myUface Blog

Many U.S. universities have put a large number of their classes on iTunes.  This allows you to listen to actual lectures by actual U.S. professors, on subjects ranging from physics to the historicity of religious figures.  This service is called “iTunes U,” and it is a potentially great resource for international students, for a few reasons:

1. You can use iTunes U to get a sense of what classes are like at U.S. universities.
2. iTunes U has hundreds of universities participating.  There’s a good chance one of the universities you’re interested in has an iTunes U page, allowing you to listen to actual classes at your prospective university.
3. iTunes U will show you how differences in the reputation of schools don’t necessarily translate into differences in academic quality.  Some of the lectures you’ll listen to from so-called “second-tier” schools will far exceed, in the quality of instruction, lectures from so-called “elite” schools.
4. The lectures themselves are incredibly interesting and educational.

To use iTunes U you’ll need to download iTunes itself.

Happy listening!

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 (This post)
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 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.

The most important people in terms of your university education in the U.S. are going to be your professors  – the men and women who will guide your academic program.  Yet, when it comes time to research possible universities, most international students spend absolutely no time researching the professors at the departments in which they’re interested.

Now, there are some good reasons for this.  Researching individual faculty members is difficult, a lot harder than researching an institution as a whole.  And of course there’s no guarantee that you’ll take classes from a particular professor.  But if you’re seriously considering a particular university – or, better yet, a department within that university – it’s not a bad idea to look into their faculty, particularly if the department is fairly small.  At the very least, doing so will give you an idea of the kind of topics you might learn at that university and in that department.

So, here’s how you can do some basic research about the faculty at a particular university.  I’m going to use my own alma mater – Pomona College – as an example.

1. Go the main web site.
2. Find the page that deals with individual departments, often called “majors.”  It will often be under the heading, “Academics.”
3. Click on the major or department that you’re interested in researching.  Generally speaking, this will give you a link to more information about the major.  In my case, I’m going to choose my old department, English, and I am sent to the department’s own web page.
4. Look for a list of courses in order to see the subjects taught at the department.  Also look for a list of faculty to see the names of the professors.  Often the faculty list will include information about each professor’s interests.
5. At this point, you’ll already have access to a lot of information about the department in which you’re interested.  You’ll know what courses are offered and a little about the professors in the department.  If you want more, though, try Googling the name of a faculty member.  For example, if I Google a particular professor (one of my favorites from my own college days), I find a link to an article he wrote for the LA Times. Reading it gives me some insight into his interests, his style of writing and thinking, and his opinons.  For really advanced research, you might even go to Google Scholar and type in a professor’s name.  This will show you  publications a particular professor has written, and sometimes provide free links to those resources.
6. Finally, you can find out what students think of a professor at ratemyprofessor.com.

The bottom line is that, in this day and age, you don’t have to settle for only the most basic information about a university.  You can use the internet to do very detailed research about individual departments and even professors.  Doing so will give you a wonderful insight into the academic life at a U.S. university.

For your consideration: Do you know what subjects you are interested in studying in the U.S.?  Have you looked at the faculty and courses of that deparment at any individual U.S. universities?

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 - 25 May
5. Get to Know Your Potential Professors (This post)
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

Of course, the most important aspect of your U.S university experience is the academic program . . . but, for many students, a close second is social life. U.S. universities have a well-deserved reputation for fostering a fun and active social life, both on campus and off.  If having fun outside of class is as important to you as learning inside of it, then the quality of a university’s social scene is definitely something you should consider when researching U.S. universities.

Now, I’ll be honest:  I can’t offer much personal advice on this subject, because, well, back in college I wasn’t exactly the coolest student on  campus.   My inability to dance was indeed legendary.  BUT, because this topic is of importance, I’ve fished around on the internet for some resources that might provide you with some good information:

• Forbes magazine, which, as readers of this blog know, has a “Best of” series for pretty much everything, has a “Best Nightlife” feature.  40 cities are ranked according to their suitability for singles, and “nightlife” is one of the criteria.  This will give you a good idea of what cities are considered to have good nightlife, and why.
• The Princeton Review has several rankings that relate to social life, the most notorious of which is their “Best Party School” ranking.  The link I’ve provided shows only the top 20 schools in this prestigious list.  To get more than the top 20, in addition to other data, you’ll need to visit The Princeton Review site, and sign up for a free profile.  The rankings aren’t only about the best party schools.  You can see which universities have the happiest students, the best radio stations, the most beautiful campuses, and more.  This is important because for many students a “good social life” is about a lot more than just parties.  Remember, as you peruse these rankings,  how to use rankings correctly.
• The Students Review site has a “top social schools” ranking that is a little broader than the rankings that focus only on the “best parties.”  What’s more, you can click on individual universities and see actual quotations from students that study there.

Another great resource will be the admissions office of any university in which you’re interested.   Most university websites have resources explaining what social life is like on the campus and in the surrounding area.  If you can’t find this information on the web, feel free to write to someone from the admissions department and ask.

