At SYA, we know that today's high school students must find ways to stand out in college application pools that are overflowing with qualified students.
College admissions officers at top universities and colleges attest to the SYA advantage. They know that successful SYA students are proven risk-takers who have responded well to the combined challenges of a rigorous academic program and life in a foreign culture. SYA is widely-known to produce exceptional students who are mature, informed, disciplined and well-adjusted to functioning away from home. Often times the college essay is based on the student's high school study abroad experience with SYA, and that essay makes all the difference.
Students who make the most of SYA are regularly accepted at top colleges and universities. Click here to learn more about which colleges SYA alumni attend.
SYA's schools are ETS and ACT test centers. SYA administers all appropriate PSAT, SAT, ACT and Advanced Placement examinations and maintains close contact with parents and home school counselors throughout the year to ensure that students are taking the appropriate tests.
"At Dartmouth we strongly support the SYA program because it demonstrates a student's willingness to try something new. In the process we see that many important human and intellectual qualities are developed. To cite some that we see at Dartmouth: independence, confidence, respect for difference, greater understanding of life outside the U.S., language skills, communication skills, ability to deal with academic and personal challenges, self-awareness, self-understanding and good material for essay topics."
Karl Furstenberg,
Former Dean of Admissions, Dartmouth College
Additional Quotes from College Admission OfficersAmerican high school college counselors
"More and more I hear from colleges 'where's the passion?' They see transcripts that suggest accomplishment, but nothing to suggest that the student really cares about something. The students who have the courage to step off of the treadmill and try something different - and SYA is one way to do that - stand out in a crowd of talented applicants. If a student thinks leaving their school for SYA is a risk, Good! Colleges like risk-takers!"
Andrew McNeill,
Former Director of College Counseling, The Taft School (CT)
Additional Quotes from College CounselorsSYA alumni and parents
"My college process was surprisingly easy. Taking all the necessary standardized tests in France was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and I ended up taking more APs than many of my friends at home. With the help of the college counseling at SYA, I returned home from France with a short list of colleges I was interested in, and by the end of the summer I had decided to apply early to Yale. In many ways I think my year in France made finding the right college easier because I had a better sense of where my interests lay and what it was I was looking for in a college. Now that I'm here (and loving every minute of it), I appreciate the emotional maturity and independence I gained living with a host family, and I think many of my friends from SYA would agree with me when I say that the SYA experience made the transition from high school to college extremely smooth and stress-free. If I had it to do over again, I would not just spend my junior year in France, but I would follow it with a senior year in Italy or China. SYA is an exceptional program that offers students an opportunity that does not come around in college."
Catherine, SYA France, The Brearley School (NY)
Additional Quotes from SYA alumni and parentsCollege Profile
SYA's College Profile includes information regarding enrollment, financial aid, curriculum, grading, SAT and AP test scores, and college matriculations of SYA students for the past five years.