myUface Blog

Want to save $10,000+ and be like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Hanks and George Lucas? Then apply to a US community college. Arnold, Tom and George began their academic careers at community colleges and saved tens of thousands of dollars doing it (not that they need to save money now…but they did at the beginning!).

Community colleges are the best kept secret in American higher education. Did you know that you can study for two years at some community colleges and then transfer into a 4 year university as a junior? Many community colleges have agreements with 4-year universities to accept up to two years of transfer credit, but you pay for the much cheaper community college classes! By the way, last year there were around 94,000 international students studying at community colleges….so you won’t be alone.

Today’s Boston Globe has a great article about the importance of international students and study-abroad programs to Harvard:

In a period in which the size of the student body has barely nudged upward, the foreign student population has grown 33 percent since the fall of 1999, from 3,099 to 4,131 last fall, drawn from more than 140 countries. That is nearly 20 percent of the total enrollment at Harvard. Most of the foreign students are studying in Harvard’s graduate schools, and East Asian students are most prevalent.

Harvard, of course, is not the only university that puts an emphasis on attracting talented international students.   It is undoubtedly the university with the greatest visibility, however – not to mention the greatest resources:

In 2008, financier David Rockefeller pledged $100 million for Harvard to broaden its international reach, and he has given an additional $2 million a year in grants for students to go abroad for “significant international experiences.’’

So why do we bring this up?  For two reasons:  first, to show you how the importance of international education is growing at a very rapid pace.  In twenty years, in most parts of the world a domestic education – an education without significant experience in another country, language and culture – will be viewed as a lower form of education.  As a Harvard professor states int he article:

We don’t have to force anybody to go abroad or study languages. They get it. This is the 21st century.

The second reason we mention this article is simply to show you that there is a reason why you, as an international student, have heard LOTS and LOTS about Harvard (and Yale, and Columbia, and Princeton, and Stanford, etc.).    It’s because these universities:

1. Were some of the first to internationalize
2. Have immense resources to advertise to international students
3. Have prestigious names to begin with

Please note that none of the above three things necessarily means that these schools will provide you with the best education.  Remember that there are thousands of other U.S. universities you’ve never heard of, not because they’re bad schools, but because they don’t have the above advantages.  It’s up to you to search for these schools, and to compare them with better, well-known options.

We hear it from international students all the time:  “I want an MBA, but only from one of the ‘good’ schools – you know, Harvard, Yale, etc.’”

It’s no surprise that students gravitate towards those schools, because they are commonly listed at the top of international rankings.  We have an important message to share with you, however:  in many cases, the rankings don’t make sense. The rankings are made for the entire student population.  But you aren’t the entire student population.  You’re you.  And for your needs, sometimes a small, unheard of school will actually provide a better education, and usually at a fraction of the cost.

This article in the Financial Post Magazine delves into the issue of rankings in a wonderful way.  I encourage all of you to read it!  Money quotation:

So while any observers and even some professors are rightfully questioning the value of an MBA from anywhere, a similar question has long been asked of MBA rankings. There’s no doubt they sell magazines and newspapers, and hence, advertising. For proof, just take a look at how fat MBA issues are compared to the ones that sandwich them. That’s certainly value for cash-strapped publishers, but less certain is whether there’s any value for the people who read them.

Cheap, effective and credits you can transfer to a 4 year school. What’s not to love?! We just got back from a conference attended by over 300 community colleges and let me tell you, they want international students to apply. What’s great about community colleges is that many of them have agreements with the large state schools to accept on a 1 to 1 basis their credits. Oh, and by the way, those transferred credits will cost you much less than if you were to have received them at the big state school. You can cut thousands, or tens of thousands, of dollars off the cost of your education by studying for 2 years at a community college, then transferring to a big state school for the last 2 years. And you get the diploma from the state school!

Here’s another secret about community colleges, many of them offer a 4 year baccalaureate degree. The degrees are generally in areas like nursing, criminal justice or other areas directly related to a trade but if you are interested, let us know. We’ll help you find the right program.

Some examples you might check out include:

1. Tompkins Cortland Community College
2. Daytona State College
3. Madison Area Technical College
4. Owens Community College

As always, this is just a sampling of schools.   There are hundreds (if not thousands) of similar schools, all over the country.   myUface can help you find more, or you can apply directly. Just know that community colleges may be your best and most affordable way to get a very good education in the US.

Yes, this is a strange question.  When we talk about education in the United States, most people immediately think of all those articles in the newspaper or online that say you need $20,000 to $50,000 PER YEAR to study in the US.  Well, sometimes that’s true.  However, there are TONS of educational programs, good ones, in the US that don’t cost that much.

English Language Programs

We now have HUNDREDS of students registered at myUface.  Almost all of you say you want to get your undergraduate degree in the US.  However, many of you will not likely be able to get the 500 TOEFL score (paper based) to start an undergraduate program (let alone the 550 to begin most graduate programs).  If this situation sounds familiar to you, here’s an idea – think about a Summer English Language Program!  You will spend between 6 and 12 weeks in the US learning English and, in some cases, improving your study skills.

