Student Visas

Student Applicants (for F-1 and M-1 visas) - Overview

If you are going to the U.S. primarily for tourism, but want to take a short course of study of less than 18 hours per week, you may be able to do so on a visitor visa. You should inquire at the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If your course of study is more than 18 hours a week, you will need a student visa. Please read this information for general information on how to apply for an F1 or M1 student visa. For additional student related information, visit the created by the Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to learn about educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate study, opportunities for scholars, financial aid, testing, admissions, and much more.

In most countries, first time student visa applicants are required to appear for an in-person interview. However, each embassy and consulate sets its own interview policies and procedures regarding student visas. Students should consult Embassy web sites or call for specific application instructions.

Keep in mind that June, July, and August are the busiest months in most consular sections, and interview appointments are the most difficult to get during that period. Students need to plan ahead to avoid having to make repeat visits to the Embassy. To the extent possible, students should bring the documents suggested below, as well as any other documents that might help establish their ties to the local community.

Source: http://www.travel.state.gov

Types of Student Visas

There are three types of student visas. For visa application instructions, forms, and more, select below.

• Academic Studies (F visa): For people who have been accepted into a program to study or conduct research at an accredited U.S. college or university.
  
  
• Non-Academic or Vocational Studies (M Visa) : For people who have been accepted into a program to study or train at a non-academic institution in the U.S.
  
  
• Academic Studies as an Exchange Visitor (J Visas) : For people who have been accepted into a program through a designated sponsoring organization to participate in an exchange visitor program in the U.S. The "J" visa is for educational and cultural exchange programs.

Source: http://www.travel.state.gov

Why Study in the U.S.?

"I would like to go to the U.S. for further education because there I would get a global exposure in my chosen field. In my opinion, the quality of education provided by the best universities in the U.S. is not found anywhere else in the world."

- Dhwanil Khandwala, from India

Quality:

U.S. colleges are known worldwide for the quality of their facilities, resources, and faculty. Accreditation systems ensure that institutions continue to maintain these standards.

Choice:

The U.S. education system features many types of institutions, academic and social environments, entry requirements, degree programs, and subjects in which you can specialize.

Value:

A U.S. degree offers excellent value for the money. A wide range of tuition fees and living costs, plus some financial help from colleges, make study in the United States affordable for hundreds of thousands of international students each year.

Flexibility:

U.S. universities and colleges offer flexibility in choice of courses, but more importantly there is also the option for students to move from institution to another. Completing the first two years of a degree at one institution, usually a community college, and then moving to another, is very common.

source: http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov

Types of Visas

Nonimmigrant Visas

Nonimmigrant visas are for people with permanent residence outside the U.S. but who wish to go to the U.S. on a temporary basis ր for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work, or study.

U.S. law requires that people who apply for nonimmigrant visas provide evidence that they donҀt intend to immigrate to the United States. ItҀs up to consular officers at U.S. embassies and consulates to determine eligibility on an individual basis on the merits of each case.

Providing requested documents does not guarantee that you will receive a visa. There is no entitlement to a visa.

And, because each personҀs personal situation is different, people applying for the same visa may be asked different questions and be required to submit different documents. Under U.S. law, the authority to issue or refuse visas is vested solely in consular offices abroad. Consular officers have the authority to decide whether the evidence submitted in support of an application is sufficient to establish an applicant's eligibility for a visa. Consular officers may request additional information or documentation depending on their assessment of each personҀs situation.

Immigrant Visas

Several categories of people are eligible for immigrant status. Certain applicants can apply on their own behalf. All others must have a relative or potential employer apply for them.

source: http://www.uscis.gov

What is a Visa?

If youҀre a citizen of a foreign country, in most cases youҀll need a visa to enter the United States.

A visa doesnҀt permit entry to the U.S., however. A visa simply indicates that your application has been reviewed by a U.S. consular officer at an American embassy or consulate, and that the officer has determined youҀre eligible to enter the country for a specific purpose. Consular affairs are the responsibility of the U.S. Department of State.

A visa allows you to travel to the United States as far as the port of entry (airport or land border crossing) and ask the immigration officer to allow you to enter the country. Only the immigration officer has the authority to permit you to enter the United States. He or she decides how long you can stay for any particular visit. Immigration matters are the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

There are two categories of U.S. visas: immigrant and non immigrant.

Immigrant visas are for people who intend to live permanently in the U.S. Nonimmigrant visas are for people with permanent residence outside the U.S. but who wish to be in the U.S. on a temporary basis ր for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work or study.

source: http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov

College Counselor: Servant or Teacher?

More than once when I was counseling private school students, a parent would warn me that "you'll have to chase after Johnny during the application process, keep on him" to get him through it. Well, I don't do chasing and for the most part I never did, which may be one reason I don't work with them any more. Nevertheless, it raises a question about what the college counselor's role is. After a certain point, how much is the student's responsibility, and isn't the willingness to take it on one sign that a student is ready for college? When I did reach out to recalcitrant students (usually boys, by the way), I would often say, "Look, I've already gone to college so I don't need to do any of this, but you do." Sometimes that would be enough to get them moving, and sometimes not. Although I don't remember anyone ever falling through the cracks or not getting into college because of not filing an application, it still gave me pause. Is this like pushing kids to get their homework done, or am I on the verge of ruining their lives because I won't haul them in, sit them in front of my computer and make them fill out their applications while I watch?

Personally, I think that students who don't do their research, information requests, recommendation requests, and applications (despite hours of workshops, class meetings, and individual appointments) aren't really ready to face the end of high school. They're saying that they have other priorities and are willing to let college wait until the last minute. Fine, I say. Why should I spend energy on you if you're not going to spend it on yourself? I can help any number of students who are really grappling with the process while also doing their homework and keeping up with their extracurriculars. When you're ready to fill out applications, let me know. In this respect, I believe that a college counselor is also a teacher, and one of the lessons is learning to plan ahead, make choices, and accept the consequences of those choices. In other words, to help them mature.

Now don't get me wrong--I don't wish for someone not to get into college or suffer for mistakes. I simply believe that "babysitting" is not part of the college counselor's job description, especially if all the necessary information is presented many times over the course of several years and students come from college-educated families. The "chase after my kid" request is the same as the "why didn't he get an A?" challenge to a teacher when the student has been AWOL in class--it's not my responsibility to do his work for him. Besides, isn't chasing after your kid part of the parent's job description? (Although I would argue that by the time they're high school seniors that should be only in extreme situations.)

When the current head of my former school first came on board a few years ago, we had a conversation in which he emphasized that college counseling was a "service" the school provided. While I agreed in principle with the statement, I also said, "But I am not a servant," meaning that I was not at anyone's beck and call and would not, in fact, could not, always accommodate every wish and whim of parents or students. Providing all the facts, deadlines, encouragement, and so on to those who will take advantage of them was often enjoyable and energizing. But making the rest of the horses drink was low on my priority list. As a teacher, I believed it was like doing students' homework for them, and that doesn't help them at all.

This distinction is important, I think, because while college counseling isn't rocket science, it does have a complexity that makes it at times extremely difficult. Not only are there all the mechanistic elements to worry about, we also have to deal with the emotional, intellectual, developmental, and even financial issues that surround each student. As a servant, I would be obliged simply to do what was necessary if a parent insisted that her child should apply to an Ivy League school, even if that child didn't have the record for it (or even the inclination, as happened more than once). To a certain extent, that's fine--students in this country can apply anywhere they want. However, as a responsible teacher as well as counselor, I think it my responsibility, my duty, even, to indicate what the odds are, to be realistic about the applicant's chances and suggest alternatives, and then to step back as the student carries out those resonsibilities. I was never reluctant to give a hand when I saw a student working hard to get everything done, but I was always reluctant to do things for him.

More than once, however, a parent would become enraged when I suggested that her child wasn't "Ivy League material" or wasn't getting applications done. Who was I, I suspect the reasoning went, to imply that Precious wasn't up to snuff, despite clear indications in the transcript, test scores, and lack of activities? (Never mind the "What am I paying my money to this school for?" comments...) The expectation seemed to be that I should simply file the papers and write the support letter while holding Precious's hand over the keyboard. But I would opt for educating every time, which means respecting a student enough to expect him to do his own work.

