<p>Has anyone gone on SYA? I'm really thinking about doing it, either France or Spain, I haven't decided? Is it worth it?</p>
<p>Well, you have to apply and it costs quite a lot of money. ~$35,000 for a year I think, but they have financial aid.</p>
<p>Damn, Is that a student exchange? If it is theirs cheaper ones like AFS.</p>
<p>SYA is reputable, but there are a lot of other organizations that have been around a long time and are MUCH cheaper. Ayusa/Intrax, CIEE, AFS, AIFS, ASSE, and YFU are all good. Rotary Youth Exchange is also good and cheap (pay about $1000 only as it's basically almost all paid for by Rotary Club), but there's a chance you won't get your first choice country. But most people seem to say you can be happy in any country as long as you have the right mindset...same as colleges I guess. A good forum with lots of information is: <a href="http://www.cultures-shocked.net/forum/index.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.cultures-shocked.net/forum/index.php</a></p>
<p>A friend of mine did SYA in Zaragoza, Spain, for 2005-2006 and loved it. I'll post again when I get more information from him.</p>
<p>I have five friends doing SYA this year, two in France, two in Spain, and one in Japan. They all love it. As someone said earlier, you can get financial aid.</p>
<p>SYA doesn't offer programs in Japan. Only Spain, China, France, and Italy.</p>
<p>Okay, so I heard back from my friend who did Zaragoza in 05-06; hope some of this helps.... I couldn't get much out of him, though when I asked, "Was it worth it?" he said, "yes...it really depends on your host family and the other american kids." Interestingly, he said that if he could do it again, he'd have chosen France; didn't say why, though.</p>
<p>SYA will be offering programs in Japan in 2009 or 2010.</p>
<p>I think SYA is better than AFS and other cheaper things because you can keep taking all your AP's and keep a rigorous course load while you're abroad. It'd probably be pretty hard to ensure AP's and high-level courses with a cheaper program. Also, AFS goes to like 50 countries, while SYA specializes with their 4, so they're probably going to be more helpful in regards to particular things.</p>
<p>I have a son at SYA France this year. The program is - for my fairly high achieving child - intense, organized and balanced. Yes, it is not inexpensive. But, the SYA folks know what they are doing, and they do it well. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.</p>
<p>I did SYA China 06-07, and it was amazing. I was only there for a semester, but it was a semester which changed my life. Coming from a large public school, I thought the academics were challenging, although the majority of kids were coming from private or prep schools and I think their biggest adjustment was to the language, not the academics. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.
Is it worth it? YES. I don't think I've heard of a single person who thought it wasn't.</p>