Hi everyone,
I am documented through DACA and sadly cannot apply for NSLI-Y or really any other government exchange program which I am beyond bummed about considering my passion for international affairs and critical languages. However, after some research I have come across other exchange programs, such as Youth For Understanding (YFU) and was planning to apply to their Latvian summer program. I don’t know if I should go ahead with this, because I don’t know how useful Russian is. I also don’t know how impressive that would look on a college application, but I need help knowing if I should do this or not.
You shouldn’t decide to do something based on if something is useful or not, and please please please don’t choose to do/not do something for a college application! You should do it if it truly interests you or not. Most likely, the ECs you commit to, your grades/test scores, and your essay will make you stand out A LOT more than a summer program you do or something like that.
Is learning Russian something that interests you, regardless of the usefulness of the language? What makes the Latvian summer program stand out from other countries/programs to you? Consider these questions to see if you really want to go through with the study abroad or not. Don’t worry about what colleges will think if you choose to do it or not.