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

Here’s another potential disadvantage of studying in the U.S. that you should consider:  in certain countries, and within certain professions, people who possess U.S. degrees are viewed with suspicion and even resentment.

To use an extreme example to illustrate the point:  in certain authoritarian countries, if you possess a U.S. degree the security services may suspect you of being a spy.  Really, it happens.

OK, for most of you this will not be a problem.  But you could suffer from suspicion of your degree in other ways:

• colleagues may be threatened by your degree.
• colleagues may feel that your degree doesn’t apply to the “way we do things here.”
• colleagues may have negative political feelings about the U.S. as a country, and apply those feelings to their relationship with you.

Are these reactions fair or reasonable?  Absolutely not.  But they can be surprisingly common, especially in fields like economics, politics, public policy, and so forth.  I once met a group of Harvard graduates who had studied politics, but who were almost completely ignored by the politicians in their own country, and had all moved onto different fields.

By the way, this in no way applies only to U.S. universities.  Usually, if this kind of attitude exists at all, it will exist in relation to foreign degrees in general.

The bottom line is, be aware of the “culture” that exists within your chosen profession, and ask yourself, would holding a U.S. degree help me or hurt me here?  How will I fit in “going back?”

For Your Consideration: do you know what you’d like to do as a career?  Do you know someone within that career who has studied abroad?  How is their degree received among their colleagues?

SERIES:  Why study in the U.S.?

• April 20 – Introduction
• April 21 – Diversity at U.S. campuses
• April 22 – Value of U.S. degrees
• April 23 – The Facilities
  
• April 24 – Practical focus of U.S. education
• April 25 – Variety of U.S. programs
• April 26 – The supposed disadvantages of study in the U.S.: visas
  
• April 27 - The supposed disadvantages of study in the U.S.: cost
  
• April 28 - Some real disadvantages of study in the U.S.:  it might not help in your profession
• April 29 – Some real disadvantages of study in the U.S.: will you fit in “going back?”
• April 30 – Other disadvantages
• May 1 – So, should you study in the U.S.?

Here’s a great benefit of going to university in the United States: your studies are generally going to be focused on practical, real-world applications. What does this mean?

• it means you will graduate not only with theoretical knowledge of a subject, but also with experience of using that knowledge in actual, real-world situations.
• it means that when a prospective employer asks about your “work experience,” you’ll have a good answer – even though you just graduated!
• it means that employers will value your degree more than degrees from universities in other countries, because they know you’ll need less training to adapt to the workplace.
• it means that you’re going to spend a lot of time in university actively implementing what you’ve learned.  For many students this aspect of their education is the most rewarding.

Why are U.S. universities more focused on the practical applications of knowledge? Well, there are many reasons.  Here’s a few:

• Historically, universities in the United States have received more of their funding from private sources – from students themselves, from corporations looking for specific research, or from philanthropists (generally men and women who had made a lot of money in the business world).  These private funders have been more interested in education that yields practical benefits.
• American culture generally places a higher value on practice than it does on theory.  Americans are more interested in whether something works than in why it works.
• Americans have developed educational methodologies that suggest that the most effective way to learn about a theory is to implement it.   One popular practice, called “Service Learning,” assigns students real work with groups that aren’t able to pay for it.  In a marketing class, for example,  you might help a local non-profit organization design its web page.  In other words, American universities do teach theory – they’re just more likely to teach it via practice, rather than via textbook.

The combination of practical experience with “book learning” is one of the most unique and fascinating aspects of the U.S. higher-educational system.

For Your Consideration:

What do you think?  Do you think students should go outside of the classroom and do “real-world” activities as part of their education?

SERIES:  Why study in the U.S.?

• April 20 – Introduction
• April 21 – Diversity at U.S. campuses
• April 22 – Value of U.S. degrees
• April 23 – The Facilities
  
• April 24 – Practical focus of U.S. education
• April 25 – Variety of U.S. programs
• April 26 – The supposed disadvantages of study in the U.S.: visas
  
• April 27 - The supposed disadvantages of study in the U.S.: cost
  
• April 28 - Some real disadvantages of study in the U.S.:  it might not help in your profession
• April 29 – Some real disadvantages of study in the U.S.: will you fit in “going back?”
• April 30 – Other disadvantages
• May 1 – So, should you study in the U.S.?

One very important reason to consider a university education in the United States is the value of the degree you’ll receive at the end of it.  According to one recent report from National Public Radio,  degrees from U.S. universities are so highly regarded abroad, that having one is “solid gold.”  This is especially true of business degrees:

“Business degrees are far and away the most popular end objective of most foreign students,” says John Fernandez, president of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. He says that developing countries just don’t have much to offer in this area. “There are few, but not enough to deal with the masses that they must send through higher education, so that’s good news for United States-based business schools.”

It’s not just business schools, however.  Regardless of your field of study, a degree from a U.S. university will be recognized by the overwhelming majority of employers throughout the world.

There are two reasons for this, and understanding them will help you more fully understand the true value of a U.S. degree:

First, to gain accreditation in the U.S., a university has to go through a rigorous, transparent, well-established process that provides independent verification of the quality of education provided in an institution.  The specific process of accreditation is a subject for another post, but here’s a snapshot:

Accreditation in higher education is a collegial process of self-review and peer review for improvement of academic quality and public accountability of institutions and programs. This quality review process occurs on a periodic basis, usually every 3 to 10 years. Typically, it involves three major activities:

• A self-study by an institution or program using the standards or criteria of an accrediting organization.
• A peer review of an institution or program to gather evidence of quality.
• A decision or judgment by an accrediting organization to accredit, accredit with conditions or not accredit an institution or program.

This means that when an accredited U.S. university awards a degree, the quality of that degree has been vouched for by an independent process of quality assurance.  That makes employers feel better about your degree.

Second, a very large number of international students have graduated from U.S. universities and gone on to successful careers around the globe.  Having experienced the U.S. educational system themselves, they know its strengths and are likely to positively evaluate candidates who also received a U.S. degree.  The influence of this factor will only increase as, year after year, U.S. universities continue to host international students.

To conclude briefly, because of the strong, independent system of accreditation in the United States, and the ever-growing network of graduates from U.S. universities throughout the world,  the reputation of U.S. degrees has never been better.

And here’s the bottom line: if you choose to study in the U.S., you can be confident that the value of your degree will garner respect all over the world.

For Your Consideration:

Think of graduates from U.S. universities that you have met.  What special skills do they seem to possess that might be a product of their educational experience in the U.S.?

SERIES:  Why study in the U.S.?

• April 20 – Introduction
• April 21 – Diversity at U.S. campuses
• April 22 – Value of U.S. degrees
• April 23 – The Facilities
  
• April 24 – Practical focus of U.S. education
• April 25 – Variety of U.S. programs
• April 26 – The supposed disadvantages of study in the U.S.: visas
  
• April 27 - The supposed disadvantages of study in the U.S.: cost
  
• April 28 - Some real disadvantages of study in the U.S.:  it might not help in your profession
• April 29 – Some real disadvantages of study in the U.S.: will you fit in “going back?”
• April 30 – Other disadvantages
• May 1 – So, should you study in the U.S.?