College decisions can take students in a lot of directions.
Some stay close to home.
Some head for the East or West Coast.
But one senior is looking much farther—5,000 miles across the Atlantic, applying to a school in Madrid.
Hudson Da Rosa ‘26 has been thinking of applying internationally for a long time.
“I was in a French immersion school, so I always planned on applying to international schools,” Da Rosa said. “A lot of my friends who stayed in those French programs are doing that.”
Before coming to St. Mark’s in eighth grade, Da Rosa attended three international schools all across the globe.
First, he was in California for eight years at the Lycée International de Los Angeles. Then, he moved to Portugal, studying for three years at the Lycée Français International de Porto, before ultimately moving to the Dallas International School for one year.
In terms of application to international colleges, the process is not much different than applying to a school in the U.S.
“At most schools, application times would be different—later in the year or early next year, and each school would have its own application,” Da Rosa said. “But (for example), because IE (University in Spain) tries very hard to have an international student pool, they’re actually on the Common Application. I’ve completed two interviews: one where I recorded myself answering questions, and then an in-person conversational interview downtown with one of their representatives,”
A major reason Da Rosa is applying internationally is because of his career aspirations.
“I’d like to go into diplomacy,” Da Rosa said. “I wanted to pick a school overseas, especially IE University, because three-quarters of their student population is from out of the country, which is appealing because I want to work on an international scale.”
And while diplomacy drew him there academically, something else is pushing him athletically — his passion for baseball.
In addition to his studies, Da Rosa is planning on playing professionally at IE University.
“There are semi-pro and pro leagues there,” Da Rosa said. “I’ve discussed it with (varsity baseball coach) Dennis Kelly and also with a company that matches players with baseball opportunities overseas called Baseball Jobs Overseas. They both said it’s a very realistic opportunity.”
There are some complications that come with playing overseas. Playing professional baseball comes with a salary, which may interfere with college eligibility.
“If I can play over there and keep my eligibility, I think it’d be really cool to come back (to the US) and play during my grad year,” Da Rosa said. “I’m just trying to play as long as I can and get a good education.”