This kind of reaction reduces the college counselor to servant status (and belittles the child, incidentally) and reduces the college admission process to a sort of quid pro quo, although what the quo was I've never fully understood. I could bring up the changing face of college admission (it's startling to learn how many parents still think "merit" is the only qualification for admission and that their child clearly has it), the imponderables, the history of admission at a particular college, the student's own preparation (or lack thereof), but it didn't matter. Just do it! they implied, don't bother us with realities.

To state things positively: I believe that a college counselor is, and in fact has to be, a teacher as well as a service provider, and should be supported as such. College counseling should be recognized as a way to help develop adolescents' maturity as well as simply a means to an end. Students aren't just pegs to be fitted into the right holes, they are developing human beings on the verge of adulthood who have a wonderful opportunity to put their own ideas, hopes, and desires to the test in the college process. Done right, it can be an exciting time of reflection and self-definition; approached merely as a utilitarian process, it deprives everyone involved of their dignity.

Twenty countries are included in the THES-QS ranking of the World's Top-100 universities

The AllAboutUni.com analysis is based on the two major international rankings of the WorldҀs Top-500 universities: the Academic Ranking of World Universities compiled by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Times Higher Education and Quacquarelli Symonds. The ARWU is produced by a public university in China and THES-QS is produced by a private company in the United Kingdom.

The overall overlap of the two rankings is 67%, meaning that 67 of the World's Top-100 universities appear in both the ARWU ranking and THES-QS ranking. This means there are 33 universities (one in three) in each of the rankings that do not appear in the other list.

English-speaking countries dominate both rankings
Roughly 70% of the World's Top-100 universities are located in English-speaking countries (United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland). For the ARWU, this figure is 72% and for the THES-QS it is 68%.

Universities in the US dominates both rankings
Universities located in the US dominate both of the World's Top-100 university rankings: 54% for the ARWU and 37% for the THES-QS. There are fewer US universities in THES-QS, a difference that is mainly related to the inclusion of more Asian/Pacific universities in the THES-QS ranking (see below).

It is interesting to note that among the World's Top-25 universities, the position of the US is even more pronounced: 72% in ARWU and 56% in THES-QS

UK consistently number two
The UK is consistently ranked second in both the ARWU (11% of the World's Top-100 universities) and THES-QS rankings (17%). This contribution is even higher for the World's Top-25 universities: 12% for the ARWU and 24% for the THES-QS .

THES-QS is more international than ARWU
Twenty countries are included in the THES-QS ranking of the World's Top-100 universities compared to 15 countries for the ARWU. The THES-QS ranking includes more non-US universities: 63% universities compared to 46% in the ARWU.

THES-QS has many more Asian/Pacific universities
There are more than twice as many Asian/Pacific universities in the THES-QS ranking (22%) of the World's Top-100 universities than in the ARWU ranking (8%). Whilst only three Asian/Pacific countries are represented in ARWU (Japan (4), Australia (3) and Israel (1)), there are eight countries in THES-QS (Australia (7), Japan (4), Hong Kong (3), China (2), Singapore (2), South Korea (2), Israel (1) and New Zealand (1)).

Conclusions
The AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the THES-QS ranking is more international than the ARWU ranking (it has many more Asian/Pacific universities). The assessment also found that 70% of World's Top-100 universities are located in English-speaking countries (especially in the US and UK).

Words of Wisdom

Do you ever think to yourself "if only I could do it over again?" Students who are freshmen in college give some insight in to what they would redo in high school if they could--

http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_10917507?nclick_check=1

College Costs

With the declining economy, many students will have to make adjustments to their colleges of choice. This article gives tips on how to adjust to these trying economic times--

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/college-cash-101/2008/12/15/the-4-rules-of-paying-for-college-in-a-recession.html

What Makes a Top University?

A number of assessments carried out by AllAboutUni.com indicate that the general characteristics of a top university are the following: being based in North America or Europe, being in an area where other top universities are clustered, having a large endowment and being a private institution. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and interactive website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures).

The analysis is based on a ranking of the WorldҀs Top-500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (click here). Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, with the 2008 ranking published on 15 August 2008.

Location
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the WorldҀs Top-500 universities are mainly located in Europe (n=210; 40%) and the Americas (n=190; 40%) (click here). In the Americas, 95% of the universities are located in the United States (84%; n=159) and Canada (11%; n=21).

Clustering
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that in both the United States (US) and Europe there is a clustering of the worldҀs top universities. In the US, 36% (57 out of 159) of universities - more than one in three - are located in just five States: New York (15), California (13), Texas (13), Massachusetts (9) and Pennsylvania (7) (click here). In Europe, more than one in three (36%) of the Top-25 universities are located in United Kingdom (click here).

Public - Private
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that 70% of the World's Top-10 universities are private institutions, suggesting that at the very top of the rankings private universities perform better than public universities (click here). In the WorldҀs Top-25 universities, there is a lower predominance of private universities, with 11 out of 25 universities being private (click here).

Endowment
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the WorldҀs Top-25 universities have accumulated a massive amount of endowment wealth (a total of $170 billion) and the private universities in the US have accumulated more wealth than the public universities (click here). A large university endowment supports the operating budget of a university (for example, a third of Harvard UniversityҀs operating budget comes from endowment income).

Age
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the age of a university was not associated with being in the World's Top-25 universities (click here). Two good examples of 'young' universities achieving a high ranking are Stanford University (established in 1891 and ranked 2nd) and the University of California - San Diego (established in 1960 and ranked 14th).

Other factors
Other factors that will determine the ranking of a university include: the university infrastructure (campus, facilities, etc.), the working conditions (academic salaries, academic freedom, etc.), the levels of funding (public and private funding) and the quality of life in the region where the university is located.

Conclusion
A series of AllAboutUni.com assessments has identified a number of general characteristics that help make a top university. The very strong performance of private universities in the World's Top-10 universities (7 out of 10) suggests that private universities are better able manage the different factors and etablish a top university.

Standout Essays

This article gives tips on how to make your essay stand out from the thousands that are in the admissions heap--

http://www.examiner.com/x-766-College-Admissions-Examiner~y2008m11d17-Killer-Application-Essays-Lesson-Two

College Interviews

Some colleges still have an interview as part of their admissions process. Read on to find out the do's and don'ts of surviving the interview successfully--

http://www.examiner.com/x-472-Baltimore-College-Prep-Examiner~y2008m11d14-Ace-the-College-Admissions-Interview

The Value of the PSAT

Taking the PSAT test has several benefits to students. Read on to find out how--

http://waldo.villagesoup.com/education/story.cfm?storyID=136896

Plan During Junior Year

This article gives you tips on what to do during junior year of high school to jumpstart your college admissions activities.

Senior year should be when you are pulling it all together, not just beginning.

http://www.examiner.com/x-472-Baltimore-College-Prep-Examiner~y2008m11d23-Attention-High-School-Juniors-The-College-Admissions-Process-is-About-to-Heat-Up

College Affordability

California is the only state that received a passing grade for affodability of college. Even at that the grade was a C. So what about the other 49 states?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkBGMsvJKRKaL67qxkOCaDByDJFAD94R70G02

The SAT Essay

This article gives you hints on how you can prep yourself for the essay component of the SAT---

http://www.examiner.com/x-766-College-Admissions-Examiner~y2008m12d4-SAT-Bootcamp-strategy-Ace-the-essay

Score Choice and the SAT

Just when you thought you might have control over what scores colleges would see, think again. Colleges, and some will, can demand to see all of your SAT test scores--not just the ones that you select.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/172585

Planning for College

Is middle school too early to plan for college? Read this article and see how important planning for college is --

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-eighth-grade-study_11dec11,0,4875258.story

Admissions and Online Information

Some colleges do look at Facebook and MySpace type sites to gain further information about applicants to their schools.

