myUface Blog

In almost every country in the world, you will find wealthy individuals who provide scholarship support to students.  Helping students attend universities is one of the oldest forms of philanthropy, dating back to the very dawn of higher education.  Finding such a “sponsor” for at least a portion of your education may be something you should look into.

The motives behind scholarship support are various.  Some individuals give support to individuals connected to them in some way (for example, their family members, or people from the same region).  Some individuals give support to students based on their financial need.   Some give to the best students.  Some give to a particular class of students (for example, to orphans, or to a particular ethnic group).

Similarly, the way in which individuals decide to offer support is different from case to case.  In some cases an individual will hold a competition open to anyone.  At the other extreme, a sponsor might offer support only to students he or she personally knows and likes.

You should ask students, teachers, school directors and others whether they know of any individuals in the community who offer support to students for their studies abroad.  You should also ask you parents if they know of anyone who might be willing to help.

Try talking to a student he or she has helped in the past.  How did that student approach the sponsor?  What kind of support did they offer?  Were there any conditions (i.e., the student has to work for a company the sponsor owns for 2 years)?

Once you have a good idea of who the sponsor is, what his or her interests are, and what kind of support he or she might offer, start thinking of how you might approach the sponsor.  Do you know anyone who knows him or her?  Could they set up a meeting for you to introduce yourself?  Or does the sponsor have a particular procedure for determining who he or she helps?

It’s a lot of work to research, identify, and approach an individual who might offer you scholarship support.  However, keep in mind that, compared to the chances you have of winning a scholarship through a formal competition (where you’ll be competing with hundreds, if not thousands, of others), your chances of obtaining support from an individual may be quite high . . . if you put in the effort to find a potential sponsor.

What do you think?  Are there individuals in your community who assist international students?  Would it be possible for you to approach them?  Why or why not?

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment - 08 Jul
2. Researching Scholarship Opportunities - 07 Jul
3. How to Ask Questions About Financial Aid - 28 Jun
4. Ninth Option for Financial Aid: Loans - 27 Jun
5. The Difference Between Scholarships and Fellowships - 26 Jun
6. Eigth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Universities - 25 Jun
7. Seventh Option for Financial Aid: Ethnic Communities in the United States - 24 Jun
8. Sixth Option for Financial Aid: Private Organizations in the U.S. - 23 Jun
9. Fifth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Government Programs - 22 Jun
10. Fourth Option for Financial Aid: Scholarships from International Organizations - 20 Jun
11. How to Ask for Support - 18 Jun
12. Looking for Support in Your Country: Why it Makes Sense - 17 Jun
13. Third Option for Financial Aid: Individuals in Your Country (This post)
14. Second Option for Financial Aid: Private Businesses or Foundations in Your Country - 15 Jun
15. First Option for Financial Aid: Government Programs in Your Country - 14 Jun
16. The Third Step in Financial Aid: Find What's Available - 11 Jun
17. The Second Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Assets - 10 Jun
18. The First Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Needs - 09 Jun
19. Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education - 08 Jun

The second option for financial aid is businesses or private foundations in your country.  Sometimes such organizations will fund students to study at foreign universities (including those in the United States) in order to achieve their own goals.

For example, the Kokallis Foundation is a charitable foundation active throughout Southeastern Europe.  The mission of the Kokallis Foundation is “the promotion of a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Southeastern Europe through the development of public, cultural and scientific life in the region.”  One program they administer in order to achieve that goal is the Kokallis Program at Harvard, which sponsors students for Master’s Degrees in Public Administration or Public Policy  at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.  It’s important to note that the Kokallis Foundation doesn’t give scholarships to students because the students really really want them; rather, it gives very specific support to particular students in order to achieve its own mission.

When looking for support from private businesses or foundations, you need to keep the missions of those organizations in mind.  A foundation might offer you a scholarship if and only if you can show that your university program in the U.S. will somehow help achieve the foundation’s own goals.

Private businesses are generally even more driven by their own goals, which tend to be the maximization of their profit.  Many businesses do indeed sponsor employees to study at foreign universities, but generally they require that the employee sign some kind of contract promising to work with the employer after the completion of his or her studies.  If you are currently working for a business, you may want to ask if they offer support to their employees for study at foreign universities.  If you’re not working for a business, you might want to ask around and see if any businesses offer students scholarship support in exchange for a promise to work for the business upon graduation.

