How are Menlo Abroad student placements decided?
A committee assesses the students’ applications, fitness for travel, and citizenship record. Seniority and gender and grade level balance are also considered in forming cohorts.
Is financial aid available for students who are not currently receiving financial aid?
At this time, financial aid is only available for students who currently receive aid.
How safe are the Menlo Abroad locations?
While no travel course is completely risk-free, we have taken measures to lessen and manage the risk of Menlo Abroad travel. Our trip leader teams are experienced and equipped to deal with most issues that arise, and procedures are in place to deal with medical or political emergencies in the unlikely event they occur. We travel in small groups with a trip leader-to-student ratio of 1:3 or 1:4 to ensure adequate supervision and oversight, and trip leaders are in daily contact with Menlo when they are in-country. Our nurse is available 24/7 for consultation, and we are affiliated with iSOS to aid with in-country medical issues. Each of the Menlo Abroad countries has been visited by Menlo faculty and assessed in advance. We also work in tandem with our associate organizations, which are intimately familiar with the places we visit, and they assist us when issues arise. Each of our associate organizations has longstanding connections in the safe, harmonious communities we settle in and screen our homestay families in advance for placement.
Can students request to be placed in the same course as their friends?
We do not normally place students based on expressed friendship requests. We expect students to work well and bond with the groups they are assigned regardless of the prior experience together. Of course, students can rank the same preferences and sometimes end up together for that reason, but we do not place friendship groups intentionally. If there is a particular concern you have about this, please contact Peter Brown (pbrown@menloschool.org)
Are there parents of past Menlo Abroad participants who I can contact with questions or for reference?
Yes. Here are some names of parents whose children traveled with previous programs to Guatemala and India
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Allyson Campa
Her daughter Kelly ’18 traveled to India with Menlo Abroad at the end of her sophomore year. -
Caesarine Cordon
Her daughter Natalia ’18 traveled to Guatemala with Menlo Abroad at the end of her freshman year and then to India with Menlo Abroad at the end of her sophomore year. -
Stacey Partch
Her son Shay ’17 traveled to India with Menlo Abroad at the end of his junior year, and her daughter Mara ’20 is a sophomore. -
Amy Sanford
Her daughter Beth ’19 traveled to Guatemala at the end of her freshman year -
Mollie Thompson
Her son Ryan ’18 traveled to Guatemala with Menlo Abroad at the end of his sophomore year.