<p>NSLI-Y National Security Language Initiative for Youth
A HS junior I know is applying to this program for summer. Does anyone have a child who has participated? Any knowledge of how competitive the selection process is? His language of choice is Mandarin.
Suggestions of other low cost summer abroad in China for HS students?</p>
<p>I participated in NSLI-Y 2013, but I went to South Korea and not China.</p>
<p>It’s a pretty selective process, but nowhere near as bad as something like RSI. Something like 33% of applicants get accepted. You submit a very lengthy application that requires several different recommendations and essays. If you pass that round, you go through an interview process and have to submit health forms. If you pass that, you are awarded either a scholarship or alternate status (you fill the spots of finalists who choose to decline the scholarship). </p>
<p>As far as the actual application goes, it’s not GPA or awards or competition that matters so much as demonstrated maturity and genuine interest in the program. They want to know if the kid is going to be mature and perceptive enough to live with a host family in a foreign country. The program runs through the State Department, so this is very important. They don’t want any snafus in foreign countries. Secondly, they want genuine interest in language and culture. Applicants have to be sure that they don’t come off as people who are looking for a free vacation.</p>
<p>I believe that the China program gets the highest volume of applicants, but the program is much larger than the others and has more available slots.</p>
<p>Tell the junior who is applying, be careful with his health forms. They ask about mental health and preexisting conditions. I went through therapy when I was about seven years old and living on a military base. I moved after that, so the therapy records stayed with the military hospital. When I called them nine years later, looking for my records for the NSLI-Y app, they couldn’t find my release form in the archives, so technically I wasn’t cleared. It was close to the deadline and I couldn’t find a solution in time, so I got rejected. The second (successful) year that I applied, I made sure to schedule an appointment in advance with a psychiatrist in my town who could clear me, and sent those forms in lieu of the lost release document from the military hospital, along with a letter explaining the situation.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of resources on the Cultures Shocked forum (check that out!) or the Exchanges Connect forum where applicants and alumni can post throughout the application process. These places should also have information about other low-cost programs.</p>
<p>Meg - Did you know Korean when you applied?</p>
<p>@texaspg: No, but I made that an extensive part of one my essays. My school doesn’t offer Korean classes, and online coursework only takes you so far.</p>
<p>They won’t penalize you during the application process for knowing or not knowing a language. Some kids go because they’ve studied extensively and want an immersion experience to better understand and practice the language, some go because they’ve never had the chance to learn at all and immersion is the fastest teacher. As long as you explain yourself, it’s all good. The university classes that students take through the program are taught at all levels.</p>
<p>Great information. What if you lived for many years in the country but have very basic language skills? Reason you attended an English Speaking school and locals only wanted to practice English with you. What if the country is the longest place you have lived so you consider it “home” now. Will this be held against you or be a benefit? One of my kiddos wants to return back to where they consider “home” via these programs and now immerse the language. They are excited to apply but want to be realistic.</p>
<ol>
<li>Is it possible to put this program on school transcript? </li>
<li>Any benefits for college admission?</li>
<li>Is it graded?</li>
</ol>
<p>What are the pluses of the program? My D. knows second language and culture, even without this program.</p>
<p>My son went to India with the NSLI-Y program this summer and it was a wonderful experience! The summer program was only six weeks, but well worth all of the red tape and preparation it took to get him there. </p>
<p>I agree with megmayumi, be sure to have your medical records intact. We had to make last minute trips to the doctor and the dentist to make the deadline. Also, if your child doesn’t have a passport, get it as soon as he is accepted into the program. India requires that both parents have a passport as well as the child, and since I’m divorced, it never occurred to me that my son might be denied his visa because his dad didn’t have a passport.</p>
<p>There are a lot of orientation meetings and webinars involved for the parents and the child which I appreciated because I was very well informed about the conditions under which my son would be living.</p>
<p>When it was all said and done, it was an extremely valuable experience for all of us. My son made lifelong friends (some of whom are still in India with the NSLI-Y program), and he has matured in ways that I’d never imagined. He has even discussed taking a gap year, putting off college for a year and going back next year…the jury is still out on that! ;-)</p>
<p>“Applicants have to be sure that they don’t come off as people who are looking for a free vacation.”</p>
<p>That is the hardest part of it. What if the child is very, very familiar with the language and the culture, already? Any benefits for this kid?</p>
<ol>
<li>Is it possible to choose a host family? (relatives of friends, for example)</li>
<li>Does it help college admission?</li>
</ol>
<p>My daughter went to China for the summer of 2012 and my son did the 2012-13 China year program. They both applied the previous year for different languages but were turned down, probably because they couldn’t demonstrate a commitment to either language. They are serious about Chinese, however. You can trust the programs to screen and select host families. These are reputable exchange programs that are hired by the US state department to provide these programs. It isn’t possible to learn a huge amount during a summer but it is a good start and allows students to identify potential interest for long term study. Both my children had done StarTalk Chinese summer programs in 2011. My daughter is now in the Chinese flagship program at the University of Mississippi. My son passed the HSK 5 with high marks before leaving China. He intends to continue study of Chinese in college.</p>
<p>Apollo- do they give acceptance rates for the different languages.
