Here’s an excerpt from a video on culture shock. In it, international students share their experiences with studying in the U.S. It’s an interesting window into culture shock.
myUface Blog
February 6
New on myUface: communicate with your MESSAGE CENTER
This week we’re proud to rollout a new feature for our myUface users: the myUface message center.
This is a new tab that appears on your screen immediately after you log in to myUface:
By clicking on the green “Messages” tab, you will be taken to your personal message center. There you will have three option: first, you can view New Messages you’ve received from myUface or from universities that have looked at your application. When you view those messages, you will have a chance to REPLY:
You can also view SENT MESSAGES and READ MESSAGES (that is, messages you’ve already checked).
Finally, when you log into myUface you should see the text of any messages you’ve received on the right, below your application menu:
What does this mean for you as a user of myUface? Well, it means that universities and myUface will have the chance to contact you directly through the site. It meas you can keep all of the correspondence associated with your myUface account in one place – with your profile – instead of cluttering up your inbox.
It means you should log into myUface at least once a week and CHECK FOR NEW MESSAGES. Now, at the beginning, don’t be surprised if you don’t have any new messages. If you’re application is close to complete, however, you should be hearing from us (and hopefully from universities).
We hope you enjoy this new feature of myUface!
February 5
What are minimum TOEFL requirements?
Many international students wonder, what is the minimum TOEFL score required to gain entrance into a U.S. university?
This is a complicated question, because each university in the U.S. will have different requirements. What’s more, each university may have two different requirements: one for students who will enter directly into the university; and another for students who will enter through a pre-academic ESL program. Finally, this question is complicated by the fact that there are three different kind of TOEFL scores – for the Computer Based TOEFL (CBT), the Internet Based TOEFL (IBT), and the paper-based TOEFL.
Confused yet? A number of sites (such as this one) give a good but brief overview of the required scores for entry into a U.S. university. ETS (the owner of TOEFL) gives the best summary of minimum scores here.
As you can see from the ETS site, the minimum requirements vary widely from university to university. One thing is for certain, though: you will almost certainly need to take the TOEFL and do reasonably well in order to get into a good U.S. university. So get studying!
February 4
Full Scholarships at KIMEP (Almaty) and AUCA (Bishkek) for Business and Economics Majors! Deadline is February 12 so act quickly!
If there is one thing we love at myUface, it’s a 100% full scholarship that also fully covers all living expenses. When we find an opportunity like this, even if it’s not at a US-based university, we have to let our students know about it.
Thanks to the US Central Asia Education Foundation, citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan can apply for a limited number of full scholarships. Check out the USCAEF Student Fellowships here.
Let them know you heard about the opportunity at myUface!
If you want more information on this opportunity, let us know. We would be happy to get you in touch with the staff of this program.
January 12
Is there a “deadline” for submitting applications to U.S. universities?
A lot of myUface users are asking if there’s a deadline to complete their myUface application, or whether there’s a deadline to complete university applications generally in the U.S.
The answer is, yes and no.
There is no strict deadline for completing your myUface application. No matter when you complete it, we will do our best to connect you with a good program as soon as possible. However, the earlier you start, the better. If you are planning to study in the U.S. in the fall of 2010, you need to get us your completed application by sometime in March, probably, in order to give us time to connect you with universities. Remember also that there is no promise that U.S. universities will be interested in your application. This is especially true if you need a lot of financial assistance.
U.S. universities generally have a few different deadlines for submitting applications, and they tend to fill up their classes as applications come in. Many of them do have a hard and fast deadline as well (usually in March, April, or sometimes May).
Also, remember that in a sense your myUface application is never complete – you can always come back and update or change it to make it better. Even if you miss out this year, you can get an early start on next year!
January 8
Can you write you own essay instead of using the questions on the application?
Several myUface users have asked if they can write their own essay rather than using the questions on the myUface application. The answer is yes. However, I wanted to provide a few cautionary words:
First, although it’s perfectly fine to use your own essay question for the myUface application, if you’re applying independently to a university, always use their question.
Second, if you’re going to use your own question, don’t use just any question. Give some though to your question as well. For undergraduate applicants, you want a question that will reveal who you are as a person, and what your aspirations are. Possibilities include:
- What are you most proud of?
- What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome in your life?
- What would your friends tell us about you if we asked?
For graduate applications, you want a question that not only tells us about yourself but also tells us about your knowledge of your field of study. Possibilities include:
- How will your study of _____ impact your career and society?
- What are the biggest challenges facing practitioners of _____ in your country?
Good luck with your essays, and remember, we have a load of essay writing advice on the blog:
http://www.myuface.com/blog/2009/09/09/how-to-write-an-essay-for-university-applications/
January 7
What is GPA and grading scale?
Every university application will ask for your GPA, or Grade Point Average.
Most will also ask you to supply the “scale” for your grades.
For GPA, you need to put in the average of the marks your received. For example, if you got a 3, 3, 4, 5, 5 in five classes, the average grade you received is a 4.
You also need to provide the scale of those marks. For example, if you got an average score of 4 out of a possible score of 100, that’s bad. If you got an average score of 4 out of a possible score of 5, that’s good!
January 6
Remember, international students: it’s YOUR responsibility to complete your applications!
Over the course of my career working with international students, I have come across many incomplete applications. Sometimes they are missing essays, sometimes they are missing test scores, sometimes they are missing basic biographical information. The attitude of the student in these cases has generally been, “Well, it’s your responsibility to tell me what I’m missing and to help me assemble my application.”
Now, at myUface we actually enjoy helping students complete their applications, and are more than happy to do it. However, I have to warn you, if you submit an incomplete application to a university your application will generally go straight to the trash heap.
I understand filling out an application is hard, and requires a lot of information. But so is studying at a university! In the minds of admissions officers, if you can’t complete an application, you probably can’t be counted on to complete other academic assignments.
So please, if you apply independently to universities, remember it is YOUR responsibility to complete the entirety of the application!
January 2
Correct financial expectations
A number of students at myuface (and international students elsewhere) are in need of a lot of scholarship support in order to be able to study in the United States. There’s nothing at all wrong with that, and we here at myuface try to find universities that will offer the maximum amount of financial aid to students.
However, it’s also important to realize that universities very rarely offer international students a “free ride.” When they do, it’s usually because the student’s application (test scores, essays, academic record, etc.) is very, very good. Even in those cases, many universities require some contribution from the student.
For that reason, as you fill out your application on myuface, or as you apply to U.S. universities independently, you should have realistic expectations about just how much help you can expect from those universities financially. Chance are, you’re going to either have to:
a) contribute some funds yourself; or
b) work extra hard to identify funds from other sources.
We hope we can offer good advice on both counts: our blog has a lot of information about finding financial aid.
December 31
What happens after December 31st?
A number of users are asking, “What happens after December 31st?”
Well, for those of you who have completed your application, two things will happen:
- first, we’ll review your application. We may contact you with a few minor suggestions or questions.
- second, we’ll contact universities on your behalf, sending them your information.
After that, hopefully, a university will take interest in your application and will move towards offering you a spot in their class. Remember, though, that universities may not be interested in your application, especially if you require 100% financial aid.
For those of you who have not completed an application by December 31st, that’s OK! You can keep working on your application until it is complete. At that time, we’ll go through the same process with your applications. There is a definite benefit in being a part of the first groups of students to have their applications sent to universities, and if you can finish by December 31st we encourage you to do so, but if you don’t finish by the 31st you shouldn’t give up!
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Our goal is to provide you with all the information you need to pursue your education in the United States.