Be aware that adults do not always think that something on your site is appropriate.

http://www.minnpost.com/from_our_partners/2008/12/09/5100/three-sixty_journalism_uh-oh_some_college_admissions_staffs_check_facebook

Technology and Interviews

Wake Forest is the first university to use Webcam to conduct interviews. For students who cannot go to the campus for an interview, this is the next best thing.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-to.college09dec09,0,373871.story

Massive Accumulation of Endowment Wealth by the WorldҀs Best-25 Universities

An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni.com reveals that a massive accumulation of endowment wealth has been put together by the World's Top-25 universities [1]. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and interactive website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures).

The WorldҀs Top-25 universities in 2008 (click here) are mainly located in the United States (18 out of 25) and are often private institutions (11 out of 25). This distribution is more pronounced for the WorldҀs Top-10 universities, where 8 out of 10 are located in the United States (US) and 7 out of 10 are private institutions (click here).

Total endowments for each of the universities were collected from Wikipedia.org (accessed on 29 October 2008), and non-US endowments were converted into US dollars (exchange rate of 29 October 2008). The endowments of two universities were not available: the University of Tokyo in Japan (ranked 19th) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ր Zurich in Switzerland (ranked jointly 24th). The analysis is therefore based on 23 universities (18 from the US and 5 from other countries (United Kingdom (3), Canada and Japan) and is a conservative estimate.

The total endowment of the 23 universities was $170.2 billion, and ranged from $172 million (University College London in the UK, ranked 22nd) to $36.9 billion (Harvard University in the US, ranked 1st). The median endowment is $5.9 billion, with universities in the US having higher endowments (median of $6.1 billion, range $471 million to $36.9 billion) than those in the other countries (median of $2.2 billion, range $172 million to $3.4 billion).

Four private universities in the US had 56% of the total endowment wealth of the World's Top-25 universities: Harvard University ($36.9 billion - 22%), Yale University ($22.9 billion - 14%), Stanford University ($17.2 billion - 10%) and Princeton University ($17 billion - 10%). It is therefore no surprise that the private universities in the US have higher endowments (median of $7.2 billion) than the public universities in the US (median of $1.3 billion).

This accumulation of wealth by the World's Top-25 universities is quite astonishing. For example, the total wealth accumulated by the World's Top-25 universities is greater than the budget of the State of California ($111 billion in 2008-09) or it places these universities 41st in the country ranking of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) according to the International Monetary Fund (in front of Nigeria, Romania and Israel).

The accumulation of endowment wealth by universities has both positive and negative sides. A large university endowment supports the operating budget of the university and gives the university greater independence and resources which can be used, for example, to establish new research institutes or to fund scholarships. In the fiscal year 2008, distributions from the Harvard University endowment totalled $1.6 billion, contributing more than one third of the university's operating budget in addition to supporting substantial capital outlays (click here).

There are also a number of negative sides associated with large university endowments. One of these is that it gives the university an image of accumulating too much wealth and being greedy. Another is that it leads to criticism about the allocation of the endowment income (for example, Harvard University could allow its students to attend for free for just $300 million, which is a fraction of the 2008 endowment income (click here). Finally, it makes it impossible for other (less well endowed) universities around the world to compete on an even playing field with universities that have established very large endowments.

Background note:
[1] The analysis is based on a ranking of the WorldҀs Top-500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (click here). Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, with the 2008 ranking published on 15 August 2008.

Online MBA from Warwick Business School

There are many potential students who are looking at the possibility of studying for an Online MBA from Warwick Business School. Pursuing for an online MBA while working is perhaps one of the most challenging task that you will face in your career life. This article is a review of the Warwick Online MBA.

Warwick Business School is one of the top business schools. Their students come from over 143 countries around the world pursuing their education from the undergraduate level to PhD. Level. WBS is serious in conducting its online MBA courses. Their academic staffs have been producing world-leading research in all fields of management.

All MBA programs offered by Warwick are relevant and directly applicable to your career. This can be attested by their 23,500 graduates who subsequently returned to further their studies at WBS later in their career. This shows the confidence shown by the students in the schools. WBSҀs key to the studentsҀ experience is learning by sharing experience. If you consider carefully, you will find that there are in fact very few business schools in the world such as WBS.

When you study for your online MBA at Warwick, you will join a learning environment that supports you, teaches you and work alongside with you to help you achieve your objectives. You will find that pursuing for your online MBA with Warwick is inspiring in all ways as they are made up of a vibrant community. That is how you find that studying at Warwick is a unique experience.

Most your online MBA course peers come from around the world. That is why Warwick teaching faculty is highly international to live up to the expectations of its international students. The focus is always on global and international management. Compared to other universities and business schools, WarwickҀs MBA students intake is relatively small. This resulted in greater collaboration and emphasis on teamwork and experience sharing among their students.

How then does Warwick measures their own success in delivering the online MBA courses? This can be easily measured through their graduates. All graduates from Warwick are highly sought after by businesses all over the world. The Online MBA program offered by Warwick is regarded by academics, employers, and many others as one of the top MBA programs in the UK.

Students pursuing their online MBA from Warwick also get plenty of networking opportunities. Many students have worked for an average of 10 years in senior management, and this form a great platform for the sharing of knowledge with your fellow course mate. Warwick MBA alumni also formed a great supporters, where even after your graduation, your networking opportunities do not end.

The Warwick Business School had created an online hub for their online MBA students. This online hub deliver essential program information and administration that allows MBA students to interact, discuss and collaborate with people from all modes and at all stages of the online MBA program. This way, you will feel less lonely in your studies.

Currently, the groups within the hub consists of groups that focus on consulting, investment, environmental issues and even motor-sport. The online hub also enables students to check their personal details, view their own progress, submit and receive assignments and register for events and modules. The online hub enables students to discuss in public or in private and is also a great tool to communicate directly with members of the faculty.

Through the online hub, students are also able to access a fantastic online collections of the University of Warwick Library. You are able to access the full text of tens of thousands of academic and business journals and periodicals.

Ranking of the Warwick Online MBA

The Warwick Online MBA has been highly ranked for their online MBA programs. The Economist Intelligence Unit Distance Learning MBA ranked them as No. 1 in UK, No. 2 in Europe and No. 3 in the world.

Potential MBA students may start their studies in either January or July each year. You should choose January intake for more intense learning experience or July if you have not been studying for quite a while as the July intake is more relaxing.

Curriculum of the Warwick Online MBA

The followings are the core modules of the Warwick Online MBA:

Accounting & Financial Management
Economics of the Business Environment
Market Analysis
Modelling & Analysis for Management
Operations Management
Organisational Behaviour
Strategic Advantage

Full-time participants also complete The Practice of Management, a practical work-based module. There are also six elective modules that allow you to focus your study in areas of particular personal interest. Towards the end of your MBA studies, you have to undertake a management consultancy project that focus on real strategic problems facing your own organisation or that of a client. This forms the basis for you dissertation.

Tuition Fees

The tuition fees for the online MBA at Warwick depends on when you enrol into the program. For example, the fee for distance learning in January 2009 is 　4,800 for the first year.. The fee for July 2009 will be confirmed by February 2009.

You will typically study for three years. If you extend your studies you will have to budget for a continuation fee of around 　555 for each extra year of study.
Your fees cover: purpose-designed study notes, essential textbooks, project & dissertation supervision, and specialist tutor support. They also include all teaching at the annual September Seminars. Fees do not include travel to WBS, meals or accommodation at seminars, overseas examination arrangements, or the cost of attending the optional weekend seminars. There are also additional costs you should budget for.

Travel: Travel to the optional induction and weekend seminars, the compulsory textbooks; career development support; project & dissertation supervision; and language tuition.

If you have heard some studentҀs experiences or have personally studied for an Online MBA at Warwick, why not leave a comment?

Raw Material or Finished Product?