When looking for support from both businesses and domestic foundations, you’ll need to conquer any shyness you may have about asking for help.  Businesses and foundations that offer support don’t always publicize it, and so you may have to do talk to a lot of different people.  No one will know that you’re looking for help unless you tell them, so don’t be shy.  Also, network with other students who are trying to study abroad.  What are their experiences?  Have they heard of any scholarships offered by private businesses or foundations?

Chances are, there is some private organization in your country that offers students financial assistance.  If you are serious enough and dedicated enough, you’ll find it.

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment - 08 Jul
2. Researching Scholarship Opportunities - 07 Jul
3. How to Ask Questions About Financial Aid - 28 Jun
4. Ninth Option for Financial Aid: Loans - 27 Jun
5. The Difference Between Scholarships and Fellowships - 26 Jun
6. Eigth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Universities - 25 Jun
7. Seventh Option for Financial Aid: Ethnic Communities in the United States - 24 Jun
8. Sixth Option for Financial Aid: Private Organizations in the U.S. - 23 Jun
9. Fifth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Government Programs - 22 Jun
10. Fourth Option for Financial Aid: Scholarships from International Organizations - 20 Jun
11. How to Ask for Support - 18 Jun
12. Looking for Support in Your Country: Why it Makes Sense - 17 Jun
13. Third Option for Financial Aid: Individuals in Your Country - 16 Jun
14. Second Option for Financial Aid: Private Businesses or Foundations in Your Country (This post)
15. First Option for Financial Aid: Government Programs in Your Country - 14 Jun
16. The Third Step in Financial Aid: Find What's Available - 11 Jun
17. The Second Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Assets - 10 Jun
18. The First Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Needs - 09 Jun
19. Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education - 08 Jun

I received this question earler this week:  If I already know what university I want to go to, do I need to apply to more than that university?

Let me give you two answers, the long answer and the slightly-less-long answer:

The Slightly-Less-Long Answer is Yes, you should still apply to other universities, for a very simple reason:  you might not get into the university you want to go to.  It’s an unpleasant but important truth.  Even if you meet all of the requirements in terms of test scores, GPA, etc., sometimes, for whatever reason, a selection committee will reject your application.  And if that happens, you want to have a backup plan.

The Long Answer is that Yes, you do want to apply to other universities, and not only because you want to have a backup plan, but also, and more importantly, because you want to keep an open mind about U.S. universities.  You may have one university that you really like, but remember, there are over 4,000 U.S. institutions granting degrees of some kind, and chances are many of them would be a very good fit for you.  You don’t want to limit yourself to just one or two institutions!  You want to explore many different universities, with slightly different programs, perhaps in different parts of the country.  Those universities may offer different financial aid packages, different housing options, different services for international students, and all of this should obviously factor into your decision.  When you focus on only one university you lose the ability to weigh all these different factors.

Now, some good news: by filling out a profile here on myUface you’re in effect applying to a number of different universities at the same time, since our university partners will have access to your information and will be able to invite you to apply if they think you’d be a good candidate.  This does NOT mean you should not apply to other universities independently, but it will help you in the application process.

Over the past two days we’ve discussed the first two “steps” in getting the financial aid you need in order to study at a U.S. university.  Step One was to identify the cost of the education you’re pursuing; Step Two was to identify the assets you yourself possess (or that your family is willing to give you).

Once you complete these two steps, you should have a good idea of the amount of financial aid you’ll need to identify from outside sources:

Cost of your education – Assets of you / your family = needed aid.

So, for example, if you have researched a program that will cost $150,000 over four years, and you and your family can contribute only $60,000 over those years, you’ll need to identify $90,000.

Step Three is identifying the sources of those funds.

