I am currently in ninth grade and have always wanted to study abroad and be trilingual. I would definitely say I’m above average academic wise. I’m in AP Bio and AP Hug along with sophomore math and others honors classes. Lately I’ve been really thinking about studying abroad and it fascinates me but I’m wondering if it’ll really be worth it or will my entire high school career get messed up. I would definitely want to go for at least a semester but and full year would be ideal. My question is, would I have to graduate later even though I’m already ahead in all of my classes? I was also wondering what year would be ideal for going. I was thinking junior year but would that interfere with SAT and ACT preparation and testing and would it also affect college applications?
Being ahead academically (and your far from uniquely ahead) doesn’t really mean that much usually. You still need to meet the same high school graduation requirements typically no matter what level you start in. However it is a good time to start thinking about study abroad. Perhaps something like doing some extra dual enrollment classes could help if there are some lost credits.
First start by mentioning it to your parents especially when there is probably a cost involved. One company that has been around for years that I used when I did study abroad is Youth for Understanding. I would also suggest talking to your guidance counselor since they may be familiar from other kids having done study abroad in the past. They may also know what you get credit for at the high school from a typical study abroad semester/year.
We hosted an exchange student through Youth for Understanding. She was from Germany. For her, her credits wouldn’t transfer (as she was in the highest level of German High Schools) so she took some core classes but some fun classes (drama, cooking). When she went back, she had to do her senior year.
You would need to find out if your credits would transfer. If not, you would graduate with the next class But you will have gained a language, a host family, independence and cultural knowledge.
A better idea for you may be a summer program for students who wish to travel abroad during high school. There are some really cool ones online (and I believe some that offer financial aid as well, if that’s something you would need).
Typically you study abroad after Sophomore year and your abroad credits transfer toward hs graduation. You must often take us history senior ear since you couldn’t take it while abroad but it wouldn’t delay graduation.
Afs and YFU are two groups that specialize in high school years abroad. Check out CIEE also, they’re very professional.
@MYOS1634 US History is a freshman requirement here and junior year is a modern world history so that easily could be a non issue.
Don’t expect every single class you take abroad is a guaranteed transfer. Sometimes they require unique classes to the country that are not given credit here but often you get just about if not all of the credits you need. I found English to be fun when taking it abroad. Since it was years ago I had a short typing class each week and just needed to remember that the y and z were reversed. Occasionally you do find some American schools do not accept study abroad and it can delay graduation so check details at your own school.
I don’t know anything about it but check out the Rotary for study abroad trips as well which may be shorter. Another thing to do now is to start thinking about what country you might want to go to. When I went I didn’t speak the language and the first month was language and culture classes with other American students at the same beginner level then 11 months spent in a host family. If attending school is important to you find out if it is included in a summer program (which may depend on the school calendar of the country you go to).
Study abroad today seems different now since things like the internet didn’t exist when I went. I got to call home maybe 3 or 4 times - when I got there, for a holiday etc and my family called for special occasions like when my niece was born. It was the same way for the two exchange students we had with us for a year each.
I felt the same thing as you (in sophomore year, however) and I decided that it would at least try a summer abroad program before completely committing myself to a year abroad. I am now a junior, and over this last summer between sophomore and junior year, I did a program called NSLI-Y (National Security Language Initiative for Youth), which has both 6-week programs in the summer and full academic year programs. It is for critical language learning, so it is mostly for less known languages - I studied Persian in Tajikistan. There is also an exchange program called CBYX (Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange) which is for a year in Germany. This year I am applying to an NSLI-Y year program and CBYX. I would talk to your councilors before applying to see if credits would be able to transfer for your year. Some schools are more willing to let the credits transfer than others. I don’t think that being ahead academically will do much for missing a whole year, regardless you will have to do work and cannot simply skip a year of school. However, you might not have to graduate later if you do online classes and coordinate with your regular high school and take classes abroad. Junior year would be a hard year to miss but if you are willing to do SAT/ACT prep on your own you might be able to catch up. If you can do it for your sophomore year, I would recommend that because it is a lot less rigorous that junior year and easier to make up, especially if you are taking sophomore classes now.
@momtogirls2 These days they have extensive orientation and they urge them only to contact home every couple of weeks so they can let go of home and start making bonds with people in the host country.
@bopper Thanks. I think that is useful to at least try in the beginning after letting your family know you arrived safely
and hopefully the family and friends at home go along with it.