myUface Blog

Dear myUface users,

We started myUface to help international students find placements at U.S. universities.  And last year, we helped 16 different students find a place to study.

But before we can help you, you need to help us – BY COMPLETING YOUR MYUFACE APPLICATION. Without a complete application there is NOTHING we can do to help you get into a U.S. university.  Without an application, we have nothing to show universities that otherwise might be interested in you.  So please, help us help you – COMPLETE YOUR MYUFACE APPLICATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Dear myUfacers!

It’s hard to believe but it’s been one year since we started myUface to help international students find the best universities for them. As you know, at myUface, universities contact for you instead of you wading through hundreds of programs trying to find a fit.

myUface highlights of the first year include:

• almost 400 students registered representing over 10 countries;
• helping place 16 students at U.S. colleges and universities;
• over 50 students contacted directly by colleges; and
• over 5,000 visits to the site from 97 countries;

What We’ve Learned and Want to Share with our Students

We started myUface with the goal of changing the way international students search for, and get in to, U.S. universities. The good news is, we’re doing that! However, we have certainly learned some lessons and plan on adapting myUface to them. We’ve also learned quite a bit about you, the students and what your goals are.

The main thing we want to say is that, if you weren’t placed in this first year, please keep trying. We had a number of students where universities were really interested in them.  With another year of effort, they can find that great placement!

QUESTIONS FROM STUDENTS THE FIRST YEAR

Do I need to fill out the entire myUface profile for universities to see it?

Universities need to get a good sense of who you are. Therefore, your statement of purpose, essays, school grades, test scores and other information are key. You don’t need to answer every question, but sending in your name and resume won’t get you into a university! In fact, we won’t even let a university see your profile if it’s obvious you haven’t spent any time on it!

Communication

To be honest, we were very happy with all the great students that signed up with myUface. We need to do better at communicating with you and we will. We would also note that it’s VERY IMPORTANT for you to answer emails from universities that contact you. It’s professional. Even if you aren’t interested in that university, you should take the opportunity to talk with them and learn the school. And don’t forget to thank the university representative for contacting you.

What kind of university can I get into with myUface?

If you want to go to Harvard, wonderful! We encourage you to apply directly. myUface works with great colleges and universities but if you have your heart set on a specific university, you should apply directly. Consider myUface as a “safety” mechanism. If, for some reason, Harvard does not admit you, then we can help you find an alternate.

Hi myUface users!

Do you have friends who might be interested in using myUface?  If so, we’ve designed some flyers that you can send or distribute.  We have also, for the first time, created a flyer in a foreign language – Russian – so that more students can learn about what we do.  Here they are:

EnglishFlyer

RussianFlyer

Russian Flyer – Long version

Any help you can give us in spreading the word about myUface is greatly appreciated.  Remember, the more students that sign up to myUface, the more universities will take notice – and the more universities will potentially see your own application!

All kinds! myUface is popular with community colleges (2 year), undergraduate (4 year) and graduate schools of all levels. If you have a specific university where you would like to study, we encourage you to apply to that school. myUface can provide you with alternative schools that might be different, but might also be a better fit!

Go BACK to “Questions and Answers.”

myUface requires that students complete enough of their profiles to make them useful to our university partners. Generally, university admissions officers want to see your grades from high school or undergraduate institutions, resume, essays, statement of purpose, test scores and biographical information. When you have completed this information, your profile will be automatically added to our database and viewable by universities.

Go BACK to “Questions and Answers.”

myUface can help you get admitted to a university, but we DO NOT provide you with scholarships to study there.  It is up to you and your university to determine how you will pay for tuition, living expenses, books, etc.

Go BACK to “Questions and Answers.”

The first academic year for myUface and its users is coming to an end in the near future. In this year, we’ve accomplished a lot: we built the myUface site, wrote about tons of subjects here on the blog, made contacts with hundreds of universities and Educational Advisors, and saw a number of students placed in universities in the U.S. Overall, we’re very pleased with our progress, and looking forward to what we can accomplish in Year Two.

At the same time, we’ve learned some very valuable lessons about placing students through the internet, lessons that we’d like to share with all of you. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be running through a review of the site and its activity, particularly as it pertains to you, the myUface user.

Just to be clear, we’re still working this year to place more students, so don’t think we’re finished.  And for those students who don’t get placed this year, we’ll be sending each and every one of you a report on what we found when we shared your information with universities.  This will help you to understand what aspects of your application need to be improved for you to get accepted next year.

Throughout, as always, we welcome your questions.

Readers of this blog know that we love nothing more than 100% fully funded scholarships.  Many of you have indicated that you cannot afford to finance a graduate education.  Well, apply to sponsored programs like Muskie!In Akmal’s case, we had been working to find a good university placement when we heard that Akmal had applied for, and received, a Muskie.  Now, it looks like Akmal will have all his costs (including travel, visa, tuition, living expenses, etc) paid for to do his graduate degree!  For those of you not familiar with the Muskie Graduate Fellowship check it out.

myUface will send out information on this scholarship once recruitment begins the Fall of 2010.  Also, check our our blog for information on other sponsored programs.

For all those that want to keep up with myUface and with international student news generally, we are happy to report that we have started a Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/gettingYOUintoU

We’ll use it to share news about our own efforts to connect students and universities, and about intl. student news in general.  See you there!

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!