<p>I am a 14 year old high school freshman and I have a question for admitted or current students at SFS. As far as extracurriculars go, what did you do? Did you start politics related clubs in school, intern on campaigns or legislative offices, get involved in various global issues you care about? And do you even need to show interest, as far as extracurriculars go in the things SFS specializes in, or is that what the essay is for. And I have another question. As far as interning, would you advise I call the offices and ask if there is anything(formal or informal) available? I've already emailed some and gotten no response.</p>
<p>Join YMCA “Youth and Government” in your state. Awesome program and lots of fun.</p>
<p>Check out Georgetown’s for-credit summer classes.</p>
<p>Also, if possible, start learning a “critical language.” Google “Department of State Critical Languages” for a list. Everyone knows about Arabic and Korean, but how about Hindi, Urdu, and Azerbaijani? Remember, when you apply for college you need to stand out. Learning a critical language is a good way to do so, just don’t get so focused on it that you screw up your HS grades. My $.02.</p>
<p>Oh, and also check out the National Security Language Initiative for Youth. This is the high school counterpart to the Critical Languages Scholarship Program (which is for college students only). </p>
<p>Hope that helps. . .</p>
<p>Thank you. Any other opinions?</p>
<p>@swswickman I am currently studying French. Would it look weird, were I to be accepted to the NSLI for Youth, to start studying a critical language.</p>
<p>I don’t think it would look weird at all. I originally was studying Spanish, and then I added Arabic in 9th grade and kept studying both languages throughout high school (I am lucky to attend a high school where Arabic is offered). I plan to continue to study both languages throughout college and may take on a third one if course scheduling allows.</p>
<p>FYI: Not sure if you have thought about studying Arabic, but people who can speak both French and Arabic will probably be very much in demand if Al Qaeda continues to move their operations into northwestern Africa. Just my .02.</p>
<p>Americannigerian, have no fear… I was recently accepted into SFS and my only ECs that involved anything foreign were things relating to French. I did a governor’s school program for French and did a foreign exchange program, and that was about it. I also traveled to Egypt once as a Freshman (and wrote my essay on that topic) but nothing other than that.</p>
<p>My other ECs were two varisty sports and jazz music. So to answer your question… no, not really, you don’t have to sculpt your entire high school career around getting into SFS. If you’re really interested in foreign affairs, chances are you’ll get involved in those sorts of things anyway. My advice to you is this: get involved in the things you love doing and keep your grades up. If you do your best in both of those areas, you’ll end up in a place you want to be, even if it isn’t Georgetown. Hell, I didn’t even know I wanted to apply here until August.</p>
<p>Sorry for rambling but you get the point. It’s nice to have some connection to foreign affairs, but don’t feel like you have to devote your life to it.</p>
<p>OP: Definitely agree with @Man69 that one should not do things that you are not interested in (or even hate) just because you think they will look good to a college. If you hate learning new languages, forget everything I said about learning a Department of State “critical language.” However, if you like learning foreign languages (like many other SFSers) then you might as well pick one that is in low supply and high demand by the government, employers, and colleges.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone</p>
<p>You don’t need to be crazy. The most SFSy things I did were: Model UN (which everyone does, I got no awards, just in it), Japanese Club, Japanese for 4 years, and went to Japan with school.</p>
<p>If you’re taking a language at school, great. Don’t bother trying to learn a language because the State Dept says it’s important.</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that. Thanks.</p>
<p>The decision whether to take on additional foreign languages really depends on where your interests lie. The seven SFS majors span economics, business, politics, science, diplomacy, intelligence, etc… If you think that you want to get involved in business between the U.S. and China, then learning Chinese is an obvious choice. If you think that you want to work in diplomacy or intelligence, then one of the “critical languages” might be a good choice. If you think that you ultimately want to be a professor, then maybe there is no need to focus on foreign languages at all (other than the SFS proficiency requirement, which you will probably pass with just four years of HS French).</p>
<p>The other two posters mentioned having studied their respective languages abroad. I did so as well. If you can work it into your schedule, I suspect that Georgetown would view this in a positive light. </p>
<p>Also agree with the Model U.N. suggestion. Like CSIHS, I was also involved, but not to the level of winning any awards or anything. It is an easy program to get involved in and is fun as well!</p>
<p>I like foreign relations, but I’m much more interested in politics. I’m having trouble finding internships relating to government/politics. Should I keep searching, or just stay my course, focus on doing well in school, and doing in school extracurriculars I enjoy?</p>
<p>The short answer: There are a million ways to peel an orange. </p>
<p>The long answer: Internships are great, but it can be hard to secure a meaningful one at age 14-16. In any case, internships are only one of many ways to gain experience and demonstrate interest. My perception is that, for the SFS, the admissions officers really want to see a demonstrated interest in politics and the world. You can accomplish this in a bunch of different ways. Probably the easiest are programs like Youth and Government and Model U.N., study abroad (even for just a summer), and language studies. </p>
<p>And, yes, keep your grades up and take challenging courses . . . as many APs/IBs as you can handle. Lots of A’s and a few B’s are O.K… The opposite, not so much. . .</p>
<p>I didn’t have an internship. I had like 100 hours of community service, most of it for school related activities.</p>