The program I’m applying to is a full scholarship for a year-long exchange to Germany. It’s jointly sponsored by the US Congress and German Bundestag, bringing 250-280 high 
school students to Germany each year and about that number of German students to the U.S. I was shocked the government supported such a thing, but just last September a bill for a new U.S./Poland exchange program got passed unanimously so we’ll be seeing more of these in the future. Times sure have changed since the Cold War.
The value of this scholarship is about $6,700 to $9,500, though some might argue for “priceless.” About 600-1,000 students apply each year nationwide, giving you a 25%-47% chance of acceptance, about the same as a shot at UC Berkeley (Tufts for you non-Californians) to UC San Diego. Eligibility requirements are:
- U.S. citizenship
- GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale (so unweighted)
- 15-18 year old high school student
The application process consists of several essays and either one or interviews. GPA is very important, and older students are given priority because of SENIORITY. Or because they’re supposedly more mature and less likely to back out in the middle of the year; whatever. Note that prior knowledge of German is NOT a requirement. So no, I don’t know any German, at least not beyond “Hello!” (“Guten Tag!”), “Where’s the bathroom?” (“Wo die Toiletten sind?”) and “Can I sleep with you?” (“Kann ich mit Dir schlafen?”)