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Posts Tagged ‘study in the United States’

Are You Applying Independently to U.S. Universities?

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

So far, we’ve received nearly 300 applications on myUface, and we’re working to connect all of these students to universities in the U.S.

We believe we’ll be successful with many of our candidates.  Others don’t have applications that are complete enough for universities to truly consider.  You may be wondering, How can I improve my chances of getting into a U.S. university?

Two things:

  1. Make sure your myUface application is complete. More tomorrow on what “complete” means.
  2. Don’t only apply to universities through myUface.  Increase your chances of getting into a U.S. program by applying independently to universities as well.

Some sites want you to maintain an exclusive relationship with them and them alone.  Here, our priorities are different:  we want you to get into a U.S. university, no matter if you do that through us or on your own.

By applying independently to a few U.S. universities, you give yourself a good chance of being accepted directly to a program.  If you also apply through myUface, you’ve ensured that you have several chances for universities to notice you.

Applying to myUface alone is a great step, but we encourage all of you to pursue university applications independently as well.

The myUface Online Profile is Officially Open

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Dear Friends,

We are very pleased to announce the official opening of the myUface online profile, available, FOR FREE, at www.myuface.com. I want to take a few moments of your time to remind you about how you can use this tool to gain admission to U.S. universities.

The myUface.com student profile is a way for you to provide the information a university needs in order to evaluate you as a potential student. It includes biographical and financial information, academic history, notes about your hobbies and interests, and much more. Once you create an online profile, we will share your information with our university partners, looking for an institution that would be a good fit. In addition, our university partners will search the myUface database looking for students that fit their needs. Our ultimate goal is to connect talented international students like yourself with U.S. universities.

I need to stop and mention again that all of this is FREE for you as an international student.

The online profile is not 100% complete. Over the next weeks and months, we’ll be constantly adding new features to increase your ability to present yourself to U.S. universities. But please, start your profile now. The U.S. admissions process will start very soon, so there’s no time to lose.

Also, please feel free to let us know what you think about the service myUface provides, and how we could improve that service. This is our very first week of operation, so I’m sure some things will need work. The only way we’ll learn about what we need to change is if you, the students, let us know. So e-mail us early and often: contact@myuface.com.

Two more quick notes: remember, myUface is just one tool to help you get into a U.S. university. You should also pursue other options, like applying independently to U.S. universities. To help you, we have a daily blog with advice on preparing your university applications both here at myUface and on your own. Remember, our goal is for you to fulfill your dreams of studying in the U.S. We think myUface can help, but if you can find another way to realize your dreams, we’ll be just as happy for you.

Alright, friends, time moves on. In a few short months U.S. universities will begin to make decisions about which students will be part of the 2010 class of incoming students. It’s time to get to work – we’re ready if you are.

Welcome to the myUface Blog

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

The goal of the myUface blog is to collect, in one place, useful information for international students interested in studying in the Unisted States.  For new visitors to the blog, I wanted to create a quick list of the highlights from previous blog posts.

This is just the beginning.  We’re going to keep sharing as much information as possible in the hope of helping you attain your dream of studying in the U.S.

Please remember to share your questions and comments with us as often as possible.  You can leave a comment on any blog post, and you can always e-mail us at blog@myuface.com.

What Information Do I Need to Complete a myUface Profile?

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Let’s briefly go over the different information you’ll need in order to complete a profile on myUface.  When you first look at this list, you may think, Wow, that’s a lot of information! Remember that this is generally the same information you’d need to complete an application to a U.S. university independently, so you’ll need to collect it sometime.  It’s actually quite useful to be able to keep it all together in one place, online, here at myUface.

You don’t need all this information to start a profile, but you will need it in order to complete one.

User Name and Password: You’ll need to choose a user name and password.  Make sure it’s something you can remember easily.

Field of Study: Don’t worry too much about this.  A lot of students don’t know exactly what they’d like to study.  It does hep us, however, to know what subject you’re most interested in.

Biographical information: this is the easy stuff:  your name, date of birth, citizenship etc.  You’ll also need to input your passport data if you have a passport (if not, obviously you won’t be able to do so, and that’s OK!)

Contact information: Your telephone number, street address, etc.  Basically we want to know how we’d get a hold of you.  We also ask for your Skype name if you have a Skype account.

Academic Questions: What kind of university are you interested in?  What kind of program?  We want as much information as possible, so we can try to find a good fit for you as a student.

