Because CBYX is just the scholarship that pays for the program, there are different implementing organizations that deal with the applications and actual exchange. The 5 different organizations (YFU, AFS, CIEE, ASSE, and FLAG) deal with five different regions of the United States. There are 250 scholarships nationwide and each section (and each organization) gets 50 scholarships. I live in Maryland, which is included in the Northeast region, so AFS is my implementing organization and the program that I applied through.
No matter what program you apply through the exchange will still be the same. If you get in, you spend a year abroad in Germany staying with a host family and going to a local German high school. There is no language requirement and once you get to Germany you either go to a month long language camp staying with a host family different from the one you will be staying with all year, or you go to your official host family and just take lessons after school for a month. Additional language education is offered but the cost is not covered by the program. Most people come back from this program pretty fluent in German, especially with speaking.
The only eligibility requirements to apply for the program are:
- you must be a U.S. citizen or a national or permanent resident,
- you must be 15 to 18 and a half years old at the start of the program
- you must have a GPA of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
The application is long, so make sure to start early. Not only do you want to spend time making sure your application is the best it can be, but you need to make sure that you give your teachers lots of time to fill out recommendations, academic certifications, etc.
The most important part of the application and the one that is going to take the most time is your essays. There are six short essays (no more than 250 words) and one host family letter (no word count). If you get in, the host family letter will be used to find you a suitable host family and will be given to the family before you go. If you have applied to any other abroad programs or scholarships, you will probably see that some essay questions are very similar and that you can recycle some essays. I applied for a NSLIY summer program, so I had written a smaller version of the family letter and one essay very similar to one of the short essays for CBYX. Although 250 words does not seem like much, I found it very hard to try and put all of my ideas (since some of the questions are very broad) into only 250 words. I tend to be a very wordy writer (as you can probably tell from this blog post) so I found it very challenging to keep my ideas concise. Also, some of the questions themselves were difficult and required a lot of thinking, which is another reason you should allow yourself lots of time.
The way I tackled the essays is not necessarily the correct way to do it but I found that it worked well for me. After thinking about the essay questions for a while, I sat down and wrote down rough drafts for all of them at once. Then I spent a week thinking about what I wrote and what I could say differently and then I went back and made all of the changes I had been thinking about. Then, when I thought I had pretty strong rough drafts, I went and consulted with my parents. I had them both read my essays separately and compare notes and then spent two afternoons just sitting down with both of them and going over their feedback while also mentioning things that I wanted to change but didn't know how. I would very much recommend having someone, especially your family, not only proofread them but sit down and walk through them with you so that nothing is changed that you don't understand or agree with. I had multiple friends of mine read through them after I thought they were application ready and made a few changes based on their suggestions. I spent a lot of time revising and going over them and wouldn't settle until I thought they were perfect (which annoyed my parents just a little bit) and continued to make changes until the application was due. As you can see, it took me multiple weeks. Make sure you leave enough time for you to go over them multiple times because you'll always look again and see things that you wish you had changed. Even looking back on my essays now I think I made some dumb decisions, so definitely don't wait until the last minute.
When working on my application, I spent a lot of time digging through AFS wiki and eventually found a list of adjectives that they look for in an applicant and a list of red flags as well.
This is the list of adjectives:
- Curious: Students curious about the world beyond their front doorsteps are more likely to have positive study abroad experiences.
- Open: Meeting new people and making new friends is one of the most important parts of studying abroad.
- Mature: Showing maturity for their age and having a mature understanding of themselves gives candidates the confidence they will need while studying abroad.
- Communicative: Being able to communicate what they are thinking and feeling while studying abroad will enable students to adapt and overcome challenges.
- Adventurous: A willingness to take healthy risks leads students into adventures they might not have otherwise experienced.
- Respectful: Study Abroad participants should be able to both establish their own and respect the boundaries of others.
- Pragmatic: Successful Study Abroad students are able to accept those things that cannot be changed.
- Patient: Demonstrating patience with themselves and others will help study abroad participants learn and grow.
- Flexible: Being able to cope with new and unfamiliar situations gives students the ability to “roll with it” during their study abroad.
- Persistent: Setting goals and going after them despite adversity ensures active and engaged study abroad participants.
- Motivated: Study abroad participants take on many great responsibilities and should be eager to get involved and take advantage of the many opportunities their experiences will provide.
Although these are specific to AFS they are probably similar to what every organization is looking for in an applicant. Try to include these traits in your essays and host family letter as much as possible (not necessarily by saying "I am..." but by showing through your writing that you have these characteristics).
The red flags that they look for are applicants that:
- Expect an AFS program to be a vacation or who are looking for an escape.
- Exhibit extreme personalities: either totally independent, aggressive, arrogant or extremely withdrawn, passive, always trying to please
- Illustrate an unwillingness or inability to make emotional commitments and sustain positive interpersonal relationships
- Have overbearing parents who are pushing their children beyond their own interests or capacities.
- Or have parents who are overly protective and resistant to allowing their child space and independence.
The next part of your application is the awards and activities section. I would say include as much as you can within the four year period that they give you, even if it was four years ago and only lasted 2 months, or if you just started a week ago. Ask your parents to look through your file to find awards because there might be some that you weren't even aware of (which is what happened to me). Also, since there is a limited number of award slots, make sure you chose the awards that will make you look the best if you happen to have more than the number of slots. You should try and make yourself look as interesting and involved as possible, but you shouldn't lie and say you've done something if you actually haven't. Interviewers get to see your application so they can ask about anything you put down in your interview. If you haven't done something and you can't answer a question on it, that will look very bad on your part.
Recommendations are also really important. Make sure you give your teachers plenty of time to complete them and if it happens to be last minute make sure you apologize and ask if you think they will be able to get it done. Also, make sure your teachers know that it is an actual form that you have to fill out online and not just a recommendation letter. My friend who was also applying had her teachers all write letters and they had to go back at the very last minute and fill out the online form.
Academic information and certification is another part of the application you should do early, since it requires your adviser or counselor to fill out a form. On top of this, you need a transcript, which I did not realize until the day the application was due. Luckily, I had a unofficial transcript in my backpack that I had referenced to put my grades in, and was able to upload that the day it was due. For the section where you have to put in your grades, just make sure you are being honest because they are going to see your grades on your transcript anyway. Also, although it is an academic scholarship, the traits that you exhibit and your desire to learn another culture and another language are going to stand out more than your GPA, so don't feel discouraged if your GPA is not super high, as long as it fits the requirements of the program.
The personal information section is pretty straightforward. Just make sure that you put down all of the information as you can and don't lie about anything. Ask your family if you are unsure of anything and have them go over all of the information to make sure it is accurate.
The last parts are the medical information and the media release. For the medical information, make sure you are being honest because you will eventually have to get a more thorough medical form filled out by your physician. The media release is simply the contact information for your local newspapers so that they can publish it if you happen to get into the program.
I hope this helped and good luck to any future applicants!