December Newsbites

Announcements:

SAT & TOFEL Prep class registration deadline Jan 9, 2017 ASG Board Games Club - More info to follow

ASG Celebrates Christmas with Dinner & Dancing

December 3rd, 2016 | Featured

Preview the event gallery

Students, staff and friends of the American Scholar Group (ASG) came together for a night of dining and dancing at the annual ASG Christmas formal on Saturday, December 3^rd 2016!

For dinner, all guests were treated to a delicious spread of roasted meats (chicken marsala, Roast Beef. Roasted Pork Loin), Pasta, mashed redskin potatoes and an assortment of vegetables. There was also a dessert bar, with homemade Christmas cookies, Choco caramels delights, Brownie Bon Bons and an assortment of cupcakes beautifully arranged in a shape of a Christmas tree.

After dinner, various staff and student clubs kicked off the festivities by singing Feliz Navidad together. Then everyone took to the dance floor to show off their best moves.

The ASG Vision Club set up a wonderful photo booth cut out with a hand-painted outline of Santa Claus that was a huge hit with everyone.

Check out the event gallery to see more photos.

Vision Club

The vision club put together a small photo booth complete with a Santa Claus cut out for group and individual pictures. It was a wonderful night and all in attendance came dressed to impress. Check out our photo gallery!

ASG Students hit the slopes at Mount Pleasant

December 17th, 2016 | Student Activities

On December 17^th, a group of ASG students traveled to Northwest Pennsylvania’s premier ski resort, Mount Pleasant of Edinboro. Located just east of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, this picturesque destination overlooking a scenic valley, offers skiers a variety of challenging conditions and terrain. For many of our students this excursion provided their first introduction to this form of winter time recreation, while the more experienced skiers among our students enjoyed the opportunity to show off their skills while “tearing up the slopes.” Check out our favorite pictures!

ASG Students Visit Elmhurst College in Chicago, IL

December 8th, 2016 | Student Activities

A university campus visit is a great way to learn about the university admission process, meet faculty and other students, enjoy the beauty of the campus, and learn how the school can help students reach their full potential. Acquiring this first-hand knowledge through a campus visit is an essential part of the university selection process.

On Friday December 8th 2016, a group of American Scholar students traveled to Elmhurst College, located 30 minutes from the city of Chicago, for a weekend visit. Elmhurst College is ranked as one of the top Midwest schools in U.S. News and World Report, and is known for the seamless way it blends liberal learning and professional preparation. Elmhurst students are exposed to a broad view of culture, philosophy and history to prepare them for life in a global society.

Our students spent two nights in the campus’ residence halls, and were able to participate in a number of chemistry demonstrations under the direction of Dr. Colleen Munroe-Leighton. These demonstrations included the creation of an expandable polymer, using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream, and setting various chemical compounds ablaze to create a multi-colored light show. These demonstrations ably show how the practical and the entertaining can be combined in the study of chemistry. Following this, the students then gained first-hand experience with university athletics by attending a Basketball game on campus.

On Saturday December 9^th, the students took a short train ride to downtown Chicago for lunch and a visit to noted Chicago tourist destination Millennium Park. Following this, the students were also given the opportunity to shop at Christkindlmarket, Chicago’s largest open-air Christmas festival.

Before returning home, the students were treated to hot coco and snacks at the home of Elmhurst President Dr. Troy VanAken.

Participatory experiences such as this are an important way for students to explore life on a university campus helping them to determine what to look for as they make their own university selection. ASG would like to send a special thanks to Elmhurst College and facility for offering this special opportunity to our American Scholars:

Mr. & Mrs. Dr. Troy Van Aken, President of Elmhurst College

Christine Grenier, Associate Director of Admissions

Stephanie Levenson, Executive Director of Admission

Franklin Gaglione, Admission Counselor

Morgan Gonera, Current Elmhurst Student

A Special Holiday Message from ASG

ASG University Admissions Blog

The ASG University Admissions Blog is a monthly column about topics relevant to international student university admissions, application prep, and the U.S. university search process. For more information about upcoming entries or to inquire about submitting entries, please contact Advising@American-Scholar.org

Finding YOUR Perfect College: Tips for Making Your University Search More Meaningful

shutterstock_131270519-1 Highlights:

1.) Not all information about a college is relevant to you.

2.) The social facilities of a college are just as important as the academic ones.

3.) The best person to determine what is and isn’t important is you.

