Does Studying Abroad in High School HELP or HURT in College Admissions

Applying to College
1

Im an American high school senior who is currently living in Germany for an exchange year (on scholarship) to learn the language, experience the culture etc. Applying to (highly selective) schools and not having the standard senior year AP course load and Extracurriculars, I wanted to know all of your ideas on how the Admissions Officers will perceive this. I don’t think that my academics are in question with a 3.9 UW and 1520 but I want to get your thoughts. Should I participate in more EC’s Here, take online AP’s, do something else to supplement my exchange year. Will it lower or raise chances of acceptance.

Any other Exchange Students feel free to drop questions, comments, concerns, etc in the thread…

2

IMO it does neither. It’s not a differentiator.

3

In today’s global economy, I think it provides an international experience that would be uncommon and valuable in a student. All else being equal (which it never is), I would think the experience would provide an advantage.

Course rigor is dependent on what is available. If the school you are attending does not offer APs (not surprising outside the US) then no problem, as long as you are taking advantage of the challenging courses that are offered.

Assuming EC opportunities are available, the expectation and comparison to others would be the same.