The student is I think only interested in Chinese. He took Chinese in his freshman year and shortly after the start of soph year the teacher quit. The school hobbled together a replacement plan at night for the students to finish the semester before discontinuing the program. After some searching he has continued to take Chinese online through John Hopkins. He wants to go to China next summer to continue working on his language skills.</p>
<p>The fact that he demonstrates determination to continue studying Chinese despite those challenges would definitely be in his favor but no acceptance rates have ever been published.</p>
<p>Apollo6 ,</p>
<p>Does this program helps for college admission? Or, is it just for fun?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Since you have asked the question three times, I will respond. I can’t imagine a student taking part in this program just to look good on a college application. Not only that, but it would take an opportunity from someone that legitimately has a passion for languages, culture, and a life enriching experience.</p>
<p>californiaaa: If the child is already familiar with the language and culture to the point of being a fluent speaker, I would say “no”, there is no benefit of this program to that child. </p>
<p>Part of the reason(only reason?) NSLI-Y was started was to increase the number of young people studying languages the federal government has deemed critical to the national security of the United States. If a child is already a fluent speaker of the language, having them fill a spot in the program would mean another student who does not yet know the language will not have the opportunity to do so. </p>
<p>Is this program for fun? No. This is an academic program. Fun will be had by the students awarded NSLI-Y scholarships but they will pay for the fun. Most of their time is spent in school and homework expectations are significant.</p>
<p>Does it help with college admissions? I don’t know. I suspect it helps students with a demonstrated commitment to the pursuit of learning languages as it is another way they can show their passion and talent.</p>
<p>How do these kids spend their 6 weeks in summer when they are in Korea, China or another country? They have a host family but also go to school on a daily basis?</p>
<p>The housing situation seems to vary by country. The experience for my child involved some time in a dorm and some time with a host family. The kids went to school for the entire six weeks. When with their host families, they used public transportation to get to school.</p>
<p>Same here. My son attended school daily, participated in some service opportunities, and participated in outings with the other NSLI-Y attendees (sight-seeing, cultural events, etc). There were also a lot of “social” events that he attended with his host siblings.</p>
<p>Mom60-you asked about competitiveness of admissions. My child was likely at 1 Ivy, admitted to 3 more, had won language and writing awards galore, and was rejected not once but twice, by this program. Obviously there was something they were looking for in her app that was missing, but I have no idea what. Very mature, had spent time away at summer programs since 8th grade. Both summers she ended up finding something even better to do, but it certainly hurt at the time.</p>
<p>Csshsm -thank you for your post.
He really wants to go to China this coming summer. Does anyone know of other programs that are low cost? They have three kids and this young man is the oldest. They still have a lot of college to pay for.</p>
<p>csshsm , </p>
<p>NSA is probably looking for a kid, who may be interested in government career in the future.</p>
<p>If your child is an Ivy, NSA may consider him “overqualified”.</p>