Hi everybody,
I am currently a freshman at a boarding prep school in the Northeast. My school offers study abroad programs, but I am figuring out whether or not I should apply.
My orchestra has a national tour this year and a very rare international tour next spring, which conflicts with studying abroad my spring term sophomore year.
I am questioning whether or not it is worth potentially sacrificing my GPA/grades/course load for a study abroad junior spring or should I just play it safe and study abroad my senior spring. My study abroad would definitely be in a foreign country, most likely Spain.
Even though I feel like studying abroad would be fun and, I do not want it to sacrifice my college application, especially since I think boarding school provides somewhat of the same sort of “independence” experience studying abroad gets.
TDLR: Does studying abroad during high school “differentiate” yourself enough in the application process that it’s worth risking sacrificing a couple of course choices and your GPA during junior year?