At the American Scholar Group (ASG), we recognize that the university admissions process can be intimidating, especially for international students who may not where to start or how to do s because they lack the background knowledge and experience that U.S. students and families possess. The U.S. university admissions search process can be tedious and very time-consuming. It’s important to acknowledge and accept this from the beginning. All colleges and universities present an enormous amount of information to prospective students, and it can be difficult to decide what information is important and what is not. This article aims to give each student a set of guidelines for making his/her university search more personally meaningful!

Don’t Simply Rely On:

Rankings

University Rankings from sites like USNEWS give us a good indication about an institution’s strengths and reputation. However, relying on rankings alone to make a decision is often short-sighted because they fail to provide you a full picture of the college’s offerings. Referring to rankings may be a good place to start your search, but completing it requires more independent research.

Commonly Used Statistics

Colleges will throw many different statistics at prospective students to make the college seem more impressive, but many of these statistics have little to no relevance on the student’s academic experience. Every college will boast a low student-to-faculty ratio or a low average class size. The actual numbers will vary from institution to institution, and course to course. Your freshman introductory to biology class may very have 300 students but a higher-level class in advanced calculus could only have 7 students.

What to Look for Academically:

Majors/Minors/Program Offerings

It is perfectly alright not to know what major you want when you start college, but it is important to be aware of the programs and options the college offers you! Every college will have an English department and Mathematics department. Every college has a Business, Psychology, Biology, Chemistry, Political Science, History, and Modern Languages department. Unless a college has high renown in one of these fields, choosing a college simply because it offers one of these programs is not enough. Instead, if you are interested in studying these subjects, be sure to do your homework. What programs and resources does the college offer? Do you have opportunities to do research? Internships? Are there specific specializations within majors that cater to your interests?

Graduation Requirements

Arguably the most important academic factor, the graduation requirements of an institution will determine what you have to do during your four years at college. From mandatory study abroad programs to compulsory chapel hours, required internships to senior projects, it is important to make sure you know what your expectations are before applying and potentially committing yourself to an institution. Graduation requirements vary from college to college, the requirements vary within the disciplines themselves of those colleges. Getting into a top institution may be very important, but your academic experiences over the next 4 years is arguably more important to you in the long run.

Gen Eds

Short for General Education courses. Large universities will require their students to take classes from multiple different disciplines to promote a holistic education. This can be useful for students who are unsure what they want to study when they start their undergraduate career, but it can also mean that students must take classes that they have no interest in. Liberal arts schools typically give their students more freedom in choosing classes, but the onus falls on the student to figure out what they specifically want to study. Gen Eds can limit your ability to double major or minor, but conversely, they can also give you the opportunity to explore topics of interests you may not otherwise take anyway. Note: Liberal Arts colleges often give students more flexibility for choosing required classes while large institutions may have more stringent uniform requirements.

Session Composition

Like high schools, colleges have their own schedules for when they have classes and when they don’t, but not every schedule is exactly the same. Most schools operate on a fall and spring semester, but others may have trimesters or quarters, as well as intersessions between major semesters. The composition will determine how many weeks out of the year you will be studying, i.e. how many weeks you will not be working, interning, or vacationing. Although very simple, a college’s session composition can influence your time management needs and planning greatly.

What to Look for Socially:

Size and Population of Student Body.

Are you interested in attending a large university with over 20,000 people or would you rather go to an institution with 2000 people? The size of an institution’s student body can influence your experience in many ways including, how many classmates you have, your access to professors and opportunities, among other things. You may be considering graduate study one day. If so, it’s important to develop strong relationships with your undergraduate professors who may one day write your recommendation letters. This is easier to do at a smaller institution than at a larger institution where professors have limited time for a greater number of students, for example.

Sports and Special Interest Clubs.

Does this institution offer you extra-curricular options that help advance a current interest you already have or explore any interests you have but otherwise do not have the opportunity to cater to? Your social experience is tantamount to your academic performance, and personal extracurricular activities can be the difference between a meaningful college experience and a miserable one. Extra-curricular options matter.

Academic Social Opportunities.

At the collegiate level, the line between hobby and career begins to blur, and there is often room to use the former to bolster the latter. Theatrical performances, symphony concerts, and research fellowships can make you marketable beyond your degree. It is important to keep in mind that where there are more opportunities, there is also more competition.

Campus Location.

This is rather self-explanatory. Invariably, there will be a time on campus when you are bored, and the distance to the nearest big city will become very important. Colleges in the north will have snow. Is weather and proximity to city-life important to you? These are factors that can influence your experience and therefore need to be considered.

