates an interest in an extracurricular as well as your motivation to pursue it. Of course, I may be biased from two life-changing summers studying creative writing at Interlochen Arts Camp–seriously, if you’re interested in it at all, PM me–so I know the benefits of writing camp. I’m sure Iowa is just as life-changing an experience. I’ve also heard raves about People to People from people (ha) in my school. Just know that none of them were particularly academic.</p>
<p>Having also attended a life-changing creative writing camp–focused on genre–I am quite fond of Iowa’s homemade website and word-of-mouth advertising. The workshop looks “legit,” to be sure, whereas People to People just says that your family is well-off financially.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. It’s quite clear that my parents can’t afford People to People without financial aid anyway - but it was an option. However, I think I’ll be applying for the IYWS as well as a few other creative writing programs.</p>