Will Rotary Youth Exchange help me to get into college?

Question

I am a sophmore in High school and I am thinking of applying for the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Since the process takes time, I have to apply this year and if I get chosen, I will go next year. My question is, If I do this program would it help me get into college? My history teacher told us that if you had this program on your transcript, colleges would be impressed (since very few do it) and it would really set you aside from other applicants for college.

The exchange would be during my Junior year (11th grade) of high school and I would have to stay in the foreign country for a year.

Answer 1

I am a high school teacher from the US who is currently in Turkey on a Fulbright Teacher Exchange. The school where I am teaching here has quite a few students who are here on the Rotary Youth Exchange program, including two girls from the US, and others from Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. Although I don't work in college admissions, I think that participating in the Rotary program would certainly be an asset in getting into the college of your choice. It would really make you stand out. My thought is that the college admissions people would think that if you can handle a year in a foreign country, then you can certainly handle life on their campus. I think you should go for it.

Have you talked to former participants in the program? Maybe you could ask Rotary to put you in touch with some alumni of the program who were in the countries that you are interested in. You could ask how it impacted their college acceptance. If you would like to contact the Rotary girls who are here in Turkey now, just give me your email and I will pass it on to them. Of course, they aren't in college yet, but they can probably still provide you with some information. I wish you the best!