<p>I've been thinking about doing the CBYX foreign exchange to Germany this year. I'm a sophomore thinking of going my junior year and I currently have a 3.9 GPA, play sports, have a few clubs, and most of my classes are honors or AP or accelerated. My dream school is Stanford, although I know how incredibly hard it is to get in there, and I don't know how my B Freshman year might affect my chances, but it's still my biggest goal in the next few years. I'm wondering how an exchange year in Germany would affect my chances of getting in to Stanford or other top schools. Academic wise, if I didn't go next year, I would be taking AP Spanish, AP Language, AP US History, AP Calculus, Honors Physics, and Band. If I went to Germany I would take an English class probably online to meet graduation requirements, I could still take Spanish and obviously German, but no AP classes in any subject. I would take whatever history class they offered, the equivalent of Pre-Calculus, which is what I'm in this year, and I believe Physics. My schedule if I stayed here Junior year is very rigorous with lots of AP's, but if I went to Germany, although the language barrier obviously makes everything much harder, as far as how my classes look on paper, it doesn't look very challenging, and there are no AP classes at all. I really want to go to Germany, and while its affect on which colleges I could get into wouldn't make the decision for me, it's definitely something I want to consider. I could also always try for it Senior year, although I'm afraid I won't make it the first year I apply, and if I apply senior year, I won't have any more chances. Does anyone have any insight to how a program like this would affect my chances at being accepted to top schools like Stanford? Or any schools for that matter. </p>
<p>Studying abroad in high school - particularly for as long as a year - looks incredible on a resume and on college applications. It shows that you are motivated, independent, brave and mature.</p>
<p>I am an applicant for the year of 2014-2015. I received an interview, however I have yet to hear whether or not I’ve been accepted. I hope that you keep in mind that life is NOT an AP class; you will learn so much more outside of a classroom than you will in, and despite the fact that classes may be easier, that does not make the experience any less beneficial. Liberal arts colleges and universities often LOVE students who study abroad, and CBYX is highly prestigious. I was told by my area supervisor that even getting an interview is worth mentioning to colleges because it does say something about you.</p>
<p>I am in eleventh grade, and would be studying abroad for my senior year. This does put a lot of pressure on me in the college search, but it is worth it. The colleges that I’ve visited so far were all highly impressed by my desire to live abroad. I have not, however, chosen to go to schools like Stanford for my undergraduate degree, instead looking into smaller liberal arts colleges (>5,000 students, mostly) so that I will be able to have a flexible schedule, take personally-important classes and pursue my own interests.</p>
<p>So, to sum up that essay, YES it will affect your chances of getting into college, but almost certainly for the better. You seem very driven and very intelligent - I’d say, go for it!</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions, or you just want to talk.</p>
<p>This is free and selective, right?
(Study abroad in high school isn’t inherently all that impressive, because there are a lot of programs that pretty much accept anyone who can afford them, and so they indicate privilege more than merit.)</p>
<p>In response to halcyonheather: yes. It is a program that offers only 250 scholarships (50 in each of the five regions of the U.S.) and to receive one is very competitive. There is an initial application, and if that is deemed acceptable you are chosen for an interview. The likelihood of being selected varies depending on your area; the northeast region (which is run through AFS and is the region in which I live) holds a lot of applicants - or so I have been told. States such as Utah, the Dakotas, etc. tend to have less applicants.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently spending her senior year in french-speaking Switzerland. She had a full jr year AP schedule, and is completing graduation requirements (senior english, govt, econ) online. I think it was a great decision, but aside from missing prom and the graduation ceremony, senior year may be better than junior since senior grades don’t really count in the college admission process. A full year exchange program is rather unique - most students do at most 1 semester, which is not quite so impressive. She is waiting on admission decision from NYU ( the highest ranked school she applied to), but has been admitted to all her other college choices.
Unless your language skills are already very good, receiving credit for classes taught in a foreign language is really difficult. She was placed in chemistry, for example and in spite of having AP chem already, didn’t understand a thing lol. (she had 3 years of French) Also, I believe Germany is like Switzerland in that classmates travel together to all their classes. Her classmates are already in German VI so she goes with them - and has never taken German. </p>