<p>I was nominated to participate in the Delegation on Diplomacy in Australia as a part of the International Scholar Laureate Program. I received this nomination b/c I am a member of the National Dean’s List.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard of this before? The cost is $4800 which includes, air, food, hotel, tuition and other little costs. We’ll visit the Australian National University, parliament, US Embassy, and such. </p>
<p>Here’s my concern. I am applying for transfer admission to several Ivies and the University of Notre Dame. Will this activity be a significant part of my application? The experience will be personally gratifying, but for nearly 5k, I want it to benefit me in regards to admissions and future employment as well. </p>
<p>Please respond and share any details you might have.</p>
<p>I would do it for the "personal gratification" if I had $5K to spare (which I don't!). IMO, it won't help too much with admissions. It seems anyone with enough money can go, and it's not extremely prestigious. Sure, you were nominated, but it sounds a lot like People to People, GYLC, or NYLF (and whatever other combination of letters you get from national, youth, leaders, conference, forum, etc).</p>
<p>I got a few of those conference attendance fliers last summer (I'm a senior). Personally, I think its a waste of money, and colleges you apply don't really care (it just makes you look like you've got too much money to spend). Needless to say, I didn't go.</p>
<p>I went to China last year with the International Scholar Laureate Program (ISLP). Honor students from Puerto Rico to Hawaii attended. We were able to visit companies and universities to see first hand how China is developing. It was an experience that can't be replicated by a simple tour, where you get to see some sights and monuments built years ago.</p>
<p>Before I went, I Googled for "International Scholar Laureate Program blog" to view some of the experiences that students have had in the past. It is a good way to see if the trip makes sense for you.</p>
<p>THIMUN is much different than ISLP. THIMUN is much shorter. So of course it is less expensive. It also takes place in only one city. ISLP typically goes to at least three cities. And THIMUN is a model United Nations. So it is more appropriate for students that are interested in the UN. ISLP has programs in business, diplomacy, medicine, engineering and archaeology. I just don't see any comparison...</p>
<p>I also got nominated but for the Delegation on Medicine. Does anyone have any input on that? Is it basically viewed as the same as the Delegation on Diplomacy (is it a waste of money as a few people stated)?</p>
<p>I was nominated for the ISLP, and after much research, I found this article about program’s parent company. While it is a wiki page, it does provide an additional view on the situation. Scroll down to the ISLP section, but do read the requirements for nominations. Very subjective. </p>
<p>I disagree with many of these posts, especially by those who were never directly involved with ISLP, and find it discouraging that so many people would make these types of assumptions about the program. I attended the Delegation on Business in Australia in June 2011, and found it to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my lifetime. Not only was it a great opportunity to network with other honors students and make new friends from around the world, but the presentations given at the University of Melbourne and in Sydney (by famous advertising experts) were unique and relevant to my studies as an MBA candidate. I even worked with my university to create an independent study based on the information from the program, and used it as my final elective credit. The program is prestigious in that the majority of the students in attendance were invited through affiliation with Golden Key, Phi Theta Kappa, or other exclusive honors societies. Yes, it is expensive, but before I made my decision I considered all of the costs that were included: upscale hotels, many meals, transportation around the cities and experienced tour guides (this was a major help!), attraction admissions (Sydney Opera House, etc.), and the cost of the classes. If you were to travel to Australia independently for 10 days and do the same things (without the academic benefit), it would cost nearly twice what you will pay for the ISLP program. Not to mention, it is a truly one-of-a-kind experience! I am proud and excited to have added this experience to my resume, and would recommend the program to any student. I hope this helps. :)</p>
<p>I’m potentially going on one this summer. Do you remember about how many people were in your overall group in australia? I’d be going to china for Engineering</p>
<p>My little brother was offered several of these types of programs, and I always strongly advised him NOT to go. Whether or not one calls it a “scam,” I was put off by the disingenuous way they made it seem that the potential participants had been carefully selected, as if it were an honor and privilege, although it seemed that the programs were basically a business, offering a product for money. The product may be good, and worth the price, but the programs should present themselves as such. I agree with the Princeton admission officer’s opinion that a student should do what she or he is really interested in over the summer, not something that she believes would look good in an application. My sense is that, having read thousands of applications, the officers can pretty well distinguish genuine interest and passion from mere posturing.</p>