Finally, this is a great area for Facebook research.

Now, one important warning:  remember that in the United States it is illegal to purchase alcohol until you are 21 years of age.  Most clubs and bars will check your identification before they let you in.  Keep that in mind as well as you’re imagining what your social life might be like at a U.S. university.

The bottom line is that your social life will be a very important part of your university experience in the U.S., so don’t forget to spend time researching the different resources universities have to offer.

For your consideration: How do you imagine you will spend your free time in the U.S.? Do all universities have the atmosphere and resources to support the kind of life you’d like to live?

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 - 25 May
5. Get to Know Your Potential Professors - 21 May
6. Don't Forget Your Life! (This post)
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

What do you want to see in the U.S.?  What historic places do you want to visit?   What national parks do you want to experience?  What amusement parks do you want to enjoy?

Do these questions seem irrelevent to your search for a U.S. university?  They’re not.  One of the greatest benefits of studying in the U.S. is the opportunity it will give you to see America’s social, historical and natural places of wonder.

So as you’re researching universities, be sure to ask yourself, “What do I really want to see while I’m in the States?”  If you’re interested in political science, it’d be a shame if you came to the U.S. for four years and never set foot in Washington, D.C.  If you’re interested in film, how could you not visit Hollywood?  All of this is to say nothing of your non-academic interests.  If you ski, visit Colorado,Wyoming or Utah.  Are you a surfer?  California or Hawaii seem appropriate.

You get the idea.

Check out Forbes’ list of the top 25 tourist destinations in the U.S. for a good idea of the most “famous” places.  But don’t stop there.  Visit the state tourist agencies for those states that have universities you’re interested in.  See what you can visit in that state.  For example, if you are looking at a university in Utah, check out the Utah travel site at Utah.com.

Of course, the tourist sites that surround a university shouldn’t be the sole basis of your decision to apply to, or attend, a particular institution.  At the same time, don’t underestimate the extent to which your tourist experiences in the U.S. will impact your overall experience.  Visiting tourist sites is not only a great way to see some beautiful and important places – visiting tourist sites gives you crucial insights into a culture and what it finds important.

For your consideration: Visit the state tourist agencies for every state in which you are researching a university.  What kind of tourist attractions are nearby?  Do they interest you? Why or why not?

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 - 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.? (This post)
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

One thing you may want to consider when researching potential U.S. universities is how many international students study there.  A university that has a high percentage of international students is going to provide a different experience than a university that has almost no international students.

U.S. News and World Report has a list of the universities with the highest percentage of international students, just to give you an idea of what a “large international student population” means.  Note that the university with the highest percentage of international students still has 78% American students.

Many universities you’re researching won’t be on this list.  Finding out the percentage of international students that study there should nonetheless be easy.  Many university websites will have that information, or you can write to the admissions office.

Now, the important question is, do you want to go to a university with a high or low percentage of international students?  There are benefits to both approaches.

Typical benefits of going to a university with a high percentage of international students:

• students, professors and administrators will be familiar with international students and more sympathetic to problems you might have
• there will typically be an international student office to help you with issues specific to international students
• there will usually be an international student community which can provide you with a good social network and support system

Typical benefits of going to a university with a low percentage of international students:

• because there won’t be a large group of international students to spend time with, you’ll be “forced” to develop more friendships with American students
• you’ll be treated exactly like all the other students
• because you’ll be one of a few international students, American students may be more interested in your country and your story

For your consideration: would you like to go to a university with a high or low percentage of international students?  Why?

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 - 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? (This post)
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

In researching universities in the United States, you’re likely to look at some lists or information about how the university is “ranked” in comparison with other universities.  And you’ll probably want to go to a university that is ranked high on the list.  This is natural.  Everyone wants to go to the best university, and so when we read that University X is ranked #1, and University Y is ranked #100, we quite understandably would prefer to attend university X.

But is the ranking system accurate?  Is the #1 ranked university really the #1 best university?

The most famous and influential ranking is U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of U.S. institutions of higher education.  It ranks colleges and universities according to several different criteria, and it provides a simple list as a summary.  Here, for example, are the top-five ranked universities according to U.S. News and World Report:

1. Harvard
2. Princeton
3. Yale
4. MIT
5. Stanford

Not everyone believes that these rankings  accurately reflect educational quality, however.  In this article, Amy Graham and Nicholas Thompson lay out what they view as problems with U.S. News and World Report’s methodology:

Unfortunately, the highly influential U.S. News & World Report annual guide to “America’s Best Colleges” pays scant attention to measures of learning or good educational practices, even as it neatly ranks colleges in long lists of the sort that Americans love. It could be a major part of the solution; instead, it’s a problem.

U.S. News’ rankings primarily register a school’s wealth, reputation, and the achievement of the high-school students it admits. At one time, most academics believed in one simple equation: Good students plus good faculty equals good school. The rankings reflect this outlook, tabulating things such as percent of faculty with a doctorate (to measure the quality of the professors) and SAT scores of the freshman class (to get at quality of the students). That’s like measuring the quality of a restaurant by calculating how much it paid for silverware and food: not completely useless, but pretty far from ideal.

