Thursday, December 20, 2012

Things Are A'changin

So.

I'm not eligible for YES, but that's okay.

I'm applying to CBYX, due Jan 10th. I have a lot of work to do, since I don't have a transcript or recommendations yet. I'm going to email my teachers for recommendations tomorrow and try to track down the transcript over break.

Also, AFS Speedwell, which had a 60% acceptance rate last year. Pretty amazing, but I'm not counting on being accepted. I had a conversation and argument and all of that lovely stuff with my family today, and I think Turkey's out of the question. I think I'll be applying to Argentina/Portugal/Slovakia/Czech Republic. I'm happy with that, even though there aren't any Middle Eastern countries on that list.

My backup is ASSE Portugal. I'll have to do tons and tons of fundraising for that. Hoping for a scholarship.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

I'm a Fan of Absolution

Taking from the title, I like things to be absolute. However, when applying for multiple foreign exchange programs, there is no absolution, which is, at the time, perfectly fine with me.

I haven't yet submitted any applications (YES and CBYX aren't out yet), but I actually know where I'm applying, now. Pretty awesome, eh? That means I've eliminated my previous list of potential countries and created a more accurate one.

I'm ineligible for NSLI-Y and YFU scholarships because of my age (I'm a month and a half too young for NSLI-Y and a couple of weeks too young for the majority of YFU scholarships). Also, I've decided that I'm not planning to apply for CIEE if I'm rejected from YES and CBYX.

The plan:

CBYX - AFS - DEUTSCHLAND, natuerlich

YES - Oman/India/Bosnia/Turkey/South Africa/Ghana/Thailand

ASSE - full scholarships, and I plan on going with ASSE if I can't get a scholarship with ASSE, YES, or CBYX: Mongolia/Ukraine/Turkey.

So, well, as an update, at this time next year, it's likely that I'll be in/headed to Germany, Bosnia, Ukraine, Turkey, Oman, South Africa, India, or Mongolia. So exciting!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Ich komme aus Pennsylvania

Hello readers, nice to meet you. I'm Evan, a 14-year-old Pennsylvanian freshman who aspires to study ABROAD next year! Yes, I'm going to be a foreign exchange student. To where? Well, that's a complicated answer. You see, I don't really know where yet.  I've got to write down all of the scholarships and countries I plan to apply to before my head explodes. You see, normal people might just say, oh, my top three country choices are 1. Japan 2. France 3. Sweden, but a couple of things complicate normalcy for me. First of all is the fact that I'm applying for both partial and total scholarships, a variety of them, and each programs has different country choices. Also, my age: as a freshman born in the summer, eligibility can be well, interesting. But, as you'll see in a minute, I'm flexible about what country I want to go to. I'm very flexible, because, after all, I'd like to live in every country in the world for a year! Ah, if only I had the time!

Anyways, I'm applying a variety of scholarships and programs:

YES Abroad for Americans - woot woot! In the ideal situation, I would be accepted by YES - it's a full scholarship to countries with significant Muslim populations. With my age and lack of French skills, I'm eligible for South Africa, Oman, Thailand, Bosnia and Herzegovina, India, Turkey, and Ghana. My preferences are something like 1. Oman 2. India 3. Ghana 4. Bosnia and Herzegovina 5. South Africa 6. Thailand 7. Turkey. HOWEVER, YES is the kind of scholarship where not a lot of people get their first choice - they place you where they think you'll best fit.

CBYX - full scholarships to Germany!

NSLI-Y - full scholarships to a variety of countries where critical languages are spoken. My choices are as follows: 1. Russian/Chinese year 2. Arabic year.

ASSE scholarships - still trying to figure out exactly how these work, haha. My choices are Mongolia/Ukraine/Moldova.

YFU scholarships - not yet updated for this year, but one is to Germany is others are choice scholarships: my preferences are Austria/Belgium/Latvia

CIEE is, well, my plan for when it's April and I've been rejected to every scholarship I apply for. I plan to apply for the partial scholarship and the year programs to Brazil/Germany/China and fundraise fundraise fundraise haha!

So, in total, I could end up in Brazil, Germany, China, Austria, Belgium, Latvia, Mongolia, Ukraine, Moldova, Taiwan, Russia, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, India, Ghana, Bosnia, Thailand, South Africa, or Turkey. Who knows?