The Foreign Service Journal, June 2007

J U N E 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 81 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT said, “I appreciate what you’re ask- ing, but I have diversity in my life right here in this international high school, and I’ve never felt quite as if I fit in. It will be a relief for me to be with people to whom I don’t have to explain my faith. I will finally feel I can be myself.” Although this is not the usual viewpoint of many stu- dents, this young woman had obvi- ously given the matter a lot of thought and knew just what she wanted. Many college search guides will quote students describing the social, political and religious climate of the school. If you do your homework, you’ll know if a school is full of ani- mal-rights activists or no-gays-in- the-military activists — or no activists at all. You’ll know if the fra- ternity and sorority scene dominates campus social life. You’ll know if the school is founded or funded by a religious organization, and how that affects the atmosphere. Also bear in mind that the population in state schools may not be as generally wealthy as that in private schools. A school can be diverse in many ways and yet be economically homoge- nous. 12. Who moved my falafel? Are you used to being surrounded by students from many nations? When FS kids experience culture shock upon returning to their own country for college, it’s often because they are used to an overseas high school chock-full of interna- tional kids and cultures, and the col- lege they’ve chosen is much more American. You may well want to check out the percentage of interna- tional students at the colleges you are considering. One experienced parent has suggested going further and asking the registrar what per- centage of international students are undergraduates, as there are often many more international grad and postgrad students, who are not as likely to mix with undergrads. Still, because of financial aid con- straints for international students, wealthy international students often If financial aid is important to you, you may not want to apply Early Decision to any college.