Advising Students on Country Choice
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Prior to Pre-App
Some students have only a vague idea of where they would like to go such as "I want to go to Europe". Other students have very definite ideas such as "I want to go to Spain to improve my Spanish". They may or may not have checked out the AFS website which gives details of the programs which we offer, and if they have they may or may not have checked the details very carefully.
Most volunteer interaction with the students at this phase will be informal - possibly face-to-face, but more likely via email, phone, text messages, or social media such as Facebook. Without having met the student and knowing about them, advising on country choice is also somewhat generic. Some of the advice you give might be such things as:
- Programs to popular countries such as France will fill up quickly, so applications need to be in as early as possible.
- There are many countries which have Spanish as their language, you might consider places like Argentina, Chile, etc.
- If you are interested in a semester program, the cost difference for a year program is fairly small and the student will get a lot more out of it.
- For some countries, consider various scholarships such as Congress-Bundestag for Germany (if you live in the Northeast US) or NSLI-Y for Arabic/Chinese/etc. language study.
- Encourage the student to consider countries such as Hungary, Peru, or Thailand which are usually less expensive, have later application deadlines, and are more flexible about accepting applicants with placement restrictions.
Pre-application - the reality check
Note - the requirements for each program are set by our partners, not by AFS-USA. They are generally not open to negotiation as they are based on the experience and culture in that country. Some of them may seem arbitrary and not "politically correct," but remember that other countries do not have the same culture or definition of "politically correct" as the United States.
We ask the students to provide 3-4 different programs that they will consider. In many cases, if the student is ineligible (for whatever reason) to participate in one program, one of the other programs that they have indicated may not have the same types of restrictions.
Note - The pre-application form lists the countries the student is considering separately from the program length they are considering. This may result in some confusion as the combination of country and program length may be valid for one country but not for another. If there is some confusion, you may need to have a conversation with the student about what they are really looking for.
Once a student reaches the pre-application stage it is time for a reality check. This will include the following:
- Check to see that the program actually exists. See study abroad pages of AFS USA website.
- Is the student within the program age range? Usually 15 years 0 months to 18y 0m at departure. But each program is different. See the country pages on the AFS USA website for specifics. Once on the country page, click 'Read More' to see the eligibility requirements for each program. The age ranges is listed both as age at departure (in years & months) or as birth dates. This is the age the stu must be at the beginning of the program.
- If the students has graduated, does the program accept graduates? Refer to the AFS USA website for a list of High School Programs open to graduates
- Does the student meet the program language requirements, if any?
- Lastly, check the Sending Matrix for an up-to-date spreadsheet that tracks how many spots are available for each program.
- Remember to mention to leads that they can save $25 off their application fee by using the Promo Code VOLd5Xp9632!
The Application Phase - time for the "nitty-gritty"
If they have not been discussed before, there are a number of other program restrictions that must be checked before we can send an application to a country. Failure to check them may mean rejection by the country, so it is helpful to do them now so that the student's application is not rejected later. In addition to re-checking the above items, check the following. Most of these topics are addressed on the individual program pages of the AFS USA website or on the Country Information pages.
- If students is a vegetarian/vegan will they be able to be placed?
- If the student is asthmatic or allergic to smoke they may not be able to participate in programs in countries where public smoking is still prevalent.
- Does the student require access to religious services while abroad? Religious access varies greatly; if this is important to the stu they will have to be flexible with their country choice.
- Does the student have any other physical, medical, or educational restrictions?
