Will this help me when applying?

Applying to College
1

<p>By the time I apply for colleges, I will have traveled a good deal.</p>

<p>I will have done:</p>

<p>Gone to the Bahamas for a week for a marine biology research project
Traveled to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland to experience their culture
Visit Spain during Spring Break to learn about their culture with Spanish class
Scottish Exchange Program
1 year research program with students in Singapore, then go to Singapore for 3 weeks to finish project and present it.</p>

<p>Will these things help when applying?</p>

2

<p>Of course not</p>

3

<p>If you got to travel because of your ability to pay rather than merit, I don’t think the middle 3 experiences would help much because anyone with enough money could do those things. I can’t say anything about the marine biology research project in the Bahamas and the 1 year research project with students in Singapore, though. I would imagine they would help a little.</p>

4

<p>Ok, thanks for the imput.</p>

<p>The second one was just for interest in the culture but the other two are merit based.</p>

5

<p>Well you can out them in your essays and talk about what you learnt from them and how they have impacted your life in a positive way.</p>

6

<p>I can see the first and the last helping. The middle three you need a bit of $$ and you’re set. If you got in based on merit, however, that may help.</p>

7

<p>Thank you for all of the advice!
Travelling is a passion of mine and I hope to make in known in someway, and I think an essay about it is a great way to do that :)</p>

8

<p>Cool, I love traveling also… If you just tell them “oh yeah, I’ve been here and here and here and yada and yida, and yeda” they will just think “oh yeah, another rich kid”. Again all that is exempt if you have done that through merit scholarships or for scholarly work (like the first and last ones).</p>

<p>I suggest you make it known how much you learn, what you learn, and how it has shaped your life. While traveling may be a passion it is a) expensive passion b)Passion that won’t help the school. What will help the school, however, is what you GET from that traveling.</p>

9

<p>That’s great advice, thanks principalviola. :)</p>

10

<p>I personally traveled internationally several times and included that on my application, but I stressed I had to work hard to pay for it. In fact, I actually wrote my common app essay about the impact the Japanese culture had on me and the cultural understanding I gained from it. Seemed to work out okay for me.</p>