Eugene S. Wilson, legendary admission dean at Amherst College, believed that no matter how long he was in the business he'd never perfect the art of human evaluation, and that was OK. For him, every applicant was an opportunity to see the potential in a young person, to assess him fairly, and to render a decision that might indeed prove incorrect down the line. For him (and his immediate successor at Amherst, Ed Wall), admission was most definitely an art, not a science, and putting a class together was the delicate balancing of the college's needs with the needs and desires of young men (and later, women) as they began to enter adulthood.

When I joined the Amherst admission office in 1990 I was delighted to be part of that tradition. To this day, I believe that Dean Wall used his gut more than my numbers to admit me to Amherst in 1973, and I wanted to have a chance to combine hard numbers and humane considerations to create Amherst's next generations in a way inspired by Wilson and Wall. At the core, I think they recognized that applicants to college were still unformed persons trying on new identities and exploring different aspects of their lives and the world's offerings. A liberal arts college like Amherst was designed to help students choose well and build on their previous accomplishments as they moved into their future lives.

To me, this meant that students would apply to college as works in progress, ready for the college to exert its influence on them, and vice versa. We were looking for potential, a most elusive quality: We all know of the class presidents who burned out or the most likely to succeed students who never made it out of their hometowns. Our test as admission officers was to spot the energy, the uniqueness, the elusive qualities that infused the GPA and test scores and made the whole a great deal more than the sum of its parts.

But after a few years of helping make admission decisions, I began to feel that looking for the :diamond in the rough" or the "potentiality" of an applicant was less important that getting the numbers as high as possible. Not that it was ever fully mechanistic, but our admission process seemed to me more dependent not only on the black and white figures but also on what students had already accomplished. We celebrated (and rightly so) the applicants who had achieved some remarkable goal, like writing a novel or developing a new invention, but they began to overshadow other applicants who had "only" led a community food bank or restructured their high school's student government or did exceptional work in math or biology classes. I began to call these applicants "merely wonderful" because while they were truly exceptional in their own right, they faded in comparison to the superstars.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have taken the precocious, but it became clear to me that we were beginning to look for the already formed instead of the in progress student. Faculty members wanted to see more students who had been published or made major contributions to their fields. We wanted to see academic "heavy hitters" almost to the exclusion of anyone else. We were lucky to have plenty of them apply and we were always in a little awe of what some of our eventual freshmen had done, but some of the pleasure in putting a class together was lost as we had to turn down more and more exceptional students to make way for the super-accomplished. That pleasure had come from being able to say "yes" to someone we could see as coming into him or herself at Amherst. It was potential we wanted to see on campus as much as past accomplishment, but increasingly the process became more mechanistic and less idiosyncratic, leading to more predictable, but in many respects less satisfying results.

This situation was reflected in the change made a few years into my tenure at Amherst. Our last round of deliberations was devoted to each dean's bringing to the table one favorite candidate who hadn't made it in the regular rounds. Although the applicant had to meet basic requirements for admission, the deans could present their candidates and have them admitted. Even though this round occurred after weeks of debate over hundreds of candidates, it was often the liveliest and most interesting. We were able to exercise our judgment and reward some wonderful quirk in a wonderful student who we felt would add to the incoming Amherst class. Our choices often reflected our own personalities and interests. I remember speaking up for a kid from Arkansas who, among other things, liked to create "found poetry" by cutting up prose and putting it back together randomly, then reading it at poetry slams. Others spoke for student-athletes, mad scientists, and others who would otherwise have been overlooked, and we always ended the season on that high note.

Admission continues to be more an art than a science, especially at small liberal arts colleges, but I still wonder whether the impulse to enroll only the most over-accomplished students has crowded out a more humane imperative to identify human potential that will benefit from our institutions' educational offerings. It affects students, too: The more they see the overachievers being rewarded with college admission, they more they feel they have to stay up until two in the morning and spend every waking moment getting ahead. Perhaps we should re-examine how we look at human potential in the college admission process in order to recalibrate our expectations of students' past and future, as well as our institutions' missions.

Harvard's SAT Exceptionalism

We all know that Harvard can do whatever it wants and usually does. And what it does usually sets the course for the rest of the country's colleges and universities (at least in the sense of giving them something to think about...) But this recent comment in the Boston Globe really has me steaming:

Harvard's dean of admissions, Bill Fitzsimmons, said standardized tests that are based on high school course work have proven superior to the SAT at determining college readiness and said he hoped such tests will begin to play a larger role in admissions decisions.
"Wouldn't it be better for students to study chemistry and math and language, than trying to game a somewhat esoteric set of test-taking skills?" he asked.
Yet Harvard "could never be SAT-optional," he said, because of the need for a national measure to identify top students, including those from urban or rural high schools that don't send many students to elite colleges.

Mr. Fitzsimmons recently chaired a committee that explored the use of standardized testing in college admission. It recommended that the SAT be de-emphasized in admission decisions for all the reasons that many of us have been giving for many years. Clearly, however, this recommendation is meant to apply only to lesser institutions, and not Harvard itself. Harvard couldn't possibly do what the plebes do because it needs to have a "national measure" to identify top students, unlike everyone else, who presumably only need, what, "local" measures? Or other more scurrilous ways of evaluating applications?

This smug exceptionalism not only throws the committee's study and recommendations into doubt (were you just wasting everyone's time?) it also reeks of a "Let them eat cake" mentality that makes us common folk want to grab our pitchforks and settle someone's hash. Why can de-emphasizing the SAT work for everyone else but not possibly for Harvard? Surely with its 372 years of experience it knows how to identify a talented student by now without a test that has only been in existence for 80 years or so. And surely, if it's good enough for Harvard, why should anyone else give it up, despite the fact that many colleges and universities have, without any diminution in their ability to attract and identify able applicants.

Fitzsimmons connects using the SAT with the necessity of finding "urban or rural" students who might otherwise, presumably, be overlooked without it. But this is just protective coloring, meant to reassure us that Harvard needs the scores to find talented first generation and minority students it would otherwise miss. But most of those students won't do well on the SAT, so Harvard would either have to reject them or ignore the scores. And Harvard has the resources to find anyone it wants, so why rely on the scores when it's just finished downplaying them?

So the message and value of the study become muddied and pointless. Whatever we may think about America's top university "brand," we must acknowledge that Harvard's imprimatur on anything carries great weight. Without Harvard's taking the lead by adopting a more enlightened view of admission testing (even if it stops short of de-emphasizing it), what was the point of doing the study in the first place? Of course, it's not bound to follow through on any conclusions, but wouldn't its participation suggest it was willing to lead where those conclusions might point? To say categorically that it couldn't possibly risk its reputation by de-emphasizing scores, even though that was the conclusion of the study seems arrogant at best, cynical and unilateral at worst.

If Harvard wants to avoid being the Marie Antoinette of colleges and universities, perhaps it should get out with the people a little instead of simply visiting its faux village to commune with the peasants. It might experiment with how it uses the SAT by making decisions on a sampling of students without using scores and following them through over the years. With the immense resources at its disposal, Harvard could actually perform a service rather than retreat into its opulence. Leadership on this issue would be to take the study's conclusions seriously, as if they applied to ALL institutions and not just everyone else.

One interesting irony of this situation is that the SAT was once touted specifically as a way to find otherwise hidden talents throughout the country when many colleges had narrowly specific entrance exams of their own. It was conceived of as a great leveller. But with the increasing connection of test performance with income, this seems no longer defensible; now it's as much a barrier to admission as a way into college. The idea of the SAT's being a "national standard" that is somehow equal across the country has been definitvely refuted over and over again. And being able to find talented students in out of the way places has never been easier. So what's Harvard's excuse? Apres moi, le deluge...

The Interl. Prog. Office for Edu. & Training

The International Programme Office for Education and Training ր the gateway to global knowledge
see
http://www.programkontoret.se/sv/Languages/English/

Germany's 9 universities of Excellence are included in the WorldҀs Top-500 universities.

