Peace Corps

[thedarknight]

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I had a HS friend that did this upon graduating from undergrad and she said that Peace Corps is REALLY selective about who they take on. Kind of surprised me; just an FYI

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Well, I'm sure training is expensive, and they don't want to train someone just to have them flake out halfway through. So I'm sure they make certain that the people who go are people who are most likely gonna stick it out for the entire length of time.

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I heard a story of someone bailing immediately after training. In her exit meeting or whatever they have a supervisor said to her something along the lines of how do you feel about wasting $15,000 of the governments money?

I don't recall the exact figure, but no, it's not cheap. Maybe someone can chime in and say what percent of applicants they accept, but I'm pretty sure it is around 20%.

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is that 20% of the ppl they just outright deny, or 20% who just pretty much give up through the application process becaues it is lengthy and lots of hassles?

[thedarknight]

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Thanks for the responses/willingness to pass on questions

Questions I may have:

-What was the hardest thing you had to do in the 2 years?
-What is the hardest thing you have to deal with everyday?
-How difficult is the language barrier/transition?
-What do you do on a typical day?
-How safe is it? Honestly? (referring to the food, water, possible kidnapping/wars, etc.)
-What was the most rewarding aspect of joining Peace Corp?
-Probability of getting your preferred country/project
-Admissions rate

My friend suggested "Teach for America" as an alternative to Peace Corps - if anyone has any comments on this as well, I'd appreciate it

Thanks again

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this is a great thread, I'm looking to do Peace Corps just for a change of lifestyle. I think it would be a rewarding 2 and a half years. Concerning safety, there was 40 year old volunteer that was murdered in the Philippines. It's really sad, I can't think of a person who's more undeserving to die like this.
Here's a link they at least closed the case.
Murdered PC Volunteer

[Badger]

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is that 20% of the ppl they just outright deny, or 20% who just pretty much give up through the application process becaues it is lengthy and lots of hassles?

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No clue, but I'd be interested to hear in case someone knows.
Guys thinking about joining in this thread- go do it. It's something tons of people talk about that practically nobody ever does. Almost all of the PCVs I met really loved their stint in the PC even though it sucked a lot at times. It sounds very rewarding.