Being the first Turkish student to attend a competitive boarding school- is it an accomplishment?

Applying to College
1

Hi guys,

I’m a Turkish student who got accepted to the Hotchkiss School, and attended there last year as an exchange student. From what I have seen and heard, I am the first and only Turkish student that studied there. My friends told me it was an ‘accomplishment’-should I write this on my common app, and would it look good to colleges?(I got a full ride, too)

2

This is part of your record so it will show up. If you won a competition to get this, it’s an accomplishment. If it has a name "xyz foreign exchange student ", it’s a prize of sorts and can be listed. If, otoh, the school always takes foreign students for a year, it’s no more of an accomplishment thst simply attending there.

I would think that you might want to highlight some part of this experience in an essay or ask a Hotchkiss teacher for a recommendation.

What you learned and shared there could make you a good addition to a college community.

3

I did win a competition- the program is called ASSIST; they give merit scholarships to a small number of students. Hotchkiss had never ever accepted a Turkish student before, but I don’t have a specific award called ‘First Turkish Hotchkiss Student’ lol. But my Turkish ASSIST coordinators also said it was an accomplishment, because other Turkish students got into significantly less selective schools. Would it be absurd to write this as an accomplishment when it’s not a title award?

4

Would it be “absurd?” No. Is that on the top of your list of most impressive accomplishments? That’s for you to decide. Would it “look good to colleges?” By itself, I’d say no. It might make an interesting topic for an essay, though.

5

You can put in that you were accepted under a competitive scholarship program. But hopefully what you have/will accomplish while at Hotchkiss will be even more impressive than the fact that you are the first one from your country who has studied there.

6

The scholarship is the accomplishment. Being the first Turkish student accepted is just that. I believe it is absurd actually to say that. Just like it would be absurd to do it for any other nationality or race or religion. Focus on the scholarship and your qualifications that won it.