Family Information: We need some background information on your family.  We also ask in this section questions about what percentage of your educational costs your family is prepared to support.  Try to answer as accurately as possible.  There’s no “right” or “wrong” answer, but it’s a question universities will ask immediately.  This is a good point to remind everyone that myUface does not offer financial aid, although we certainly try to provide good advice on how to find some.

Academic History: You’ll need to prepare information, usually in the form of transcripts, that show how you’ve done in school up until this point.  You’ll also need recommendations from individuals, such as teachers, that know you and your strengths as a candidate.

Standardized Tests: The kind of tests you’ll need to take will depend on the kind of program in which you’re interested.  Generally speaking, for undergraduate students you’ll need SAT and TOEFL results.

Language Information: We’d like to know about your native language, about any other languages you speak, and a self-assessment of how well you speak those languages.

Extra Information:  Here we give you an opportunity to share other information that might be valuable to a university (such as any interest you have in sports).  We’re going to be updating this section very frequently, so please let us know your thoughts.

Go BACK to “Questions and Answers.”

Mailbag

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Great question today about myUface.  A student wrote to ask when the site would be fully operational.  He notes that we had mentioned before that it might be ready by the middle of July.  So, he wonders, what’s going on?

Great question.  Right now at myUface we are focused on two things:

1)  Completing the site so that it’s useful for students and easy to use.

2)  Reaching out to universities to partner with us.

I’ll be totally honest:  both are taking longer than we’d planned.  But not so much longer than we planned.  I would say you can expect to see a fully functional site sometime in the next few weeks.  And sometime soon after than you can expect universities to begin using myUface to meet international students.

In the meantime, please, keep reading the blog, keep researching universities, and keep thinking about your career goals.

Your Education is an Investment

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

To conclude our long series about financial aid, I wanted to take a step back from all the information about scholarships, tuition waivers, loans and so on and ask a very basic question:

What is a U.S. education worth?  What is its value?

And the reason I want to ask that is this:  many international students approach studying in the U.S. as something that would be “nice,” provided they can get financial aid.  “Sure,” they say, “I’d love to study in the U.S., but only if I can get a scholarship.”  These students are not placing a high value on U.S. education, since they are in effect saying that they would only study in the U.S. if it were free.

Well, for the vast majority of students, it’s not free.  Period. Like it or not, most of you will have to pay a significant portion of the bill for your studies.  Whether that portion is 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% will depend on your ability to sucessfully secure financial aid; but the chances of getting 100% of your education funded are pretty slim.

So, you need to ask yourself, how much are you willing to pay, to sacrifice, in order to get a U.S. education?

In answering this question, it’s useful to think of education as an investment in your future.  A better education will, generally speaking, get you a better job, with a higher salary, and more chances to make a large impact, which could lead to an even higher salary, etc.  In trying to quantify exactly how good an investment education is, some have suggested that the “return” on education is between 10 and 15%:

Private rates of return . . . range from 10 to 15 percent – levels that are competitive with returns on most alternative investments available to individuals.

Now, of course, like every investment, for this one to work you, the investor, have to make good decisions.  You have to research career paths, select a good university and program, and maintain the value of your investment through hard work and study.  But, assuming you do all these things, you can expect a healthy return on your educational investment.

Keep that in mind as you look for financial aid.  Remember, it’s great if you can find someone to help pay for your university study; but the person who has the most to benefit from your education is you, and so you should therefore consider investing your own money as well.

By combining your talents and funds with modest assistance from the different sources we’ve talked about, you can make your dream of studying in the U.S. a reality.

Posts in this Series

  1. Your Education is an Investment (This post)
  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 - 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

Looking for Support in Your Country: Why it Makes Sense

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

In the past three days we’ve gone over three different ways for you to look for financial aid in your own country.  I’m sure many of you are thinking, Sure, that sounds good, but when are we going to get to the REAL information about scholarships from the U.S.?

Many international students seem to think that getting financial aid from the United States should be easy.  After all, U.S. universities are some of the wealthiest in the world, as are U.S. foundations.  Surely there’s a better chance of getting funding from the U.S. than from your own country.  Right?

Wrong.  Remember – between 66% and 80% of all funding for international students comes from outside of the U.S.   Much of that is from the students themselves, or from their family; but a growing percentage is from “local” sources of giving, such as governments, businesses, foundations and individuals.

In other words, if you don’t consider these sources of aid, you’re going to be missing out on a huge pool of potential resources.

There’s another reason to consider aid from local sources:  generally speaking, the competition for such resources is not as intense as the competition for the relatively small amount of U.S. support that exists.  Think about it:  students from all over the world will compete for scholarships or fellowships for international students, whereas students only from a particular country (and maybe only from a particular region or even city) may compete for more “local” scholarships.

