<p>How good does that look to a school like Penn? Would it look good on my app?</p>
<p>Mission trips are nothing special. Did you receive a grant to volunteer? Are you doing anything special--besides volunteering--when you are there?</p>
<p>Well, I raised money to go to India to volunteer in an orphanage and teach English. I'm hoping this well greatly impress Penn when I apply. But I dont know. It was nothing like a mission, where I'm spreading my religion or anything.</p>
<p>Depends. If you actually participated in organizing the whole thing, then yes, it will help significantly. If it is just one of those sign up, pay for ticket, and off one goes kind of a thing, then it will help a bit only.</p>
<p>Its actually just a sign up, and pay for ticket type of thing. But i was hoping it would show my dedication to volunteering. I have volunteered extensivley at home, and I'am of Indian descent and my dream is to go to India, so I decided to volunteer over in India. And I have read in a lot of books and online that colleges look highly upon those applicants that spend time volunteering especially overseas. I was thinking that it would actually be a good investment for me. I' am also going for two monthes, kind of like taking a mini gap year to help out.</p>
<p>Well I mean seeing the world via volunteering is a good thing in itself, and chances are you will open your eyes to many different things, making the experience particularly rewarding. But, (perhaps to a slightly lesser extent), the same applies to local volunteering, hence my previous comment.</p>
<p>With that said, your overseas volunteering is particularly special, as it combines your will to help others and your search for heritage. This point should not be lost on the admissions staff, but do not expect it to be a silver bullet or a free pass to your dream school(s).</p>
<p>honestly i just want a reason to go to India. Before, I just wanted to go for tourism purposes but then i decided that since no one wanted to go with me that i should just go with a group to volunteer. Thats why I hope that the universities I apply to look favorably upon my trip.</p>
<p>No one is going to see it as a negative or anything, but it's not the positive it might have been 6-7 years ago. At some point, private college counselors to the rich and powerful figured out that Ivy admissions staffs really responded to overseas volunteering, and within a couple of years there was a raft of (expensive) programs to facilitate ambitious high schoolers doing good works in Africa, Asia, and South America during their vacations. So the currency got debased, a lot. </p>
<p>Realistically, I think it is now seen as a marker of wealth, a better way to spend your time than staying home and playing polo, and certainly something that contributes to your personal and intellectual growth, but not something unique or breathtakingly impressive. Some kids who do this get into their dream colleges, and some don't.</p>
<p>Its not what you do, but what you learn from it (and spin into an essay) that colleges value.</p>
<p>But more importantly, if you want to go to India then go to India. Teaching English is great. Just don't assume that a high school student from a rich country has towering wisdom to impart to people who struggle with real life issues every day. Teach English, help, observe, but don't assume that you are saving the world. Good Luck in your travels..</p>
<p>I hope it is a genuine learning experience that I can impart into an essay for my application. I think India will teach me to be grateful for what I have and also to be self-reliant and more confidnet. Also, Penn is really my dream school and I'll do anything to get in. Do you guys have any tips that I could possibly utilize?</p>
<p>Here's what I think would be impressive (admittedly, this is what I did):</p>
<p>I received a $2k grant to work in a Centro de Salud (government-sponsored health clinic) in Cusco, Peru for one month. While there, I eventually managed to get an internship with a professor researching U.S. foreign aid. </p>
<p>When I got home, I made a presentation to my school about my experiences, and I also jumpstarted a fundraising effort for the broken Peruvian healthcare system.</p>
<p>Comments? Maybe I'm completely off the mark, and I'm in the same category as you.</p>
<p>To sophiar</p>
<p>Try not to have any preconceptions as to what you will get out of an experience -- good or bad. Being more grateful, independent, confident, etc. are all trite and overdone anyway. Keep an open mind.</p>
<p>If you want to get in, the first thing you have to do is be truthful. (I can see you might make up something just to make the whole thing more impressive: Do not.) Secondly, be reflective. Show that you actually think about what you are doing, and about its implications on society as well as on your development. Thirdly, put those reflections in your essays.</p>
<p>Not everyone can get a grant. get an internship, or have to opportunity to publicly present their achievements. I think showing your personal development via essays will be enough to make your essays great (and of course at the same time boost the importance of your ECs).</p>
<p>Well, the key part that you would have to search for before telling colleges about your trip is WHY u went to India. They really don't care how you got there but the inspiration for going there.
I volunteered in Pakistan in the Edhi foundation. I was born in Pakistan but left for Singapore and became a citizen down there, before coming here in freshman year ( I'm a sophomore)
However, I visited Pak every year and thus, had a love for my land. Thus, I have a reason to volunteer there. As you can imagine, It sounds legit coz pak doesn offer any buy ticket and go volunteer thing, so I did it for my land and people. I also gave MIcrosoft classes and how to make c</p>
<p>Well, the key part that you would have to search for before telling colleges about your trip is WHY u went to India. They really don't care how you got there but the inspiration for going there.
I volunteered in Pakistan in the Edhi foundation. I was born in Pakistan but left for Singapore and became a citizen down there, before coming here in freshman year ( I'm a sophomore)
However, I visited Pak every year and thus, had a love for my land. Thus, I have a reason to volunteer there. As you can imagine, It sounds legit coz pak doesn offer any buy ticket and go volunteer thing, so I did it for my land and people. I also gave MIcrosoft classes and how to make computers.
Hope to hear back!</p>
<p>You have responded to a 2+ year old thread. Congratulations.</p>
<p>oh really... where can you find the date of a thread???? im new</p>
<p>Look above the name on each post.</p>