An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni.com reveals that 8 of Germany's 9 universities of Excellence are included in the WorldҀs Top-500 universities. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and inter-active website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, Education, higher education, university, college, Europe, Germany, Top 500 Universities, German Universities, Education news, University News and campus pictures). It publishes regular reports on universities around the world.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and the German Research Foundation launched an Excellence Initiative to promote research in Germany and to enhance the international visibility of German universities. As part of this initiative, nine universities of Excellence were selected: the Free University of Berlin, the Ludgwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Rheinisch-Westf䀀lische Technische Hochschule Aachen, the Technical University of Munich, the University of Constance, the Unviersity of Freiburg, the University of G怀ttingen, the University of Heidelberg and the Unversity of Karlsruhe.

German universities (a total of 40 universities) are well represented in the WorldҀs Top-500 universities compared to most other European countries. However, compared to the US (159 universities) and the United Kingdom (42 universities) it performs poorly, especially in the WorldҀs Top-25 universities.

Of the nine universities of Excellence, five are in the World's Top-100 universities (Munich (55), Technical University of Munich (57), Heidelberg (67), G怀ttingen (90) and Freiburg (96)), two are in the World's Top-201-302 universities (Aachen and Karlsruhe) and one is in the World's Top-303-401 universities (Constance).

It is interesting to note that 6 of the 9 universities of Excellence are based in the southern States (L䀀nder) of Baden-W쀀rttemberg (4) and Bavaria (2). It is surprising to note that the University of Bonn ր a university ranked 99th in the WorldҀs Top-500 universities ր is not included in the nine universities of Excellence. Finally, the Free University of Berlin ր which is a university of Excellence ր is not included the WorldҀs (Top-500 Universities).

Massachusetts, New Hampshire Tours Fall 08

Recently I returned from 12 days of visiting schools in New England. What a beautiful time of the year to enjoy the colorful display of leaves.

In Massachusetts I visited Simon's Rock and Williams College. I also visited Miss Hall's and The Buxton School, two wonderful boarding schools. All of these institutions offer some very unique learning environments.

In New Hampshire I saw 12 state and private colleges and universities. I will give a very brief description of each. For more detailed information visit the New Hampshire College andUniversity Council website www.visitnewhampshirecolleges.org.

Chester College offers the unique combination of art plus writing. They do not require the SAT, but they do require an interview and portfolio.

Plymouth State University has a meteorology major. Originally a teachers' college, they still have a strong education program.

University of New Hampshire only accepts the Common Application. They have 100 majors to select from.

Southern New Hampshire University is a private school. Their culinary/hospitality school offers an award-winning restaurant.

Rivier College has a strong nursing program. They also have an early childhood center that usually has a waiting list.

Daniel Webster College is the place to go if you are interested in being a pilot or air traffic controller. They also offer a major in homeland security.

Saint Anselm College requires all graduates to take a foreign language component. They house the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

New England College is a good choice for a B student. Home schooled students also do well at this school.

Colby-Sawyer has a Progressive Scholar Program for underserved populations. No foreign language is required for graduation.

Dartmouth College has its unique Dartmouth Plan, which gives students a great amount of flexibility in completing their academic requirements in conjunction with travel abroad, internships, and other life experiences. Only the high academics need apply. Over 20% of the freshmen class are high school valedictorians.

Franklin Peirce University is a lovely campus set near Mt. Monadnock. There are wonderful opportunities for those interested in physical therapy. They offer strong programs in theater arts, music and the sciences.

Keene State College originally was a teachers' college. Their campus houses the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Their dorms have a number of living/learning communities.

New Hampshire offers a wide variety of higher education institutes of learning.

Time Sensitive--November 12, 2008 Event

Register to participate in the largest online college fair. Be sure to register in time to take advantage of this new, innovative resource.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/CollegeWeekLive/RatingsPanel/prweb1543854.htm

College Essays

This article provides a list of hints regarding what to do and what not to do when creating your college essay.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/225/story/275581.html

The New Paperless Application

More and more colleges prefer paperless applications. There are resources on the internet that will help make this process smoother. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/225/story/233565.html

What to Ask College Representatives

When college representatives visit your high school, take advantage of this opportunity. This article gives suggestions on what types of questions to ask. http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/502431.html

Eight EU countries not represented in the WorldҀs Top-500 Universities

An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni.com reveals that 8 of the 27 countries in the European Union (EU) are not represented in the WorldҀs Top-50 universities. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and inter-active website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures). It publishes regular reports on universities around the world.

The analysis is based on a ranking of the WorldҀs Top-500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (click here). Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, with the 2008 rankings published on 15 August 2008.

The eight EU countries that are not represented in the World's Top-500 universities in 2008 are: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania and Slovakia. In other words, small countries in Western Europe (Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta) and countries in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia). All of the other EU countries are represented in the list, with the top five being: Germany (44 universities), United Kingdom (42), France (23), Italy (22) and the Netherlands (12).

Overall, the Europe region is well represented in the World's Top-500 universities, with roughly 40% (n=210) of universities based in this region compared to 40% (n=190) for the Americas and 20% (n=100) for Asia/Pacific ( click here). However, when one looks at the Top-100 Universities, there is a predominance of US universities (58 universities versus 23 for Europe), and the United Kingdom performs better than other European countries (click here). In the Top-10 Universities, US and private universities are dominant (click here).

One hypothesis is that the larger EU countries will dominate the number of universities in the list of the World's Top-500 Universities. This is clearly the case with Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy providing the most (62%) of the universities from Europe. However, if one adjusts for population size (i.e. one calculates the number of universities in the Top-500 per 1 million inhabitants in the country), the following ranking is obtained: Sweden (1.2 universities in the World's Top-500 Universities per 1 million inhabitants), Finland (1.2), Austria (0.9), Denmark (0.8) and the Netherlands (0.7). This means the EU countries with the most universities per 1 million inhabitants are located in smaller countries in Western Europe, especially countries in Scandinavia.

The AllAboutUni.com website provides a portal where students can find independent information about universities from around the world. рThe website allows students to compare colleges and universities online based on independent information: the Shanghai rankings, student reviews and campus pictures. Combining this with the information provided by university websites, we hope students will be able to find the college or university of their dreamsҀ, says John Paget, Founder of the AllAboutUni.com website. John studied Economics at the London School of Economics and then completed graduate studies in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The AllAboutUni.com website was launched in November 2007.

Babson Online Fast Track MBA

Babson College is located in Wellesly, Massachusetts. It is recognised internationally for its leadership in education. This article is a review of the Babson Online Fast Track MBA.

The Babson MBA is offered through the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. The Babson Online Fastr Track MBA is accredited by AACSB International.

In terms of ranking, the Babson MBA has top rankings. The U.S. News & World Report rank BabsonҀs MBA no. 1 in entrepreneurship for 15 years straight. They were also ranked no. 48 in terms of overall ranking. The Business Week had ranked the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business the top 38 U.S. MBA programs in 2006 and among the top 5 programs for entrepreneurship.

The Wall Street Journal had ranked the Babson MBA as follows: No. 21st in regional program (2007); No. 9 in creative and innovative MBA graduates (2007); No. 2 in Entrepreneurship (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007); and No. 1 in student entrepreneurship skills.

The Financial Times had ranked Babson MBA as the top 49 among U.S MBA Programs in year 2008 and top 3 worldwide among MBA programs in Entrepreneurship. The Babson MBA had received other high rankings from The Princeton Review, America Economia and Latin Trade.

There are currently more than 1,600 graduate students attended Babson that comes from 45 states and 57 countries. About 16 percent of the graduates students are from outside U.S.

The Babson Fast Track MBA emphasise on holistic approach to complexities in business. The curriculum of the online fast track MBA incorporates case studies, web-based discussion and field-based projects. The main theme of the Babson online fast-track MBA program is entrepreneurial leadership in a changing global environment.

The accelerated fast track MBA is reinforced by its technology-based distance learning components. The course ease communication between students and faculty members. This way, professors can quickly and efficiently disseminate course material to the students.

The Babson Fast Track MBA allows working professionals like you to continue your career while pursuing for an MBA in just 24 months. Students need to attend classes at campus for two days, at six weeks interval for classroom interaction. The Babson Fast Track MBA starts with a 5 day residency to introduce students to the program and to each other.

