Is Study Abroad considered Pay to Play?

[Anonymous]

It’s pretty well established now that expensive summer programs for high schoolers on U.S. college campuses are largely (not always) dismissed by AOs as pay to play. Let’s just accept that for purposes of this discussion as it’s been discussed in other threads. What about a summer or semester as an exchange student abroad? Whether it’s a language school or living with a host family. Clearly colleges promote these programs for their own students. Any idea how AOs evaluate this in high schoolers?

[Anonymous]

I think as an EC, it probably not that beneficial. It is pay to play and AOs will see right through it. However, it can help write a good essay if used properly. While living in blah, i witnessed blah and grew blah. While living in blah, i saw the way blah impacted blah so I want to study blah.

[Anonymous]

Also the language immersion could be beneficial for AP exams and being able to claim fluency in another language beneficial for admissions.

So I do think it’s a little different than the campus summer programs because of other benefits to the application beyond just being a resume line item.

Also some study abroad programs incorporate volunteer work.

So there’s a difference between “I spent a semester in Paris with a well off family who spoke English half the time anyway” and “I spent a semester living with a local family in Mali and working with an NGO that does outreach with young women.”

[Anonymous]

Are you kidding me? Who thinks like this? You study abroad to learn a language and/or broaden your horizons, not to strengthen some college app. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

The Yale Summer Program has a really high rate of converting into an acceptance at Yale. The kids I know who have done it are really smart and qualified. I don’t think those application programs are dismissed by AOs at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding me? Who thinks like this? You study abroad to learn a language and/or broaden your horizons, not to strengthen some college app. Sheesh.

Why not both? College also broadens your horizons, it’s not like applying to college is some shallow, pointless activity. Of course high school kids and their parents keep college applications in mind when choosing things like this. It is honestly hard not to.

[Anonymous]

I was an exchange student back in the 1990s solely because it was an amazing experience. Let your child do something for the experience without constantly thinking about their college applications.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on a lot of factors. Years ago I spent my junior year of high school in France and it was a great experience that I don’t regret one bit but I do think it probably hurt my college application process a bit. When my college apps went in I was a year behind my peers in terms of transcript and “ rigor” and all EC stuff stopped at end of sophomore year. My year abroad was with AFS which is respected but I don’t think acceptance is all that competitive. OTOH my dd got a competitive state department scholarship to spend her senior year abroad so her apps were much more robust because she had a full 3 years of classes+ECs, she was in a unusual part of world, and just getting the scholarship was a bit of an accomplishment. So in her case I’m sure it helped her. We were both strong high school students applying to competitive colleges. I didn’t get in but she did. Still, as above poster mentioned, don’t make a decision about a year of life based on college stuff. Do it or don’t do it for all if the other reasons that spending a year abroad can be great, hard, and life changing.

[Anonymous]

There are free or close-to-free study abroad programs like Rotary or NSLI-Y.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on a lot of factors. Years ago I spent my junior year of high school in France and it was a great experience that I don’t regret one bit but I do think it probably hurt my college application process a bit. When my college apps went in I was a year behind my peers in terms of transcript and “ rigor” and all EC stuff stopped at end of sophomore year. My year abroad was with AFS which is respected but I don’t think acceptance is all that competitive. OTOH my dd got a competitive state department scholarship to spend her senior year abroad so her apps were much more robust because she had a full 3 years of classes+ECs, she was in a unusual part of world, and just getting the scholarship was a bit of an accomplishment. So in her case I’m sure it helped her. We were both strong high school students applying to competitive colleges. I didn’t get in but she did. Still, as above poster mentioned, don’t make a decision about a year of life based on college stuff. Do it or don’t do it for all if the other reasons that spending a year abroad can be great, hard, and life changing.

+1 I adored my high school study abroad experience but it definitely hurt my college admissions. It hurt my GPA and I couldn’t run for leadership of any student group since my HS time was broken up. If you’re only doing it for college admissions, don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s pretty well established now that expensive summer programs for high schoolers on U.S. college campuses are largely (not always) dismissed by AOs as pay to play. Let’s just accept that for purposes of this discussion as it’s been discussed in other threads. What about a summer or semester as an exchange student abroad? Whether it’s a language school or living with a host family. Clearly colleges promote these programs for their own students. Any idea how AOs evaluate this in high schoolers?

Most of those you pay for so yeah, they are pay to play. Doesn’t mean they don’t have value. But it’s not some edge on a college application nor should that be the purpose of the experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding me? Who thinks like this? You study abroad to learn a language and/or broaden your horizons, not to strengthen some college app. Sheesh.

Especially ludicrous is the conviction that we've gotten inside the heads of AOs and we know that they reject such programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding me? Who thinks like this? You study abroad to learn a language and/or broaden your horizons, not to strengthen some college app. Sheesh.

Especially ludicrous is the conviction that we've gotten inside the heads of AOs and we know that they reject such programs.

Yeah that would be ludicrous. Except who is doing that exactly? Some people have talked to AOs, or to consultants who make their living talking to AOs, or - wait for it - read one of the dozens of books written by former AOs... not exactly metaphysics, just read a book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding me? Who thinks like this? You study abroad to learn a language and/or broaden your horizons, not to strengthen some college app. Sheesh.

Especially ludicrous is the conviction that we've gotten inside the heads of AOs and we know that they reject such programs.

Yeah that would be ludicrous. Except who is doing that exactly? Some people have talked to AOs, or to consultants who make their living talking to AOs, or - wait for it - read one of the dozens of books written by former AOs... not exactly metaphysics, just read a book.

who the hell cares what an "AO" thinks?

[Anonymous]

No