The hard part about getting “local” support is finding it.  Such opportunities aren’t always well publicized.  But if you are able to locate opportunities in your home country, you’ll have a much better chance of securing that aid than you will of securing aid from hyper-competitive scholarship programs in the U.S. (although you can, and should, try to secure assistance from both).

The Wikipedia entry on “scholarships” sums it up nicely:

It is typical for persons to find scholarships in their home region. Information on these can be found by asking local persons and organizations. Typically, these are less competitive as the eligible population is smaller.

So, by all means, look for scholarships in the U.S.  But don’t neglect potential aid from your own country!

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 (This post)
  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 - 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

Activities Around a University Campus

Monday, June 1st, 2009

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

Look at the Surrounding Neighborhoods When Looking at a U.S. University

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

The people that live in the neighborhoods around a university are going to have a huge influence on the lives of students at that university.  Some universities are going to be situated in the hearts of bustling metropolises, full of business and activity.  Others are going to be nestled in small, quiet towns.  The type of neighborhood surrounding a university will impact what you, as a student, can do there.  Do you dream of going out to clubs night after night after night?  You need to go to a university in an urban area.  Do you like the quiet life?  Maybe a university in a neighborhood filled with older, married couples would suit you.

You need to look at the demographic data for the neighborhoods surrounding your university.  This data will tell you a lot of interesting things:  how many people live there?  What is there average age?  What is their ethnic background?  What kind of lifestyle do they lead?  These are important things to consider in choosing a town in which to spend four years of your life.

And once again, we’ve got some very good resources to allow you to check up on the demographics of your university’s town.  First, for the raw data, you can’t get much better than Zipskinny, which provides all the latest census data in an easily-understood format.  For a little more fun, go to this site, provided by Claritas, a target marketing firm.  Claritas categorizes each and every American as one of sixty-six types, and will tell you which five types are most prevalent in any given location.  For example, where I live, “American Dreams” are very common:

American Dreams is a living example of how ethnically diverse the nation has become: just under half the residents are Hispanic, Asian, or African-American. In these multilingual neighborhoods–one in ten speaks a language other than English–middle-aged immigrants and their children live in upper-middle-class comfort.

At either site you’ll need the zip code of your university.  You may want to check surrounding zip codes as well.

The bottom line is that, as you research universities, it’s a good idea to do some basic research into the surrounding community.

For your consideration: What kind of town or city would you like to live in while studying at university?  What kind of people would you like to live in that town?

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 (This post)
  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

How Weather Should Factor Into Your Search for a U.S. University

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

When people plan a week-long vacation, they spend hours and hours and hours worrying about the weather.  What’s the temperature going to be?  Is it going to rain?  Do I need to bring an umbrella?  Sunscreen?

But for some reason, when people are going to go to study at a university, not just for a week, but for four entire years of their life, they often don’t seem to care at all about the weather!

The weather is important. For one thing, there is evidence to suggest that the weather can affect your mood, especially specific aspects of the weather like humidity and sunshine.

But at a more basic level, just ask yourself, what kind of weather do you like?  Take a moment to think about that.  Then ask yourself, wouldn’t it be nice to study in a place  that has that kind of weather?

The United States is such a big country, with so many different climates, that I can almost promise you there’s a university situated in the kind of climate you like.  Like tropical weather?  Florida or Hawaii are good bets.  Enjoy dry climates with lots of sun?  The American Southwest would be a good destination.  Enjoy winter sports?  How about Colorado?

So, when you’re researching a university, make sure you look into the climate.   How to do that?  It’s remarkably easy.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (try saying that five times fast) has a great page called “United States Climate Page.”  There you can click on a state, then on cities and towns in that state.  It doesn’t have every town, so you may need to choose a city that’s close by to your university.  The available data includes average temperature, yearly precipitation (that’s rain and snow), the percentage of days that are sunny, and so on and so forth.

You can also go to any of the countless weather sites and get a good, detailed look at the weather on a partticular day.  Most of these sites will have some kind of historical data as well.  For example, Accuweather allows you to look at the average temperature for a city on a month-by-month or day-by-day basis.  Weather.com provides good summaries of temperature and precipitation (look for the button that says “Averages“).

The bottom line is that you’re not only going to study at a university, you’re going to live there.  And the weather is something that can drastically impact the quality of your life.  So spend some time researching the weather at the universities you’re interested in.  That way, you won’t forget to pack your sunblock.  Or your umbrella.

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 (This post)
  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