<p>Hey all...im in a really big bind here and I was wondering if you guys could gimme some advice :D. I received the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship, which is a fully-funded scholarship to study abroad in Germany (250 scholarships awarded in the country). The problem is, I will be studying abroad my senior year and I've recently begun worrying about how this will affect the admissions process for me.</p>
<p>So right now I'm ranked 1/524 and i have an above 4.0 GPA..i've taken three AP classes this year (my junior year) as well as 2 college courses. Yeah, I look pretty good on paper. The problem is most of my extracurriculars I started this year, and I'm wondering if I should stay in the US to continue them. These are the extracurrics I have so far.</p>
<p>-Extra Curriculars:
--Marching band (9-11): Section leader and squad leader
--Private cello lessons (5-11)
--Class Executive Committee (10,11): secretary
--JV soccer (9,10)
--Cross Country (11)
--Speech and Debate (11) [state varsity tournament qualifier, 2nd place NOVICE state debate tournament, 9th top speaker]
--and i will probably make it into national honor society</p>
<p>You see, the conundrum is that when I begin filling out the common app, much of the extracurric section will have a check mark in just the "11" spot. :-/</p>
<p>Should I stay here, so that when regular decision applications are read, I will be able to "lean back" on the 4 or 5 APs I will be taking for senior year? I'm looking to apply to places like OSU, UChicago, Northwestern, and JHU. Should I just take a gap year instead? The thing I'm worried about is that I won't be able to apply for any scholarships, and I definitely need the money.</p>
<p>Can anyone help? It would be greaaaaaaaaatly appreciated. Thanks. :D</p>
<p>I’d advise that you go study abroad – opportunities like this may not come around very often.</p>
<p>Ahahaha, and don’t worry about the EC aspect of college applications – what you have is fine enough as is for the places you’re applying, and something like this can be twisted into a great EC in its own right. Plus, your other academic qualifications are outstanding – you shouldn’t have much difficulty in admissions.</p>
<p>GO ABROAD. Congress Bundestag is really competitive and hard to get. It’s completely free as well, and a very, very small number of high schoolers get to study abroad at all. Doing it in high school is such a great opportunity. Definitely go! I suppose if you are THAT worried about what colleges think, do a gap year. But I doubt it would matter anyway, and I think you should go your senior year.</p>
<p>thanks sqd. when you say “I doubt it would matter” do you mean staying in high school an extra year and taking those classes probably wouldnt make much of a difference?</p>
<p>my problems with a gap year that i would probably have trouble with scholarships. i think.</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s what I mean. You’ll be taking classes abroad too and you’ll be challenging yourself not only academically but in every other way while abroad (linguistically, mentally, emotionally, and socially). Colleges want to see that you’re taking advantage of your resources, so as long as you try to take challenging courses available to you abroad, you’re good. </p>
<p>In my opinion (I don’t know, someone else may disagree), studying abroad is a great and legit EC. I don’t think it’d make much of a difference to colleges if you were just in marching band, cross country, etc. for just 1 more year, so I definitely don’t think you should sacrifice the study abroad opportunity just for that.</p>
<p>So you’re saying that whether or not you choose to do a gap year, you’ll have problems with scholarships? Then you should just go your senior year.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks. I really do think it would be a great opportunity. I guess it should be done sometime around my high school career, because I intend on studying abroad in a Chinese speaking country and college, that area being my primary focus.</p>
<p>And I’m not SAYING I will have problems with scholarships…I’m actually trying to see if anyone knows of any problems I would encounter as a gap year-er…haha.</p>
<p>About the scholarships, will you still be enrolled in your U.S. high school when you go abroad? Then if there are scholarships for high school seniors “enrolled” in a U.S. high school, I’m sure you could apply for them from abroad. For a gap year though, you’d probably have to defer scholarships earned during your senior year for when you start attending college. But you should read about scholarships and figure out how much a problem it would present if you decided to go abroad your senior year.</p>
<p>Yes, I would still be enrolled at my US high school. I guess my question is: would I have trouble deferring a scholarship for a gap year? I’m guessing the answer to this would vary among different scholarship organizations. Anyone have any experience with deferring a scholarship?</p>
<p>You may have trouble deferring a scholarship for a gap year. However, the Bundestag scholarship is a big deal that should open the door for merit aid at many colleges that offer such aid. </p>
<p>"You see, the conundrum is that when I begin filling out the common app, much of the extracurric section will have a check mark in just the “11” spot. "</p>
<p>Admissions officers are smart. They understand that you can’t be two places at once. They also will understand the importance of your Bundestag scholarship.</p>
<p>"I’m looking to apply to places like OSU, UChicago, Northwestern, and JHU. "</p>
<p>If you qualify for need-based aid, and if your family can send you to college if you get 100% of your demonstrated need based, IF you get into Chicago and Northwestern, you should be fine.</p>
<p>Assuming that your grades and scores are strong enough to make you a contender for places like Chicago and Northwestern, also apply to schools that have excellent merit aid that you may qualify for particularly due to the Bundestag scholarship: Washington University, Rhodes, Emory, Vanderbilt come to mind, though there are plenty of others. Check the merit scholarship links at the top of Parents Forum, and I think at the top of the financial aid section.</p>
<p>Also take a close look at the financial aid and merit scholarships sections of the web sites of colleges that interest you.</p>
<p>Study abroad! It’s an incredible, and prestigious, opportunity. Like NorthStarMom said, admissions officers understand that you can’t continue those extracurriculars. And you only have two ECs that you just started, and neither one seems to be so important that it warrants staying. I’m a debater too, and novice is a completely different game from varsity in terms of competitiveness, so though second place in novice is still impressive, it’s not a reason in and of itself to stay. </p>
<p>Basically, unless your ECs are so important to you that you can’t imagine functioning without them, take the scholarship! And congrats on earning it!</p>
<p>thanks alot glasses ;-). i actually started two others but i guess both of you are right. staying one more year to do them probably wouldn’t make much of a difference. I just don’t want it to seem like i’m not focused or haven’t done anything productive in my freetime, especially in 9th and 10th grade.</p>
<p>i guess i questioned why i didn’t just do a gap year if that would allow me to continue stuff at school. but i don’t think i should risk the possibility of not being able to defer scholarships, since where I attend college will largely depend on how much money i get.</p>
<p>briguy, it’s good you’re going because otherwise I am going for you. ;)</p>
<p>I barely missed the deadline for applying last December and I was really disappointed because I can’t afford studying abroad without a full-tuition scholarship.
But I might want to apply for Congress Bundestag this upcoming December. Would you mind telling me giving me a little overview of the application process and what you thought of it?</p>
<p>absolutely. i actually started a blog here: [Brians</a> Year Abroad](<a href=“http://yourmanindeutschland.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]Brians”>http://yourmanindeutschland.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/) and wrote a little bit about my experience. But basically I started out by filling out an application specifically for the scholarship. There were about six short essay questions that you had to write, as well as a host family letter…the essays may or may not have played a big roll in the application process because during my interview, I noticed that the panel of judges did not have a copy of my essays (i THINK) but I would advise you to take your time on them.</p>
<p>As you can see from my entry, you need a 3.0 as well as your complete, submitted application to move on into the semifinalist round. From there you will be contacted about a “selection committee” which you will be required to attend, along with other applicants. The selection board then takes each member and interviews them for about 20 minutes. at the end theres a group activity so they can assess your leadership skills, and at the end you talk about the activity.</p>
<p>after that its just about waiting. but for anyone who wants to apply for this scholarship or any others, here are some websites:</p>