Pacific Cascades Area
AFS Intercultural Programs

AFS is the leading high school foreign exchange program, with opportunities to live and study in over 50 countries worldwide. 

PARENTS' CORNER

To the Parents of Prospective AFSers:

AFS is an investment in your son's or daughter's future. Before you make any investment, it is wise to weigh the benefits against the cost. Here's how other parents, college admissions officers, and prospective employers view the benefits of going abroad.

Personal Development: Students who ask to participate in AFS are already demonstrating maturity by showing their interest in challenging themselves. Living in a community abroad and learning to confront new environments further develops their maturity. Indra Stern Hayworth (parent of an AFSer to Puerto Rico) says that being abroad helped her daughter, "to be more confident with her peer group.... Now she can express herself well in two languages." Research shows that AFSers return home with an enhanced ability to make independent decisions, significantly improved communication skills, and a greater sensitivity to other cultures.

Preference in College Admissions: The increased number of qualified students applying for college admission has created an enormous amount of competition. How will your son or daughter differentiate himself / herself from the crowd? AFSers from the Pacific Cascades Area have gone on to study at some of the finest colleges in the world, including Stanford and Oxford University. Couple the initiative, drive and ability that led them to be an AFSer with the experience of living abroad, and you have a winning combination. Mrs. Vernon Spratley believes her daughter's participation in AFS made the difference. "Her AFS experience in Ghana put her over the top for early decision at top-ranked University of Virginia. She wrote her essay about being a white student in a black majority country and how this gave her an understanding of what it is like to be a black person in a white majority country."

Over 250 colleges and universities recognize and value the AFS experience through preferential admissions and scholarship awards. According to Theodore Spencer, the University of Michigan's director of undergraduate admissions, as cited in The Ann Arbor News, there are other measures of quality than grades, class rank, and test scores. Increasingly important in evaluating applicants are special language skills, experience living abroad, and community service. If you would like a copy of The AFS College Advantage, please call 1-800-AFS-INFO.

Career Direction: American industry is acquiring a global focus. For example, the General Electric Company, according to spokesperson Bruce Bunch, looks to hire college graduates who have an "international mentality" those who have foreign language skills or have lived abroad. Whether working abroad or in the US, the ability to understand and manage cultural differences is crucial for success in the global marketplace of the 21st century. Additionally, many AFSers have attributed their career choices to their time abroad.

Why AFS: If you are going to invest your family's time and money in a student exchange program, you want it to be with the right organization. When your child goes abroad with AFS he or she and you will be supported by one of the largest and most experienced student exchange organizations in the world.

AFS is a worldwide organization with offices in over 44 countries. In each participating country, AFS is characterized by three levels of support: a professional staff, a volunteer national board, and local volunteers. The AFS volunteer force throughout the world is composed of program alumni, their parents, former host families, educators and others who use their combined experience and enthusiasm to provide a safe yet challenging experience. In every country, staff and volunteers are committed to intercultural learning and subscribe to a common set of AFS quality program standards.

The lifelong benefits from participating in AFS can have a profound influence on your son's or daughter's future. Join the parents of over 7,000 students worldwide who trust their children to AFS each year. You'll be providing your son or daughter with an exceptional opportunity.

For More Information: go to AFS National website, www.afs.org/usa or call 1-800-AFS-INFO to talk to a live person. You can also email the AFS Pacific Cascades Area team at info@afscascades.org to find out how local volunteers can help you..

Last revision November 5, 2006