Scholarship: Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX)

The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) scholarship is funded  "by the U.S. Department of State to strengthen U.S. – German relations through cross-cultural immersion and understanding." We first heard of the CBYX scholarship when my daughter was not chosen as a finalist for the NSLI-Y Program. The US Department of State sent out an email encouraging the students not chosen to try a variety of other scholarship program; CBYX was one of those mentioned. 50 students from 5 regions are chosen each year (250 total); acceptance rates are not available as they vary greatly depending on your region and how many students apply. Students do not need to speak German in order to participate.

What does it cover?

CBYX is a fully-funded scholarship for recipients to live one year in Germany. Students must be between 15 and 18 years of age. They will live with a host family and attend high school. Airfare from an assigned departure city, health insurance while in Germany, language camp during the first three weeks, expenses directly related to school, some travel to required events during the year, and some pre-departure orientation was paid for. We were told that she would need to pay for her residence visa once in Germany, but she just applied for that, and it was paid for. The only expenses not paid for were the $75 YFU application fee (to get accepted to the program), her passport, travel to get to the departure city (in our case - Chicago), and the National Pre-Departure orientation, which was an optional, two-day training held outside Chicago in July. We will need to arrange for her to get home from Chicago when she returns. She needs to provide her own spending money.

Application

Your child cannot apply directly to CBYX for the scholarship. It is administered by a variety of established study abroad organizations depending on the region you live in. Your child will apply directly to that organization and indicate that they are applying for the CBYX scholarship. For us in Minnesota, the organization is Youth For Understanding (YFU). The application was due in early December. There was a $75 application fee that she had to pay, and she was able to indicate that she would only participate if she received a scholarship. She was able to request that the interview be done by a local YFU representative since we were unable to attend the group event.

Acceptance!

In early March, my daughter received this email message:

Congratulations! We are excited to inform you of your selection as one of 50 finalists for the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) Program for the 2016-17 academic year. You have been selected by our volunteer scholarship evaluation team based on your scholarship application essays, your interview, and your teacher recommendation. Your application will now go into a final review stage which will be based on: 

•           Availability during confirmed CBYX program dates (August 11, 2016* – July 7, 2017)
•           Continued suitability for an academic year program in Germany and interest in the scholarship
•           Final medical review and acceptance by hosting organization YFU Germany
•           Timely completion of any follow-up questions or forms from the YFU Admissions team
•           Attendance to mandatory pre-departure orientation in April, May, or June

Initially, she did not realize that this message indicated she had been accepted. Upon careful reading of the final review stage, we saw that there was nothing that indicated they would be eliminating students. The criteria are based on if your child is still interested in going and willing to complete the necessary steps. If you get this email, celebrate! The official announcement comes out sometime in late March.

My Overall Impression

On the surface, this program seems a bit "too good to be true." Rest assured, it is legitimate. While YFU has been somewhat problematic to deal with (See YFU Orientation), a CBYX scholarship does in fact cover 99% of the expenses for a year in Germany for your child. 

There are a variety of student blogs about "how to get accepted to CBYX," but the reality is that no one knows exactly what gets one student accepted and another student rejected. However, there are some basic rules that should be taken into consideration.

Your child should:

• Have a good reason to want this experience. "Trying new foods" and "seeing new places" are not good reasons. What does he/she hope to accomplish by living in Germany for a year? How will this help his/her college or career goals? My daughter intends to study music in college and would like to study in Germany. For this reason, she needs to be fluent in German.
• Provide a quality headshot picture - not a selfie!
• Provide pictures that show himself/herself in a variety of situations that say "I am comfortable trying new experiences!" 5 selfies with his/her friends does not do that!
• Be honest. Maintaining a lie throughout an entire application process and for a year in Germany is not sustainable. Don't let them do it!