Room and Board Opportunities and Food Services Options.

Room refers to where you will be living and board to what you will be eating. How many food options does this campus have? Do you have access to options outside of your campus? Are you expected to live on campus? If so, for how many years? An old, cold dorm room and bland, few food services options can affect your social experience, even if you are in the best academic program. Therefore, it’s important to learn ahead of time what these options are. A word of caution: college tours will only show you the nicest dorms, and the nicest dorms are typically taken by the upperclassmen.

In Conclusion:

The guidelines and should not be used as the definitive criteria for choosing a college. The purpose of these guidelines is to get you thinking about what is important to look for in a college, namely what is important to you on a personal level. Ultimately, the college you go to affects your life the most, and so you want to make the best decision you can.

ASG Advisors have created the following graphic below to help you with your university search process. In all cases, it’s important to first determine you career goals and the academic and social interests you wish to pursue in university. These can be very specific or varied. Then, in your search, be sure to research what options and opportunities a particular university offers and understand how they complement your interests.

Action Steps:

Already familiar with the guidelines above? Or perhaps you have already taken the necessary steps above and need further guidance. Below are some action steps for how you can continue your search:

1.) Get in Touch with Admissions Representatives

Contacting the admissions department is easy and allows you to make yourself known to the representatives that will likely review your application. You can also use the opportunity to ask questions and set up appointments or meetings.

2.) Request more Information

Most university websites give you the option to request more information about the university or even specific departments within the university. Provide your mailing address and wait to receive relevant mailings from the institution

3.) Schedule a Campus Tour or an Overnight Visit

Visiting a campus gives you the best idea for learning about the institution’s academic and social environment. Staying overnight takes this one step further and gives you the opportunity to meet current students whom you can ask questions about their day-to-day experiences

Do you have questions, or something to share? We would love to hear from you! Contact us at Advising@American-Scholar.org

4 Useful Websites for Your University Search

With over 4,000 institutions of higher learning in the United States offering a wide variety of degree programs and campus experiences, selecting a university that meets your individual needs and desires can be a challenging and time consuming process. Luckily there are many useful online resources that can help you narrow your search. We listed some of our favorite resources below to help you begin!

College Board – You may be familiar with College Board from preparing for your SATs, however College Board also contains a tremendous amount of useful information for the prospective college student. In addition to providing relevant information regarding particular institutions, including programs offered and admissions statistics, College Board also provides detailed information on majors and professional fields. This section of the website allows you to explore careers available with a given major, as well as the types of course work you will need to complete. For most students, College Board allows them to gather the greatest amount of relevant information in the shortest time.

US News & World Report – The US News & World Report website comprises the starting point for many prospective student’s university search. This website provides the most authoritative rankings of over 1,800 colleges and universities in nearly 50 different categories, as well as offering basic statistical information about these institutions. Additionally, the website offers advice columns, including one tailored to international students, on successfully navigating the university admission process and on succeeding while at university.

College Scorecard – This resource, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, allows prospective students to search for appropriate institutions by using several parameters including degree programs offered, location, and size. This information is important because these factors will have a much larger influence on your college experience than will an institution’s rank. Of special significance, College Scorecard allows users to make a side-by-side comparison of multiple universities’ tuition, graduation rates, and the average annual salary of alumni, streamlining the comparative process.

The Princeton Review – Offering yet another ranking service, as well as resources for the university selection and admission processes, The Princeton Review is a great resource for those wishing to gather as many perspectives as possible on their prospective universities. The Princeton Review’s ranking methodology is significantly enhanced through the inclusion of actual students own opinions of their universities, rather than simply relying on statistical data. Additionally, The Princeton Review employs a staff of former admissions counselors to help students navigate the often confusing world of university admissions.

It is important to remember that no single website or other resource can provide all the answers that you will need to make an appropriate university selection and therefore it is necessary to gather information from as wide a variety of sources as possible. While ranking systems such as that used by US News can be useful, so many factors go into a student’s college experience that it is impossible to accurately quantify universities in this way, necessitating the use of other resources. University webpages are especially important for providing a wealth of information about specific university programs, resources, and opportunities that are meaningful to your academic, social and career goals. No resource can be more helpful for learning about the university you wish to apply to than the university itself!

Do you have questions? We’d love to hear from you! Contact us at Advising@american-scholar.org