<p>This question comes up all the time, and I wonder where students got the idea that staying home to load up on AP courses trumps exploring an interesting experience? I know that I got a lot of push back when my daughter spent Junior year abroad because she was delaying taking an AP science, and several other chances to do AP. Our opinion was - colleges don’t really care about that. </p>
<p>What they care about is that you’re challenging yourself. For most students that means staying home and taking AP and honors courses in absence of other opportunities. It does try to show you’re ready for college level work.</p>
<p>But in the end, if the admissions pile is full of students with the same plain-vanilla set of classroom experiences, how do you stand out? What makes your application unique enough for an Adcom to say “I want student A” versus “student B” when all other factors are equivalent?</p>
<p>You should do the semester at the Mountain School IF:
- it appeals to you
- you’ll work hard
- gain things you won’t get by staying home.</p>
<p>Sometimes the latter involves living away from home (which means you’ll arrive at college already acclimated to a dorm experience), meet people of all cultures, learned to be self managing in absence of your parents.</p>
<p>One semester away isn’t going to hurt your college chances unless you spend that semester coasting and goofing off. What it “might” show is that you’re willing to take a risk and that you’re not a cookie cutter applicant. And frankly - yes there are a lot of deadlines and tests and competitions - but think of the kids like mine who spent an entire junior year abroad and still managed to get those things submitted.</p>
<p>I would say - if this is presents a wonderful experience, will give you more stories to talk about, and will challenge you - then do it. Colleges want interesting, well-rounded students. If they only wanted AP loaded students they’d tell everyone else not to apply.</p>
<p>It’s often the latter students who find they aren’t getting all their choices because there are other students with more interesting experiences who stood out.</p>
<p>But as with everything - this answer is a “it depends”…on the student, the school, and the circumstances. When all else fails, trust your gut, make a decision, and then don’t look back to second-guess it.</p>