People to People Trips -Worthwhile Cost for College Application

MommaJ
Tue, 28 Oct 2014 17:44:29 +0000

@oliviaarpie, I would love to hear the details of how any student managed to raise thousands of dollars for an overseas trip through “multiple fundraisers”! That’s a hell of a lot of car washes and bake sales, and who in their right mind would contribute their own hard earned cash to support some kid going on a fancy trip abroad? ! I know that the P2P sales pitch is that students can somehow pay for the trip by “fundraising”, but I think that’s a load of hooey.

I’m glad you had fun playing with children, dancing and planting trees, all of which could be done right here at home, btw. When you get a little older, you’ll realize it was all window dressing–and mighty lame window dressing at that–to sell people on these trips.

P2P sells student tours by pretending the participants are a select group and that they are acting as “ambassadors” for the US. The trips are very nice, but the marketing is deceptive, and one can only hope that any right minded person would avoid an organization with such questionable ethics. There are plenty of teen tour companies out there that don’t pretend to be something they aren’t. Shop wisely, folks!

As for those who have been privileged enough be able to afford a P2P trip, sure, feel free to incorporate your foreign travel experiences into your essay if that works for you, but whatever you do, don’t include a meaningless title like “student ambassador” on your list of awards/achievements–you’ll accomplish no more than giving the adcoms a good chuckle.