Question for College Recruiter - Exchange Program (1 Viewer)

[kentric]

My daughter (16 y.o. and a Junior in H.S.) wants to spend six months in Japan under a AFS-USA (American Field Service) program.  She will stay with a host family and attend a Japanese High School.  The classes will be taught in Japanese (my daughter does not yet know the language) and the credits associated with the classes she takes there will not be accepted by her current H.S.   Due to the time spent there, she will end up missing her senior year of H.S. and will have to take her senior year up again in 2017-2018.

My question is, how will this be viewed by college recruiters?  Will she be viewed as someone who wastes their time?  Will it be viewed positively (i.e., she had a dream and went for it)?  Any input would be greatly appreciated.  I also intend to call a couple of colleges and try to discuss this with the recruiters there.

Some background on my daughter (sorry, no pics):  Good academically (4.3 GPA through Soph year); good grades on PSAT (say 1270 or so); no sports; very limited after-school activities (chess club which she rarely attends).  She is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do but the family as a whole quit it 3 years ago (may start it back up to support college application).  She basically stays home and does homework, plays video games, hangs with gfs.  

My wife said that the program may be beneficial to my daughter as she is rather naive (although she is self-confident).

AFS-USA Program: http://www.afsusa.org/study-abroad/programs/japan/high-school

eta: her initial view is to attend a smaller university.

 

[matuski]

No idea on the official college recruiter stance, but i can't see how this would be viewed as anything less than awesome.

If you can handle her being away that long, go for it!

 

[John Bender]

For highly selective colleges and universities it's very unlikely to move the needle much, if at all. The less selective the college, the better chance it has to affect a decision but still depends on so many other factors. It's a good supplement but that alone won't be enough, in general, to hold much weight.  I'd do that in conjunction with the other activities you mentioned (and then some)

Just to add: it always "depends on the school" and what their institutional priorities are. She also added that visiting the campus/interviewing with admissions is probably one of the best ways to boost your acceptance chances.

If you had any specific questions or follow up, you could PM me or post em here.

(according to my better half who is Dir of Admissions at a top 25 university)