Over the next couple of days we’re going to delve deeply into the different potential sources of aid, but for today’s post I just want to breifly note the traditional sources of financial aid:

• Aid from your country’s government. Many countries have programs designed to subsidize the costs of education abroad.
• Aid from private institutions in your country. Domestic companies or foundations will sometimes sponsor students, particularly as part of a training program for employees.
• Aid from individuals in your country. Often, wealthy individuals will offer support to students as a way of “giving back” to their society.
• Aid from international organizations. Certain international organizations offer scholarships or support to international students.
• Aid from the U.S. government. The U.S. government administers several scholarship and fellowship programs for international students.
• Aid from private sources in the U.S. A very few foundations or other private sources in the U.S. offer scholarships to international students.
• Aid from universities. Some universities offer financial aid to international students.
• Loans. International students often take out loans to finance the cost of their education.  Banks or other lending institutions in your country may offer student loans. U.S. lending institutions will offer international students loans; usually, however, a credit-worthy U.S. citizen must co-sign the loan.
• Work-study. Some institutions will offer students the chance to work part-time as a way of financing part of their education.

Over the next few days we’ll cover each of these sources in greater detail.

For now, I want to ask you all the following question (and please leave your answer as a comment):  have you looked into these sources of aid?  All of them?  What have you found so far?

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment - 08 Jul
2. Researching Scholarship Opportunities - 07 Jul
3. How to Ask Questions About Financial Aid - 28 Jun
4. Ninth Option for Financial Aid: Loans - 27 Jun
5. The Difference Between Scholarships and Fellowships - 26 Jun
6. Eigth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Universities - 25 Jun
7. Seventh Option for Financial Aid: Ethnic Communities in the United States - 24 Jun
8. Sixth Option for Financial Aid: Private Organizations in the U.S. - 23 Jun
9. Fifth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Government Programs - 22 Jun
10. Fourth Option for Financial Aid: Scholarships from International Organizations - 20 Jun
11. How to Ask for Support - 18 Jun
12. Looking for Support in Your Country: Why it Makes Sense - 17 Jun
13. Third Option for Financial Aid: Individuals in Your Country - 16 Jun
14. Second Option for Financial Aid: Private Businesses or Foundations in Your Country - 15 Jun
15. First Option for Financial Aid: Government Programs in Your Country - 14 Jun
16. The Third Step in Financial Aid: Find What's Available (This post)
17. The Second Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Assets - 10 Jun
18. The First Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Needs - 09 Jun
19. Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education - 08 Jun

The podcast for today asks what to do if your application to a university is rejected.  Hopefully you will not find a use for it!

As always, e-mail any podcast questions you may have to podcast@myuface.com.

Other podcasts

1. Podcast: Asking Questions - 18 Jul
2. Podcast: Give Yourself Time To Complete Your Application - 13 Jun
3. Podcast: What to Do if your Application is not Accepted (This post)
4. Podcast - The View from Albania - 23 May
5. Podcast: University Rankings - 16 May
6. Podcast: Timeline for Applying to a U.S. University - 09 May
7. The Inaugural myUface Podcast - 02 May

Over the past two weeks or so we’ve looked at a lot of factors you might use in your decision of which U.S. universities you’d like to attend.  We’ve tried to focus on some things that students often ignore:  things like proximity to cool activities or sites, the style and skill of actual professors, the climate, and the social atmosphere.

A complete listing of the posts in this series can be found at the bottom of this post.

In this concluding post I want to hammer home an important point:  do not let other people tell you what is important FOR YOU in a university. You are the world’s foremost expert on you.  No one else knows your preferences, your dreams, or your goals nearly as well as you do.  So make sure that you take control of your education and research U.S. universities according to your criteria.

If you are a person who really cares about the weather, then pay attention to the climate of your prospective universities.  If you love basketball, make sure you understand the sports and clubs your university offers.  If seeing a lot of tourist sites is important to you, make sure your university is well-situated for you to do that.  Do not, do not do not simply download a list off rankings and make your decisions based on those.  When you do that, you’re letting someone who knows absolutely nothing about you tell you what your priorities are.

Going to study at a U.S. university is a serious decision.  We’re talking about several years of your life here.  You owe it to yourself to spend some time researching possible schools and coming up with an institution that fits your own needs.

Now get out there and research!

