<p>Hi everyone, I am a high school junior considering doing School Year Abroad (SYA) for my senior year... I speak Spanish very well and would be going to Spain. i recently won a merit scholarship for my studies of Spanish and last summer did a 6 week summer immersion program in spain with Choate Rosemary Hall. I have excellent grades, SAT I's and SAT II's. I also am a 4 year varsity rower. My only concerns are that
1) i wouldnt have a rigorous enough courseload (only 3 ap's: calc, spanish lit, and spanish language [which i took this year]), so it would only be 2 new aps for me. this year, i took 4 academic ap's, but if i did sya, i would only have 2 new academic ap's
2) my leadership positions that I have arranged for next year (interact president, various other posts) would be compromised, and while i will have already done some other leadership (girl scout silver and gold awards, etc) they probably wont be enough
given these considerations, would SYA still be helpful when it comes to elite college admissions?</p>
<p>bumpppppppp</p>
<p>I find it unlikely that it would hurt you...whether it would significantly help, I don't know (students from my school who studied abroad have gotten mixed admission results). Are you a strong enough rower to be recruited? If so, I think your ECs are definitely fine (already have gold award, etc.)</p>
<p>I did a year abroad and ended up at the University of Texas at Austin, which claims to have one of the best Spanish programs and the best Latin American Studies program.</p>
<p>It can't hurt.
If you want do a really good program, consider going abroad with Rotary. It's the best program out there and they did an excellent job while I was in Chile.</p>
<p>I don't think you should worry about your year abroad in terms of your application. Adcoms have been doing this for a long time and know that when you take the opportunity to study abroad, commitments at home are going to be compromised, so you won't be looked down upon because you never became interact president. As for APs, I wouldn't worry about it because you're judged against the courseload available, so if you took 2 APs senior year and those were the most available, then you're fine.</p>
<p>Basically, study abroad will not hurt you in the application process. The thing I would ask yourself is, can I get my apps done before/while I'm abroad? If you think you can handle your senior year and complete your apps while you're abroad then I'd do it. It's an amazing opportunity and I hope I get a chance to study abroad before college is over! :D</p>
<p>Hey, I'm going to Spain, too, but for six months, after high school, to be an au pair. :D</p>
<p>I think study abroad could only help you. If you do everything in your power to take rigorous courses during your senior year, even though that means fewer APs than you would have if you stayed home, you will be fine. Following from what bad1017 said, colleges know that doing something completely different for your senior year--studying abroad--is a whole new set of commitments, and it would be unrealistic to expect you to carry on exactly what you were doing in the US. </p>
<p>A year abroad is a way to show your maturity and capacity for adapting to an entirely new environment that poses unique personal and academic challenges. That's as valuable a trait to reveal to colleges as it is a trait to have. </p>
<p>Hope I made sense. Have fun. :)</p>