One interesting aspect of the Babson Fast Track MBA is that the course work and activities are designed in modular format to mirror the cycle of business development. The core curriculum of the Babson Fast Track MBA focuses on:
Հ Recognizing and assessing an opportunity
Հ Formulating a business strategy
Հ Implementing the business strategy
Հ Modifying that strategy and systems as conditions evolve and change

All the content of the courses reflects real-world challenges facing managers today and it will also draw on studentsҀ own working life experience.

There are three major components to the Babson Fast Track MBA:
Հ Face-to-face meetings (approximately every six weeks at Babson or Portland, OR)
Հ Action learning projects (short, highly focused assignments)
Հ Distance-learning components

The fast track MBA core curriculum is delivered via online, involving about 18 to 22 hours per week. Face to face meeting takes place every six weeks on Fridays and Saturdays at Babson College and in Portland, Oregon.

The Babson fast track MBA program is divided into specific program. There are the Building Business Insight, the Advance Business Leadership and some electives that trace business development cycle. There are more flexibility when students start the elective portion of the MBA program.

The followings describe the duration and the arrangement of the Babson Fast Track MBA:

Հ Pre-Work
Հ Residency Kickoff at Babson (Five Days)
Հ Building Business Insight (BBI) (Eight Months)
Հ Advanced Business Leadership (ABL) (Eight Months)
Հ Electives (18 Weeks)
Հ Capstone Project (13 Weeks)
Հ Online Tool Kits (Ongoing)

Students who are admitted into the Babson Fast Track MBA program are required to show competency in several areas. These include basic accounting, statistics, IT and microeconomics.

The Pre-Work requirements may be fulfilled based on prior course on work experience. Those that do not meet the requirements may need to undergo self-study using the online tutorial followed by online examinations. The pre-work must be successfully completed before the students begin the actual MBA program.

The Babson Fast Track MBA kicks off with a five day residency. The purposes of the residency is so that students may be introduced to the program and to each other. There will also be an introduction to entrepreneurship, creativity, and business simulation. Students work in teams. They are trained to think creatively, and to look at business issues with a holistic approach. It is during this time that students get to meet faculty members of Babson.

There are eight courses in the Building Business Insigh which takes a duration of eight months. These courses cover foundation material which is designed to provide all students with skills that managers need to survive in the business world. The courses in the Building Business Insight include:

Հ Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Հ Leadership and Human Behavior
Հ Managerial Assessment and Development
Հ Finance and Financial Statement Analysis
Հ Managing and Controlling Operations
Հ Markets and Marketing
Հ Ethics and Law
Հ Strategy

Some students may waive the requirements of several of these courses by taking waiver examinations. Those who could demonstrate their competency will be waived.

With the completion of the BBI of the Babson Fast Track MBA, students follow their MBA courses with the Advanced Business Leadership for another eight months. The ABL is divided into the following cross-disciplinary curriculums:

Հ Opportunity Assessment (marketing, finance, strategy, and decision support/analysis)
Հ Delivery Systems (operations, managerial accounting, information technology, marketing, organizational design, and finance)
Հ Growth and Renewal (national business systems, macroeconomics, and finance

Following the completion of the ABL, the next portion of the Babson Fast Track MBA consists of 18 weeks of electives. Students are required to take four electives. Students may take two electives at a time.

The followings are the curriculum of the electives:
Հ Global Strategic Management
Հ Measuring and Achieving Strategic Results
Հ Strategic Cost Systems
Հ Managing a Growing Business
Հ Knowledge Management
Հ Mergers and Acquisitions for Entrepreneurs
Հ Financial Modeling
Հ Negotiations
Հ Valuation
Հ Pricing

Students have to complete a capstone project in 13 weeks. The goal of the required capstone is to pull together newly developed capabilities and apply them in an integrated managerial fashion. The capstone experience involves a student-driven project based on a real workplace issue. The project may be individual or team-based. Corporate sponsored students may have their project outlined by their employer.

Online Tool Kits (Ongoing): These tool kits are designed as a Web-based learning unit that allows the student to review and master a single concept.

The Babson Fast Track MBA enrol students beginning in March and October on the Wellesley campus while the Portland, Oregon campus only enrol in October.

Babson is committed to take students from various background and shall assist in every way possible to ensure that those who have financial difficulties get the required assistance. The total amount of grant, loans and merit-based scholarship distributed had been over $24 million with $4 million awarded as financial assistance to Babson MBA students.

Rolling & Reading the Bones

Humans have always wanted to know the future. We want to know whether we'll be president or get an A or marry the person of our dreams. Despite the prominence of science, horoscopes still get printed in the newspaper and tarot card readers are still in business. Not so many people plunge their hands into steaming sheep entrails any more but we still read our fortunes from the fortune cookie and scan the papers for clues to a big score or the winner of the next race. We want to minimize our risks and maximize our benefits, so if we know what's going to happen, we can all make the right choices.

College admission testing is one way of trying to know the future. It was initially designed for one purpose and one purpose only: To predict academic success in a student's freshman year in college. It's a way to feel that we're not just relying on hunches or guesses to decide who should get into a college and who shouldn't. Wearing the trappings of science, testing looks like a no-lose proposition for college admission officers. The numbers, the percentages, the graphs and charts, all point to rational and dispassionate conclusions. They tell us how the person will perform over the next year, and they make us feel good. We have seen into the future and believe we know how it will turn out.

Numerous studies, however, including an extensive 20-year longitudinal study at Bates College, have shown that college admission officers can predict a student's performance just as well with or without the use of testing. But it looks too much like tarot card reading when you do it without the numbers, so many institutions are afraid to do without. Putting students through the ritual of testing provides a superstructure for our superstition. It feels concrete, something you can really get your arms around.

It's still a prediction, though, and therefore not a certainty by any means. Unlike predictions in science, where physical laws enable scientists to tell when a planet will be where, testing predictions can't do anything similar because they attempt to rationalize the non-rational: human behavior. It might be more accurate to say that they attempt to set in stone something that flows in unknowable directions. More than any of the other elements in a student's application, testing feels more like divination than fact. At least when you look at a student's overall trajectory you can get a good picture of the possible result. With testing, all bound up in a few hours of highly stylized behavior and perhaps many more hours of self-abnegation for its sake, there's a sense of inevitability that is entirely unearned. Seeing into the future often depends on heightening present reality (think of psychic trances or Ouija board concentration), and testing is a good example of this phenomenon. It looks like we know the future when we get a number or a ghostly emanation or a particular arrangement of cards, but we're really getting only what we see.

The future remains unknowable, especially for unpredictable humans and the unpredictable world. As much as we try to get some control or even act on whatever predicting devices we consult, the future very often eludes us. And we should never be too proud to remember that even when something turns out as we intended, it's only because we were lucky, not because the world bowed to our intent.

Knowing the future has its problems, too. Let's assume for a moment that testing really can predict student success. How will that affect the behaviors not only of the student being tested, but of all those who come into contact with him or her? How often have you noticed how someone's attitude toward a student changes when his or her test scores are revealed? Glimpses into the future can alter our behavior and cause us to distort that very future. Think of Macbeth, told by the three witches that he'd eventually be King of Scotland. He's faced with a truly miserable puzzle (helped not at all by his wife): Should he just go along as he has been and assume that he'll get the throne sooner or later or should he take action to make sure it happens? Or are these the same things? Once you throw the eye of newt into the pot, you're done for because you can't not act, so what is the reality of your situation? Who controls it? Your future will arrive no matter what you do, so you just have to make the best of it.

When we predict the future with test scores, are we acting as though the future were in our power to command it or are we simply allowing it to proceed as it should? To me, scores are more akin to tarot cards than science. Tarot cards have just as complex an interpretive system surrounding them as testing does. And whether we're talking tarot or psychic readings, what the subject brings to the table is most important. The future is just extrapolation from the past coupled with wishes and expectations; isn't a student's past a better thing to base our predictions on?