You could also ask if it’s a good idea to rank a university as if it were a single unit:

[E]ach institution is nothing more than a collection of local chapters of international intellectual fraternities.  The quality of each chapter at each institution is more or less independent of the quality of any other chapter at the same institution, except to the extent that financial muscle can attract better quality across the board.

In other words, the quality of education is mostly dependent on individual professors and departments, which are not necessarily reflected in the rankings for their host institutions.

The individuals who do the rankings are well aware of the methodological difficulties, and even a well-known methodology like U.S. News and World Report’s is constantly refined.  The struggle to arrive at a comprehensive and fair set of criteria for ranking programs and institutions has led to the formation of various national and international associations, for example The International Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence.

The bottom line is, remember that each ranking system has its own set of criteria, which may or may not apply to your own personal or professional goals.  So when you see that University X is #1,  that does not necessarily mean that University X is #1 for you.

The rankings that are most useful for you are going to be the ones you make yourself.

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 - 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 (This post)
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

Facebook can be a great resource to research U.S. universities.  In this post, we’ll go through how you can use Facebook to get interesting and unique information about U.S. colleges and universities.  It’s very easy.

First, sign into Facebook.  If you don’t have an account you can easily start one, even if you’re only going to use it to do this research.  (QUICK NOTE: If you have a Facebook page already, be careful about what you put there.  A lot of U.S. universities are using Facebook to do research on students who apply.  More about this in a later post).

Second, go the the “Search” box and type in the name of the university you’re researching.  A few different resources should appear:

1. The university’s official facebook page. Most universities have an official facebook page at this point.  Generally, this is going to be the least useful thing you can find on facebook, since most of the information will come from the university website, which you’ve probably already been to.
2. Student groups and networks. There will probably be many different groups and networks for a particular university.  Looking at these groups – reading the message boards, for example – will give you a very interesting look into the kind of students that go to a particular university.  You will also see the different kinds of groups associated with a particular university.  For example, there might be a group for athletes, or a group for students of foreign languages. Now, do NOT jump to conclusions about a university based only on these student groups. Facebook will provide you an interesting pictures of student life at a university, but remember, it’s just a picture – it isn’t the entire reality.  Also keep in mind that most of these groups will be focused on social life.  If you see a lot of posts about parties, don’t assume that all students do at the university is party.  They certainly study as well . . . they just don’t write about it on Facebook.
3. Alumni groups and networks. Perhaps the most useful resource will be alumni groups for the particular university.  Looking at the alumni groups will give you a sense of how students who graduated from the university view their overall experience.  It will also give you some hints as to how graduates of the university are doing professionally.  Alumni groups are more useful than student groups, in my opinion, because they are generally a little more serious.  Also, a large an active alumni community is a sign in itself of a quality university experience.

But by FAR the most useful aspect of facebook in terms of university research is the connection it gives you to students and alumni.  If you politely brefriend them, chances are they’ll be more than happy to answer your questions about the university.  And information from students and alumni is just about the best kind of information you can get.

The bottom line is, don’t underestimate the value of Facebook when doing your research on U.S. universities.  It is a very powerful and useful tool.

For your consideration: Have you checked up on universities on facebook?  What kind of pages or groups did you find?  What, if anything, did it tell you about the university?

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 - 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 (This post)
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

So, you want to study at a university in the United States.  The only question is, Which one?

Because, as we’ve mentioned before, there are over 4,000 of them.

Now, for some people, the answer to this question is easy:  What university am I going to study at?  Well, obviously one of the good ones.  You know, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, those kinds of universities.

After all, you can go online to the U.S. News and World Report Rankings and get a tidy list of the best U.S. universities.  Easy, right?

For those that think choosing a university is as easy as downloading a list of rankings, we ask you to take this very short quiz:

Now, by posting this we don’t mean to suggest that universities like Harvard or Yale aren’t great universities – they are.  What we are suggesting is merely that different universities are going to have different strengths and weaknesses.  Hard as it may be to believe, the “best” universities aren’t the “best” at everything, and if you base your decision-making solely on the basis of a composite ranking, you may end up in a program that just simply isn’t right for you.

So for the next ten days, we’re going to be looking at other factors – besides rankings and test scores – that you should take into consideration when choosing a university.  We’re hardly going to talk about the traditional measures of what makes a university “good” at all.  Our hope is to get you to start thinking about all the different qualities a university possesses, and then identify which ones matter to you.

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 - 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 (This post)

Today the podcast covers the issue of timelines for international students interested in applying to U.S. universities.

Hope you enjoy it!

As always, comments or questions about the podcast should be directed 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 - 06 Jun
4. Podcast - The View from Albania - 23 May
5. Podcast: University Rankings - 16 May
6. Podcast: Timeline for Applying to a U.S. University (This post)
7. The Inaugural myUface Podcast - 02 May