<p>Is there anybody out there an alumnus of AFS? And are you at advantage in applying to college?</p>
<p>I did an exchange year in high school but not through AFS. I don’t think an exchange year will give you an advantage per se. But maybe you did or learned something in that year that would be beneficial in the college admission process. For example, if you got super involved in your host school that year, colleges could expect you to get super involved on campus as well. Or maybe you are more mature than your peers now or developed new perspectives that would let you write a compelling application essay.</p>
<p>I think my exchange year helped me tangibly in two ways. As a high school junior at my American school, I went through the same college counseling process that my American peers went through. Unlike many foreign students, I already knew how the American college application system works. It also helped me academically because it was the first time that I got accelerated in math. I should have taken pre-calc at that time, but due to scheduling issues I was placed in calculus instead. When I came back to my home country, I had two years of high school left to take math classes at a college, which looks really great on a college application :)</p>
<p>Some advantages I can think of are:</p>
<p>1) Good information about specific colleges/universities where host family members and friends from the exchange year are studying.</p>
<p>2) Possibility of letters of recommendation from teachers from exchange year, and help with the application process.</p>
<p>3) Places to go for short school holidays!</p>
<p>4) You’ve been through culture shock once already and you are reasonably familiar with the US. There will be plenty of new horrible stuff in college, but you will be able to remember how it was the first time around and that will help you power on through.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>