<p>I know that every kid finds some sort of local extracurriculars but if I was to find something international, such as volunteering in India, would that make me stand out more or would it not make much of a difference?</p>
<p>Surely it would count.</p>
<p>If you have to pay a lot of money to go there, it probably won’t help.</p>
<p>Actually it wouldn’t. Nobody likes someone who goes abroad just for the sake of “standing out due to having volunteered in an exotic place.” It’s very transparent, actually. And trust me, very few people have respect for those types of people.</p>
<p>There are plenty of places that need volunteers in your area. Volunteer your time to help the local people, and donate the money that you would have spent travelling to India to a nonprofit that can actually help people there.</p>
<p>^^ Newb is correct. there are lots of “have your teens save some brown people” overseas junkets marketed at parents who want their kids to have an edge in college admissions. They play on their fears that their kids don’t stand out enough. But what it really demonstrates is that mommy and daddy have deep pockets.</p>
<p>Counter this to a program that my church instituted where teens 13-17 years old were invited to apply to a program where they would spend 3 weeks travelling in India, visiting various Christian communities – not just building some schoolyard and then going to the beach and souvenir shops. Along with the application & interview process, the kids needed to fund raise US$1200 (not just have daddy write a check).</p>
<p>Just putting this out there: You’d think that after the millions of times that various churches from the United States have trekked to Mexico and built “houses” and “schoolyards” that Mexico would be a thriving nation. It seems like everyone and their grandma has built some sort of slipshod structure in Mexico.</p>
<p>Actually I do have local volunteering experience as well. It’s just my dad’s friend started a non-profit organization there and they do a lot for the people so I thought I would go over and do what i could to help out because I want to do something like that when I’m older.</p>
<p>^^ If it reflects an interest of yours that you hope to pursue later on then I’d definitely go on ahead and do it. But otherwise, I’ve read that college admissions officers would rather that you stick to the same local volunteer job for 4 years rather than go do something beneficial in another country for 1 month.</p>
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<p>Mexico actually isn’t that bad. It’s not exactly Norway, but it’s not exactly Sierra Leone either. Those church programs are more community-focused than national focused, and there are lot of things wrong with Mexico than a simple lack of slipshod structures erected by foreign volunteers.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re genuinely interested in this project. In that case, go for it, regardless of its impact of in the college application process. If you’re heavily and honestly involved in charity both locally and overseas, this facet of your personality will stand out on an application. But this project, in and of itself, won’t, unless you’re heavily involved on the leadership or fundraising end of things.</p>
<p>For most colleges in the country, it won’t make any difference in admission. Most colleges don’t factor community service, ECs, etc. into admission decisions.</p>
<p>The few colleges that do – HPY and similar schools – would be equally impressed if you’d done something similar at home.</p>
<p>So, if you’re genuinely interested in the volunteer opportunity, go for it, but don’t do it thinking it’s your ticket to college.</p>
<p>I know someone interned at a bank in India over the summer and wrote an essay about it. But they did it because they were interested in international affairs and the global economy. Some pessimists might doubt her reasons for going like many on this thread. But she knows the real reason she went was for her own benefit. </p>
<p>If its your own interest then go but don’t expect to be different from the many applicants who have gone to other countries for volunteer work</p>