<p>Umm no, definiely go with JSA if your passion is History/Law/Government like CGM stated, because randomly volunteering in Thailand WILL not help your college application especially if you're Thai yourself. Too many users on CC place a huge emphasis on just going to some prestigious summer camp or volunteering in some foreign land. Don't worry about finances(all your options seem pretty expensive) and attend the summer program which will benefit you the most with regards to your future goals of International Law which would undoubtebly be JSA.</p>
<p>The truth is if you're really passionate about volunteering and traveling overseas, then you can easily go to Thailand with that purpose in mind when you're an adult...no need to spend your high school summers on that now.:)</p>
<p>Random volunteering in Thailand will help if that's what you really want to do - travel, see the country, experience the culture. At this point, I'd just say do whatever you want to do (and probably costs the least) - JSA doesn't help that much on college applications (because it is def. less prestigious as a program that you have to shell out 5K for), though it has the possibility of doing so, while traveling/volunteering doesn't help that much, though it also has the possibility of doing so. I doubt JSA will really help you become an international lawyer - I regard it as a more specialized summer school. If you're really passionate about volunteering and traveling, just do it now. Don't think things will be freed up when you're an adult...things just become busier and even more hectic.</p>
<p>I was in a similar position last year - go to JSA at Yale (probably History/IR major, active in debate, looking into law, etc.) or visit relatives in China + church trip to Poland. The travel was actually less expensive than JSA and I decided I would rather travel and enjoy myself than continue to go to school. I don't think that decision hurt my college app at all, esp. since I wrote an essay on Poland that I really liked...:)</p>
<p>wow, this sort of sucks...that you're doing this only for college</p>
<p>I'd pick Thailand anyday....</p>
<p>Im not sure exactly how prestigious te harvard summer school and junior statesman thing at yale are, but assuming they cost lots of money and that the acceptance rate is relatively high, Im guessing the volunteering/internship thing at Thailand would look the best on your resume, so id go with that.</p>