Posts in this Series

1. Conclusion - How to Choose a U.S. University (This post)
2. Activities Around a University Campus - 01 Jun
3. Check Out U.S. Universities on iTunes U - 26 May
4. Extracurricular Activities - 25 May
5. Get to Know Your Potential Professors - 21 May
6. Don't Forget Your Life! - 20 May
7. What Do You Want to See in the U.S.? - 19 May
8. How Many International Students go to your Chosen University? - 18 May
9. The Problem with University Rankings - 17 May
10. Using Facebook to Research Universities - 14 May
11. Look at the Surrounding Neighborhoods When Looking at a U.S. University - 13 May
12. How Weather Should Factor Into Your Search for a U.S. University - 12 May
13. Looking for a University in the United States: Cost of Living - 11 May
14. Looking for a University in the United States - 10 May

When researching U.S. universities, it’s a good idea to learn about activities that are available in the geographic area around the university’s campus.  These activities will serve as yet another key component of your U.S. experience, and every university will have vastly different activities available.

This is not about tourist sites.  We covered tourism activities in a previous post.  This is about things you can do together with the friends you’ll meet at your university – things like bowling, skiing, surfing, going to the beach, hiking, camping, waterskiing, etc.

Now, generally speaking, I don’t know of any one website that has great information on every city and town in the U.S. A decent job is done by Citysearch, although it does tend to focus on bars, restaurants, and that sort of thing.  I find the best way to find out about the local scene is to simply google the name of a city, and then look for websites associated with it.  If you’re looking for specific activities, you can also locate the city in google maps, and then use the “Search Nearby” feature to look for anything.

For example, here is a map of bowling alleys located around Harvard University, obtained by entering “Harvard University Boston, MA” in google maps, and then “searching nearby” for “bowling alleys.”

This is also an area where Facebook can be helpful.  Community groups on Facebook are an excellent source of information about activities nearby campus.

Finally, this is another subject which you can ask the university about.  Most universities will have information about activities in the surrounding area.  If they don’t, it may be because there isn’t much in the surrounding area.

Posts in this Series

1. Conclusion - How to Choose a U.S. University - 02 Jun
2. Activities Around a University Campus (This post)
3. Check Out U.S. Universities on iTunes U - 26 May
4. Extracurricular Activities - 25 May
5. Get to Know Your Potential Professors - 21 May
6. Don't Forget Your Life! - 20 May
7. What Do You Want to See in the U.S.? - 19 May
8. How Many International Students go to your Chosen University? - 18 May
9. The Problem with University Rankings - 17 May
10. Using Facebook to Research Universities - 14 May
11. Look at the Surrounding Neighborhoods When Looking at a U.S. University - 13 May
12. How Weather Should Factor Into Your Search for a U.S. University - 12 May
13. Looking for a University in the United States: Cost of Living - 11 May
14. Looking for a University in the United States - 10 May

Students at U.S. universities usually involve themselves in the extracurricular activities offered at those particular universities.  Eracurricular activities are clubs, sports, and other student groups organized outside of (extra) the normal academic program (curricula).

This article gives a good overview of the value  U.S. universities place on extracurricular activities:

As the development of the well-rounded individual is a principal goal of extracurricular activities on college and university campuses, the numerous experiences these activities afford positively impact students’ emotional, intellectual, social, and inter-personal development. By working together with other individuals, students learn to negotiate, communicate, manage conflict, and lead others. Taking part in these out-of-the-classroom activities helps students to understand the importance of critical thinking skills, time management, and academic and intellectual competence. Involvement in activities helps students mature socially by providing a setting for student interaction, relationship formation, and discussion. Working outside of the classroom with diverse groups of individuals allows for students to gain more self-confidence, autonomy, and appreciation for others’ differences and similarities.

The article goes on to identify the main kinds of extracurricular activities available at universities in the United States, and they are:  athletics (i.e. the basketball team), academic and social organizations (i.e. the philosophy club), volunteer activities (i.e. cleaning up local parks once a month, or tutoring local schoolchildren), multicultural activities (i.e. French club), The Arts (i.e. the student orchestra, choir, ballet, theatre group, etc.), and student government. There are also many other extracurricular activites available at U.S. universities that don’t fit cleanly into any of these categories (for example, Debate Club – is it a sport?  A professional organization?).

The point is, no matter what sport you play or hobby you enjoy, there’s going to be a club or group in which you can participate.  You’d be surprised by the diversity of these organizations.  For example, if you like unicycling, you might consider going to Harvey Mudd, where they have a very-well organized unicycling club.  Seriously, if you look hard enough, you can find a club for anything.

