<p>Hello.</p>
<p>I've always wanted to go and see the world. I'm a junior in High School and I thought about spending my Jr. abroad with CB, but decided against it, with how important Jr. year is for college. Then I looked at SYA, because it had the classes I would need to go back to senior year without missing too much. I ended up not applying because I wanted to stay focused at my current school.</p>
<p>Then I played around with taking a gap year. I'm kind of burned out of school already. But luckily I am still motivated. Last year I had some "senioritis" going on and I was just a sophomore. I've even thought of enlisting in the military and taking advantage of the GI Bill but I haven't seen a recruiter yet. </p>
<p>Anyways, how competitive would it be to get into CBYX as a 18 yr old H.S. grad? I know I would not be able to do the 15-18 H.S. one(right?). So I'd have to do the Young Professionals one, 18-24. </p>
<p>I've got pretty good grades, in the top 10%(close but not at, 5%), decent SAT, good ECs like Eagle Scout, Eucharistic Minister, School Ambassador, NHS a few clubs, small roles in school paper and leadership committee, etc...
I also have a job, but I work under the table, so...I don't know how this will work out. I'd assume having a job would give me a boost if it is "Young Professionals".</p>
<p>Another thing, I don't take German, but I heard that is not a problem, you don't need any experience. True?</p>
<p>How good do you think my chances are? I think it would be really cool to go to Germany, especially with most of the expenses paid for. </p>
<p>Think I have a shot? </p>
<p>I'm also thinking about going through Rotary. My mom's friend's son went through this and absolutely swears by it. Sounds like a really good deal, all you have to pay for is airfare basically. Maybe spending allowances too? </p>
<p>But I honestly have no idea how competitive these scholarships are. Think I'd have a shot.
I heard you have to put out a wishlist of like 5 countires and they will randomly pick one for you, based on what they can give you. </p>
<p>Other countries I'm thinking about for Rotary</p>
<p>Germany
Brazil(hopefully in Rio)
Italy
Austria
South Africa
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Spain
Greece</p>
<p>Australia
Ireland
^^^^^
Though I'd rather go to one of these 2 countries in college. </p>
<p>So a pretty decent list. If I had to pick 5 for Rotary, it would probably be: Germany, Italy, Brazil, Austria, Slovakia.</p>
<p>I really like the first 3, Austria sounds kind of cool and I'm Slovak and still have some kind of distant relatives out there, so that would be cool.</p>
<p>Italy would probably be my first choice though. But I heard a lot of the big cites have been "Americanized" and I don't want that. I would like to see Rome and the Vatican, but maybe a smaller city than Naples, Rome, etc...would be better to learn the Italian language. </p>
<p>Oh and I take Spanish right now(school only offers that and Latin). If my school had Italian or German, I'd jump on it, but we don't.
So, would not taking classes in the language hurt me to get a scholarship?</p>
<p>Oh and for both CBXY and Rotary wherever country I end up at, I'm not expecting to become super-fluent, but good enough to hold my own if I come back to the country. I only know a little Spanish and I'm not really interested in going to a Spanish speaking country. </p>
<p>Any other tips or ways to go about this? Tips for the actual gap year? Hope full the school I decide on will let my defer admission, that could be another problem. </p>
<p>Sorry, that was kind of long and I still feel like I'm forgetting something, haha. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>