ASSIST Scholar

What is ASSIST?

ASSIST is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that matches academically talented, multi-lingual international students with American independent secondary schools. During a one-year school stay, an ASSIST scholar-leader serves as a cultural ambassador actively participating in classes and extracurricular activities. Since 1969, 5,385 student scholar-leaders from 52 countries, many underrepresented in independent school populations, have been matched with ASSIST-affiliated schools. This growing, global network connects top scholars with elite American schools and with one another.

Learn More About ASSIST

Why Host?

Inviting an international scholar into your home is one of the most powerful choices you can make to build connections with your school and global community. It creates the kind of relationships that change the world. ASSIST scholars attending day schools live with host families full-time. Host families help define the ASSIST experience for scholars.

All students are thoroughly vetted and interviewed before they come to the U.S., so you have the confidence in knowing you're hosting a dedicated, trustworthy student. The relationships you'll make are lifelong, and the perspective you'll gain is priceless. Of course, you're never in this alone; GPS is available to help with any issues that come up.

“Hosting our ASSIST student was an amazing experience! Not only did we get to know more about the German culture, but we also got to share what it is like to live in America with her! We explained the rules of football (American football), roasted s'mores around a fire, shared our holiday traditions, watched American TV shows, and ate lots of Skittles! My daughter loved sharing GPS traditions with our student, and it was fun to see GPS through a new set of eyes—I know my daughter learned to appreciate her school more by sharing it with someone new. We gained a new daughter and are a better family for having hosted her in our home.”

—Amanda Hayslett, former Host Parent

As a host, you will:

Develop a lifelong friendship with a world-class scholar who's likely to go on to become an international leader.
Become a citizen of the world without leaving home.
Open doors of opportunity for an exchange student that would never have been possible without you.
Provide the supportive, safe home-away-from-home you'd want for your own children studying abroad.
Change the world—and yourself—one relationship at a time.
Expose your own children to a larger world and revolutionize your family's dinner conversations.

Meet Magdalena

Magdalena is a 14-year-old rising 10th-grader from Poland. A lover of the arts, she sings and dances in a well-known Polish folk band, with which she travels, performs, and competes, sharing the beautiful folklore of her home country. Magda, as she's known by friends and family, is a bright young woman full of curiosity and enthusiasm.

She has served as class president for three years, is a member of her school's student council, and volunteers with local charities through her school and wider community. She loves social science and plans to become a lawyer one day. Magda maintains excellent grades, and teachers describe her performance in school as "...utterly based on inner motivation. She’s disciplined, conscientious, resourceful, and always eager to cooperate." In her free time, Magda enjoys being with her family and friends, and she looks forward to the time when she can travel again and have the freedoms and simple pleasures that she took for granted in the days before COVID.

When asked why she wants to study abroad, Magda responded, "Studying in an American high school is my BIGGEST dream. I have always been fascinated about America, its culture, and community. I grew up watching American TV series and movies. This is an amazing opportunity to experience the trip of my life and at the same time to develop my English skills that have been with me since childhood. I'd love to meet new people from around the world, and I would try the local food and learn about new traditions. I would finally be able to visit some famous places I have been learning in regional studies classes in my school."

If you are interested in hosting Magdalena for the 2021-22 school year, please click on the button below!