Most activities offer different levels of involvement.  For example, if you’re really serious about basketball, you can consider playing on the official university team . . . or you could play in a basketball club for students who like basketball, but don’t want to devote all their time to it.

So, why is this important to think about when looking for a university?  Well, extracurricular activities are a big part of college life in the U.S., so you want to make sure that you choose a university that has some activities you’d enjoy.  Most big universities will have every kind of club, but some of the smaller universities may not offer every kind of activity.  For example, although most U.S. universities will have a basketball team, many will not have fencing teams (although many will).  If you’re passionate about a particular activity, make sure your university offers that activity.  You can do this by either:

• looking on the university’s web page, usually under a link called “Student Life” or “Campus Life.”  Here’s the example from Harvey Mudd, home of the unicyclists.
• asking someone in the admissions department

The bottom line is, don’t ignore your non-academic hobbies and interests.  Research what universities have to offer, and make sure you make extracurricular activities part of your decision-making process in choosing a U.S. university.

For your consideration: What sports or hobbies are you interested in?  Do universities in the U.S. generally offer such activities?  If not, can you find a U.S. university that does?

Other Posts in this Series

1. Conclusion - How to Choose a U.S. University - 02 Jun
2. Activities Around a University Campus - 01 Jun
3. Check Out U.S. Universities on iTunes U - 26 May
4. Extracurricular Activities (This post)
5. Get to Know Your Potential Professors - 21 May
6. Don't Forget Your Life! - 20 May
7. What Do You Want to See in the U.S.? - 19 May
8. How Many International Students go to your Chosen University? - 18 May
9. The Problem with University Rankings - 17 May
10. Using Facebook to Research Universities - 14 May
11. Look at the Surrounding Neighborhoods When Looking at a U.S. University - 13 May
12. How Weather Should Factor Into Your Search for a U.S. University - 12 May
13. Looking for a University in the United States: Cost of Living - 11 May
14. Looking for a University in the United States - 10 May

Students who are applying to either the Bolashak Fellowship in Kazakhstan or the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program – or to any sponsored fellowship or scholarship – should check out how myUface can help.

For one thing, a lot of the advice you’ll find on this blog will DEFINITELY make you more competitive when applying for the Bolashak, Global Undergaduate, or other sponsored programs.  For example, our timeline for applying to a U.S. university is a good resource whether you’re applying independently or through a program.  Having trouble staying focused and getting all your materials together?  We have collected some online resources to keep you from procrastinating.

Later this year we’ll be talking about completing applications, writing essays, preparing for tests, and doing well in interviews – all of which are very important to putting together a good application for any sponsored program.

So please, visit often. And do not hesitate to ask questions by commenting on the blog or e-mailing us at blog@myuface.com.

In last week’s mailbag, I answered some of the most common questions about myuface.com.  As soon as I had finished that post, though, I started thinking about three other questions I had forgotten to answer, but which we hear quite often.  So I want to finish them off today:

If myUface.com’s basic services are free to use, how does it make money?

Good question. There are a few answers:

First, myUface.com charges a university a fee whenever a student from myUface.com is placed at their university. Through collecting fees from universities, we can offer our basic suite of services to students at no charge.

Second, myUface.com receives a small amount of advertising revenue.

Third, myUface.com does charge students for a few optional services.

Finally – and most importantly – the reason we founded myUface.com is not to make money. Of course we’d like the site to succeed financially, but more than anything else we’d like to see more international students in the U.S.

Who is in charge of myUface?

myUface is owned and operated by three Americans who together have 27 years of experience in the field of international education, and who have spent a combined 19 years living abroad. We decided to start my Uface because we got tired of seeing bright, talented students who dreamed of studying in the U.S. go to universities in the U.K. or Australia simply because the system of college admissions in the U.S. was so difficult to understand.

We want to help as many students as possible gain access to the world’s best education. That’s why we created myUface.com.

Does myUface.com offer scholarships?

No. But some of our university partners may offer scholarships to outstanding international students. In addition, at the myUface.com blog we will give some advice about international financial aid opportunities.

Other questions?  Mail them to blog@myuface.com.