Deciding on a Major in College - Tips & Tricks

While deciding on a major, the students consider various factors like how well it will prepare him for his future career, earning (money) potential, already a family member into the field, or even because of advice received from a trusted person who may include former teacher or a trusted friend. Other factors that might influence decisions while choosing a major are the current job scenario, media glitz on specific professions, global changes, up-and-coming fields etc.

Universities Information

It is very important to decide properly as major will equip you with the knowledge and skills that can eventually be applied to a wide range of jobs in many different fields. Therefore, taking time to explore different areas of study is quite understandable. Think about everything you will require in any job viz communication skills, critical thinking skills, problem solving abilities, computer skills, and leadership skills. It is also wise to think over your interests, values, and personality while deciding your future subject of study.
However, there are chances that you know where you're going to study, but you have no idea what to pursue once you get there. Here are some tips to help you start exploring different areas of study:

Make Your List
Make a list of high school subjects that interested you most. Highlight the subjects you excelled in academically. Now, look into the majors that are offered within that department at your college. If you find a field that strikes you, go for it. If you don't, try the next subject on your list.

Pick InformationҀs
In case you are not sure of field of study, pick up all information packets available with different departments of your college and read about the courses they offer in different majors. Also read about the individual requirements in bulletin that the school provides. If any of the major interests you, discuss it over with your parents and/or advisor to get feedback on your decision. Do informational interviews or job shadowing with professionals working in the fields that interest or you intend to choose?

Things You Should Ask Yourself
To help yourself deciding on major/career, ask yourself these questions

- What are my interests?
- What are my abilities?
- What motivates me?
- What are my values?
- What are the realities?

It is helpful to remember that deciding on a major is a process and not usually something that happens overnight. You should talk to your parents, teachers, friends, and other people who have gone through the process and take your time. There are wealth of sources available online, therefore, do your research. You may also visit www.allaboutuni.com for further assistance.

Fizzy Aspirations & Constipated Dreams

I've just returned from an informal session with some students participating in a mentoring program sponsored and run by 100 Black Men of Chicago. They work with African American high school boys on topics from academics to health; I was asked to do a college presentation and work individually with some of their seniors. And I have to say how inspired I am after that session.

About ten students were there (including one girl, the sister of one of the boys), with six seniors and the rest from other classes. The seniors by and large had actually done most of their applications and some had even heard back from the colleges they had applied to! I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they'd really done their homework. The biggest issue I ended up illuminating for them was college costs: Most said they'd been told by their teachers that going out of state for college would cost them more than staying in state. I quickly put that myth to rest and did an impromptu college financial aid presentation, which visibly relieved not only the students but also the mentors.

The range of aspiration varied but I could tell that with enough lead time any one of the boys there could probably do well enough in high school to attend a decent college. The most prepared had actually visited Pepperdine, and knew a great deal about the process. But all the seniors except one had at least put in an application. And they seemed not to be very stressed about it.

The other concept I wish I'd had more time to talk about is "fit." The sister who was there said she'd gotten several full ride scholarship offers as well as some partial scholarships. I said that was great but that she should be sure to go to a school that met her needs, not just one that was free. I think she took that to heart because I saw her writing information down and going through the "compare colleges" pages of the College Board site that I'd steered her to.

One reason I'm so inspired by this Saturday morning meeting is that it was good to see kids and their mentors focused on college and trying to make a difference in their lives. I was impressed by the men in the room and felt that they were putting a lot of themselves out there for the good of the next generation. I confess that I don't see middle class and prosperous African American adult males in groups very often, so I was humbled and full of admiration at the same time. I realized how provincial I am despite my best intentions, but I was greeted and thanked warmly, given plenty of time to do my presentation and share in the men's desire to do something right with and for these boys.

Another reason for my excitement is the wonderful contrast between working with this group and working with the families of my former employer. The freshness and eagerness of the African American boys I saw today stood in such contrast to the constipated dreams of the parents I once worked with. These were parents for whom having to go to Tufts instead of Brown was a major tragedy; for whom not getting into a "name" school was simply "unacceptable" and a failure (of mine, not their child's); for whom any little twig of advantage had to be grabbed to give someone already supremely privileged another "edge" into Valhalla.

It's such a relief to be out of that niggardly, grasping, contentious, and status-anxious world. It feels so immensely better to be devoting my time and talents to students and parents who can really use my help and who actually appreciate it, who believe that hard work really does matter, not just who you know or how you construct yourself according to some nasty "How to Get Into College Book." I think that the kids I work with now are more authentic and actually more desirable in many ways, despite academic lacunae, and that with the right support an inspiration early enough they could do just as well as the overbred scions of the crafty elite. Let's not forget that George Bush drank and C'd his way through Yale; I'd put up any of the kids I've met in the last year against him and feel confident they could do better at running a country, never mind four years in college.

I haven't looked back at my former school with anything much more than pity since I left (not voluntarily but willingly). The endless agonizing over iotas of meaning in instructions and points on tests, the ceaseless strategizing that finally erodes any traces of interesting character traits, the fierce determination to "win" at any cost, and the sad Bataan death march that is high school for these students, even one that purports to give them so much (that's another story), left me feeling sorry for them and pity for their parents. But in the end there was no real help for them--they all wanted what they wanted and refused to accept less than that, despite the fact that they received more than they deserved in the first place. I'm glad to be with kids and adults who see the world head on and are willing to take it as it comes, rather than always trying to find a way around it; I'm glad to see the spark in a young African American boy's face when you tell him he can indeed go to college. I live for that now and feel like it's what I should have been doing before.

It takes time to learn these things--but better late than never.

Malaise in the Italian Higher Education Sector? Not a single Italian University in the WorldҀs Top-100 Universities

The analysis is based on a ranking of the WorldҀs top 500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, with the 2008 rankings published on 15 August 2008.

The assessment paid special attention to G8 countries, an international forum which brings together the heads of state of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Russia. The hypothesis was that G8 countries would be well-represented in the WorldҀs Top-100 Universities.

The analysis found that, with the exception of Italy, all of the G8 countries had one or more universities in the WorldҀs top-100 Universities in 2008. The breakdown was as follows: United States (54), United Kingdom (11), Germany (6), Canada (4), France (4), Japan (4), Russia (1) and Italy (0). This data clearly highlights the performance of universities in the US and, to a lesser extent, those in the United Kingdom. It also highlights the poor performance of Italian universities. The first Italian university in the WorldҀs top-500 Universities is the University of Milan (ranked 101-151), the University of Pisa (101-151) and the University of Rome ր Sapienza (101-151).

The poor position of Italian universities is striking and may highlight a malaise in the higher education sector in Italy. It is possible the way the way the rankings are calculated is a disadvantage to Italian universities, as the system favors English-speaking indicators of academic performance (e.g. publications in English-speaking journals). However, other non-English speaking countries in the G8 countries, including France, Japan and Russia, performed better than Italy.

Factors which may explain the poor performance of Italian universities include poor management practices, lower levels of university funding, the high number of students enrolled in Italian universities (e.g. the University of Rome ր La Sapienza has a staggering 147,000 students) and the limited number of private universities (compared to the US).

The AllAboutUni.com website provides a portal where students can find independent information about universities from around the world. рThe website allows students to compare colleges and universities online based on independent information: the Shanghai rankings, student reviews and campus pictures. Combining this with the information provided by university websites, we hope students will be able to find the college or university of their dreamsҀ, says John Paget, Founder of the AllAboutUni.com website. John studied Economics at the London School of Economic and then completed graduate studies in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The AllAboutUni.com website was launched in November 2007.

EuropeҀs Top Universities: British Universities Dominate the Top-25 Universities

An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni.com reveals that British universities dominate EuropeҀs top universities. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and inter-active website where users can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures). It publishes regular reports on universities around the world.

The assessment of EuropeҀs Top Universities is based on a ranking of the WorldҀs top 500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, and the 2008 rankings appeared on 15 August 2008.

The first point to be made is that universities in the United States dominate the worldҀs top universities. In the worldҀs top-25 universities, there are 18 universities based in the United States and only 4 in Europe. In the worldҀs top-10 universities, 8 of the universities are based in the United States.

