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If you’ve spent any time going through an actual college application on the Common App, you may have run across the opportunity, at some schools, to choose to attend an alternative campus. Some of these are full-fledged schools abroad, like NYU’s option to make its campus in Abu Dhabi your primary (or secondary) choice. But others are options for spending the first semester or year abroad, returning as late as sophomore year, like at USC. These choices have been around for years, but have resurfaced as a point of discussion after a recent WSJ article on the subject. So, should you opt-in to these alternative programs at the time you apply?
Like with everything in college admissions, the answer is: it depends. But before we break down the decision scenarios, you should know that many colleges use your opt-in status on the application to shape their class. If you give USC the option to place you in Paris for your first year, instead of on their main campus, they may take you up on that, whether you’d prefer to be on the main campus or not. Colleges are looking to maximize their own best interests first, so it’s important to know your own “most desired outcome” so you can respond appropriately.
Colleges are looking to maximize their own best interests first, so it’s important to know your own “most desired outcome”
Let’s look at three specific scenarios:
When applying to NYU, for example, students are asked to indicate a second or even third campus choice (Abu Dhabi, Shanghai, etc.). In a case like this, there are two reasons for choosing an alternative campus. The first would be if you would legitimately choose to go abroad and think it would be fun to get a college degree overseas. But that is not most applicants. The second would be if the college (e.g., NYU, or recently Yale) is absolutely, without a doubt, your top choice and you want that name on your resume even if you need to go abroad to get it. But if neither of these is true for you, we don’t recommend you put an alternative campus on your application. You may end up getting relegated to this choice as a reward for being flexible.
It may seem odd that colleges add the choice to study abroad during the first semester of freshman year. But they do this to help manage their own yield and capacity on campus. Colleges know that every year some on-campus freshmen will not return for the second semester of their first year, and they can be replaced with those students who were studying abroad. It’s a way to keep the class filled even after that natural attrition. But our feeling is that unless you find this option truly desirous and WANT to spend your first semester abroad, you should not opt-in to this choice when applying. Kids coming to campus proper after the first semester often have a hard time assimilating and feel more like transfer students. The same logic as the last scenario applies, however, in that if this school is your absolute dream college and you’d take any chance to get a degree from that school, then you should opt-in.
Per the Wall Street Journal article noted earlier, some colleges offer waitlisted students the opportunity to study abroad for the first semester or year - or even defer for an entire year - after yield becomes more clear to the college. In this instance, as a student, you have more perfect information about your other choices and can decide to accept such an offer. Just keep in mind that the beginning of college is an important time to make social connections that can last for all four years. There is no doubt opportunity to do the same as a late starter (especially if there are a number of other late starters and a formal orientation program), but it is not the same vibe as the start of college.
Like with everything college admissions, deciding what choices to make during the application and waitlist process is about knowing what you want most. If it is to get a school’s name on your resume at all costs, then opt-in to these programs. If not, then stay a little less flexible with the college and keep true to the early college experience you do want.