<p>My student went to a few similar programs, with varying degrees of “selectivity” in the summers between high school. We both agreed that they were essentially “interest” activities for wealthy students, (some of which help subsidize scholarships for others at least) and I agree that you should look at it in that light. Adcoms know them as “resume padders” for the wealthy, and the “time and interest” commitment is minimal. So decide it as you would a vacation with family or similar. Is the cost, itinerary etc worth it to you? If you want to have an experience that has much more “admissions and life/work effect” maybe this type of activity would help you decide to focus in some way on a next activity that would have that “cred”. The things that “count” will involve personal investment: time, heart, study, work etc of significance, (not necessarily, and often better if it doesn’t particularly involve $$).</p>
<p>Phi Theta Kappa members may apply for tuition scholarships for study-abroad programs offered by the International Scholar Laureate Program, or ISLP. Scholarship applications are typically due in early March.</p>
<p>Educational opportunities are available to locations such as Australia, China and the United States. Students may study in five career fields: business, diplomacy and international relations, engineering, medicine and nursing. Descriptions of each area of study are found under “Our Programs” on the ISLP website.</p>
<p>ISLP programs provide students a chance to further their career development and strengthen their leadership skills while engaging in culturally-enriching experiences that increase their knowledge and preparation for a specific career while providing a global understanding of the career field.</p>
<p>Phi Theta Kappa has partnered with the ISLP, which will offer eight scholarships of $1,000 each specifically for Phi Theta Kappa members. An additional $2,500 scholarship will be awarded at the Phi Theta Kappa Annual Convention. Because scholarship funds are limited and demand is extremely high, members are encouraged to apply without delay. Applications should be made directly through the ISLP website. Click here to complete the online scholarship application.</p>
<p>Scholarship selection is based on financial need, academic merit and student involvement in extracurricular and volunteer activities.</p>
<p>For more information, visit the International Scholar Laureate Program website or call 800.778.0164 or email.</p>
<p>I don’t know how to make this any more real.</p>
<p>@jgoddensa same here and @fpizzle will you be attending? I think it sounds amazing and as a civil engineering student, I definitely want to see the great wall!</p>
<p>As a parent, the cost did give me pause for a bit but that was very short term for me. Because the trip took place in the middle of spring quarter for my son, it was more an issue–can he go? Fortunately, he only needed four more credits to graduate so he took a five credit online class that allowed him to be able to go. As a political science student who is interested in foreign relations but hadn’t traveled out of North America–this was the trip of a lifetime for my son.</p>
<p>As one of the other students mentioned, the cost is actually very economical if you considered trying to plan this kind of trip on your own. The biggest ticket is the airfare which was just under $2000 but you would need to pay that for any trip to China. For the $3500 tuition–that included 10 nights in very nice hotels, two meals a day, bus transportation, two airline flights within China, admission into multiple tourist venues, a tour guide (my son’s group adored their travel manager), the safety of having them meet you at the airport and make sure you got to where you needed to go. My son only took about $100 in yuen with him and didn’t need to spend much more than that once he was there and that included purchasing meals and souvenirs.</p>
<p>And there were experiences that you as a student would never be able to recreate if you were going on your own. While overall I suppose you could consider it more of a vacation than an educational experience, there was an educational component to it. They did have classes both at the hotels and at two universities and a think tank. My son thought that all of that was very worthwhile. They also got to go to an American embassy building (which was a little disappointing–they only got to meet the social media person) and the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The presentation there was only what the Chinese want you to hear and no discussion of anything that they don’t want to discuss–but that isn’t surprising of course. There were some students on the trip that truly only wanted to take this trip as a chance to party which was frustrating to the students who were really there to learn something. They had homework and presentations that they had to work on as a group and those students definitely didn’t want to do the work. </p>
<p>My son was able to meet and network with students from all over the US, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Canada, South America and Spain. There were a little over 100 students on the diplomacy trip–but they mostly got to know the students who were on their bus as they had to stay together–about 28 students per bus. Even though all the trips were separate–they also crossed paths with some of the business, engineering and medical students on occasion.</p>
<p>So as others have said–this isn’t going to help you get into a college. It might help you plan an independent study project–maybe. You should look at it more as planning a vacation that includes some things that you would never be able to plan for yourself, the chance not only to experience Chinese culture but to meet other students from all over the world. Go from there. My son thought it was fabulous and wants to go back someday. We give ISLP a big thumbs up.</p>