The top-10 universities (listed in descending order) in Europe (2008) were: University of Cambridge (United Kingdom (UK)), University of Oxford (UK), University College London (UK), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Zurich (Switzerland), Imperial College London (UK), University of Manchester (UK), University of Paris VI (France), University of Copenhagen (Denmark), University of Utrecht (the Netherlands) and University of Paris XI (France). It is interesting to note that four of the top-10 universities in Europe are located in the two largest urban centres ր London and Paris.

Looking at the top-25 Universities in Europe, the United Kingdom is the clear leader with 9 universities. The following countries then follow: France (3), Germany (3), the Netherlands (2), Sweden (2), Switzerland (2), Finland (1), Denmark (1), Norway (1) and Russia (1). The first university based in Italy only appears in position 101-151 (three universities: University of Milan, University of Pisa and University of Rome ր La Sapienza) and the first in Spain in position 152-200 (University of Barcelona), clearly indicating that there is not a good relationship in Europe between population / economical size and the university rankings.

The dominant position of universities based in the United Kingdom is striking. The rankings may be biased by a tendency of the ranking system to favor English-speaking indicators of academic performance (e.g. publications in English-speaking journals). However, other factors probably play a role, these include better management practices (which are often more attuned to best-practices in North America), a more competitive national higher education market in the United Kingdom and a more global outlook.

The AllAboutUni.com website provides a portal where students can find independent information about universities from around the world. рThe website allows students to compare colleges and universities online based on independent information: the Shanghai rankings, student reviews and campus pictures. Combining this with the information provided by university websites, we hope students will be able to find the college or university of their dreamsҀ, says John Paget, Founder of the AllAboutUni.com website. John studied Economics at the London School of Economic and then completed graduate studies in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The AllAboutUni.com website was launched in November 2007.

Asian/Pacific universities poorly represented in the WorldҀs Top-100 Universities

An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni.com reveals that only 8 Asian/Pacific universities are included in the WorldҀs Top-100 universities. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and inter-active website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures). It publishes regular reports on universities around the world.

The analysis is based on a ranking of the WorldҀs top-500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, with the 2008 rankings published on 15 August 2008.

Looking solely at the World's Top-100 universities, there are only 8 universities in the Asian/Pacific region: Tokyo University (ranked 19th), Kyoto University (23rd), Australian National University (59th), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (65th), Osaka University (68th), University of Melbourne (73rd), Tohoku University (79th) and University of Sydney (97th). In comparison, there were 58 universities based in the Americas (mainly in the USA) and 34 in Europe.

Looking at the WorldҀs Top-500 universities, 20% are located in the Asian/Pacific (n=100) area, roughly 40% in Europe (n=210) and 40% in the Americas (n=190). The 100 Asian/Pacific universities are located in the following countries: Japan (31), China (18), Australia (15), South Korea (8), China - Taiwan (7), Israel (6), China - Hong Kong (5), New Zealand (5), Singapore (2) and India (2). A number of factors will affect the Asian/Pacific rankings, including the size of the economy, the level of development, national wealth and population size. However, it seems that India, with a total population of 900 million inhabitants, is poorly represented in the ranking and Australia, with a total population of 20 million inhabitants, is very well represented.

The AllAboutUni.com website provides a portal where students can find independent information about universities from around the world. рThe website allows students to compare colleges and universities online based on independent information: the Shanghai rankings, student reviews and campus pictures. Combining this with the information provided by university websites, we hope students will be able to find the college or university of their dreamsҀ, says John Paget, Founder of the AllAboutUni.com website. John studied Economics at the London School of Economics and then completed graduate studies in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The AllAboutUni.com website was launched in November 2007.

All About Universities..

Life at college is probably the most 'fun' period of anyone's life. Learning, fun, excitement and enjoyment with your classmates is an experience of a lifetime. Revisit and share your college experiences by uploading photographs and submitting reviews.

Name of college: www.allaboutuni.com/

Five reasons to share photos and review your college/university:

1. Helps future students around the world

2. It only takes five minutes!

3. It's fun and it's free!

4. Your independent feedback matters

5. It can be very therapeutic!

Drexel Online MBA

The online MBA course at Drexel University is offered by LeBow College of Business. It is highly regarded by Financial Times, U.S News & World Report, Business Week and Entrepreneur. This article is a review of the online MBA course at Drexel University.

The online MBA program name for this online course at Drexel University is called MBA Anywhere ـ. The online MBA course may be completed within 24 months in cohort format. This means that you proceed through the entire course with the same group of students that help you to network and build a strong learning community.

The Drexel Online MBA is accredited by AACSB International, a well-reputed accreditation agency. To be accredited by AACSB is the highest hallmark of education quality for a business course.

Through its online distance learning program, Drexel aims to equip students with leadership and ethics, management of technology and perspectives of industry. Students may also specialize further in their MBA studies in Marketing, Finance, Information System, Engineering Management or Entrepreneurship.

The Marketing MBA online emphasizes on marketing skills in the context of planning, strategy, research and management. The Finance MBA online specialization examines various financial theories, risk management, capital budgeting, credit management and related areas.

The Information System Strategy MBA online aims to bridge the gap between management uses of information systems with its technical aspects. The Engineering Management MBA online teaches students how to employment proper management tools in the management of technical resources. The Entrepreneurship MBA online build skills required in entrepreneurship, such as identifying and evaluating opportunities, funding, starting and growing a new venture.

In an online MBA program, you are able to immediately apply what youҀve learnt into your job environment. The Drexel online MBA helps you to master the foundation of business, analyse and think strategically.

Many graduates from the Drexel Online MBA program have seen immediate career advantages. Drexel University, in particular the LeBow College of Business, is one of the leading academic and research institutions in U.S. Drexel University also has very impressing reputations in its corporate partnerships, technological strengths and flexibility in meeting the demand of the business world.

Drexel UniversityҀs LeBow College of Business has internationally renowned faculty members and are among the worldҀs most highly read and respected business educators. The latest business and technological advances are incorporated into the courses within the online MBA degree programs. All the professors are expert in their fields and have wide industrial knowledge.

All the curriculum of the online MBA at Drexel University are designed to shape students to think strategically, develop leadership skills and make sound decisions. Classes usually consist of 20 to 25 students. Students have to attend three on-campus seminars throughout the whole online MBA course duration. The on-campus seminars are made up of four-day intensive courses and provide opportunities to students to network in the learning process.

Students of the Drexel Online MBA have to complete 17 courses in order to graduate. The followings are the study plan:

Term 1
DeanҀs Challenge I: Business Simulation ր Individual Problem Solving and Group Skills
Measuring and Maximizing Financial Performance
Leading Effective Organizations

Term 2
Leadership and Professional Development
Essentials of Economics

Term 3
Marketing Strategy and Planning
Business Statistics

Term 4
MIS Policy and Strategy
Managerial Accounting

Term 5
Managing Technological Innovation
Corporate Financial Management

Term 6
Managerial Economics
Finance, Engineering Management, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Information Systems Strategy

Term 7
Operations Management
Finance, Engineering Management, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Information Systems Strategy

Term 8
International Residency
Strategic Management
Final Assessment / Capstone

Admission Criteria

Students who wish to be admitted into the Drexel Online MBA program have to possess a bachelorҀs degree from accredited college or university, with a GPA of at least 3.0/4.0. International students who hold Bachelor degree not from the U.S. must demonstrate that their degree is equivalent to U.S.Ҁs degree.
Students also has to submit transcript of results, a resume and complete an essay of approximately 500 words.

Tuition Fees

The tuition rate for the Drexel Online MBA Anywhere program is $54,000.

To sum up, Drexel Online MBA conduct their courses in cohort format. Students usually complete their MBA course within 24 months and the courses are delivered fully online except for three compulsory residencies throughout the whole course duration.

As Drexel Online MBA is an AACSB accredited MBA program, it can be considered one of the best online MBA programs around and definitely worth checking out.