How much do these programs cost?  Some of the shorter programs cost as little as $3,000-$5,000!  This includes tuition, dormitory and meals (but sadly not airfare)!  That’s hard to beat and it will make you a much more attractive and successful student later.  Here are some of the programs we like (but there are literally TONS of others that are fantastic as well….just ask your local educational advisor):

1. Rochester Institute of Technology – great school, great location in New York and best of all….GREAT PRICE.  (7 weeks for about $4400)
2. Utah Valley University – some of the best skiing in the world right outside your dorm!  Very friendly and safe area not to mention it’s a wonderful program.  I visited this college and really liked it and the staff.  Even better, students who complete the ESL program are automatically eligible to register into regular degree seeking classes!
3. The University of Pittsburgh’s English Language Institute – Pitt’s ELI program even offers a three week cultural and language program during the summer where tuition is $1800.  They also offer a five week program for potential grad students that costs $2400 (tuition only).  Check them out!

Again, there are hundreds of great ESL programs out there that won’t break the bank.  If you think that an ESL program might be a better start for you, please go back into your myUface profile and choose “Special Program – ESL”.  Even better, if you think you might be able to afford the $4,000-7,000 price tag, indicate this on your profile.  This is important information for universities when they search your profile.

The myUface application asks you the following question (question #3 under “Academic Questions”):

What type of program are you interested in applying for?

Choosing the type of program you are interested in is important. myUface can help you get into a short term program, a community college, 4 year undergraduate program or 1-2 year grad program. We also ask that you choose a major or focus. Based on this information, universities will decide whether or not you are a good fit for them. Please don’t forget this! Also, it’s important that you describe in your writing why this choice is important for you and your future. If you choose to study ESL, for example, then how will studying English help you in your future?

A number of the hundreds and hundreds of students who have visited the site in the past few weeks have asked whether they can use myUface to look for postdoctoral fellowships.  I thought I’d take a moment on the blog to answer that question.

Sadly, the answer is no.  It’s not that we wouldn’t want to help students looking for a PhD – it’s just that our experience working with PhD candidates is pretty much non-existent.  We don’t want to say that we can do something, only to have good candidates sign up and find that we can’t in fact help them.

However, I do want to be of some use to such candidates, so I did some basic research.  Here are the results:

findaphd.com is a clearinghouse of PhD opportunities in the UK. There are also a lot of interesting links on this site, and a number of PhD scholarships are advertised there.

This site has got some good general advice about pursuing a PhD.

This wiki has the very basic step by step guide to applying to PhD programs in the U.S. It’s for science applicants, but I think the advice would apply to any subject.

Gradschools.com has a lot of information about individual graduate programs, and while it’s targeted more towards Master’s students, it will at least give you an idea of the right institutions.

Also, after having read quite a bit online, I think I can say that, yes, it’s very much possible to find a fellowship or scholarship to pursue your PhD. I’m sure such opportunities are competitive, but they also seem to be fairly abundant. For example, here’s a fellowship for PhD research through the American Association of University Women.

You can find answers to more questions at the myUface Help Section.

Over the past week we’ve had hundreds and hundreds of new users visit the site.  I wanted to take a moment and share with you some resources we have that may be of interest to you:

First, we have two myUface guides:

1. The Advantages and Disadvantages of a University Education in the United States
2. Looking for a University in the United States

You can donwload both of these guides (for free of course) here.

Second, you should check out our Series:

1. Should you study in the U.S.? A comprehensive and honest guide to the benefits and disadvantages of a U.S. education (April 2009).
2. Looking for a U.S. University – All of the information you should consider in selecting a U.S. university – including some things you may not have thought about (May 2009).
3. Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education – Need help paying for a U.S. education?  Here’s a guide to how to look for and secure financial support.  It’s not easy, but it’s worth a try (June / July 2009)!
4. Preparing For A Visa Interview – A three part series on the misconceptions many students have about student visa interviews (July 2009).
5. Universities in the Fifty States – we look at what it would be like to live as an international student in each of the fifty states.
6. Writing Essays for University Applications – full of advice on how to write, edit and submit an essay with your university application.

We here at myUface want to take a moment to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving.  And, as Thanksgiving is a holiday that encourages all of us to take a moment and reflect on the wonderful things we’ve been provided in our lives, I want to share something I’m thankful for, that helps explain a little bit the spirit behind this website.

I am extremely thankful for the fact that I was born in a country – through no merit of my own! – where it was very easy to keep informed about colleges and universities.  When I was 17, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and I certainly had no idea where I wanted to go to university.  I was very lucky that in the U.S. universities bend over backwards to reach out to students.  Every day it seems I got lots of mail from universities advertising their programs.  Then, at school, we had guidance counselors whose job it was to help us find colleges and apply to them.

At the time, of course, all of this seemed normal to me.  When I worked abroad, though, I got to see how difficult it is in some countries to find out about universities and apply to them.  In some of the countries I have worked in, students have to be extremely dedicated in order to have a chance at getting into any university, and they certainly don’t have someone assigned to help them.  For them, the thing I took for granted – having lots of universities contact me and show interest in me – is almost impossible.  I was constantly amazed  by the maturity of the students I met.   Had I been faced with such difficulties at seventeen, I very much doubt I would have succeeded.

So I am thankful for the accident of being born in a country where my lack of drive did not penalize me.

And this is a large part of the reason why we created myUface.  We hope that through this website we can make it easier – even just a little bit easier – for those hard-working, dedicated students abroad to find the university of their dreams.  We hope we can extend the benefits we enjoyed as American students – the benefits of having universities contact us, reach out to us, compete over us - to students from the rest of the world.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Your academic record does matter.  However, most universities will also consider your work experience, recommendations, essays, test scores, and other factors.  Just because you don’t have perfect grades does NOT mean you won’t be of interest to U.S. universities.  At the same time, you may want to work extra hard on the other aspects of your application in order to compensate for an average academic record.