शनिवार, 18 अगस्त 2012
मंगलवार, 7 अगस्त 2012
How to succeed in a U.S. university classroom and environment.
Every year thousands of students from India go to the United States for higher education. As is often the case in such a large group, the success rate of these students varies. In the 10 years that I have been in the United States, I have had the privilege to serve in teaching-related positions in four institutions—Pennsylvania State University; University of Missouri; University of Nebraska at Omaha; and Binghamton University, State University of New York. I have interacted with thousands of students, and observed hundreds of international students navigate their way through the U.S. academic system.
Study Skills
Students who have had success in the past may believe that it will come just as easily in another country. However, different teaching methods, a different language, different academic background, and a different campus culture can affect your ability to be successful.
Most colleges and universities offer free short-term classes to help you be a successful student. Topics may include utilizing your school’s library resources to write a research paper, navigating the Internet, developing good study skills, and practicing effective time management. If English is not your first language, you might help your grades by visiting the university writing center, by taking an ESL course, or by joining an informal English conversation group. There are also excellent study-skills Web sites on the Internet.
My experiences—first as a student and a teaching assistant, and later as lecturer and professor—and interactions with a variety of students have led me to realize that success in the U.S. academic environment requires a systematic approach that starts even before the first day of class.
Follow the 5 + 2 P framework to increase your chances of success.
Plan: The first element refers to developing a coherent and consistent line of action with regard to the field of study. This phase starts early with thinking about how the academic major to be pursued in the United States fits into your academic and professional goals. It continues with thinking about how each course during the program will play a role in your academic life. Foreign students in the United States are allowed to enter the country for a limited time. For this reason, students from other countries, including India, do not have as much room as American students to experiment with the various options that exist in U.S. universities. In such a scenario, students who have thought deeply about their preferred academic field and understand how it will lead them to their goals have a significant edge over other students.
Prepare: Syllabi for almost all courses in U.S. universities are available on the first day of the semester. In some cases, students can also request professors for the syllabus before the start of the semester. The syllabus provides information about what topics will be covered, required and optional books, and the assignments and tests students are expected to complete, often with due dates. This information is very useful in helping students prepare for the course in advance.
Participate: This is an important aspect of the U.S. academic environment. Although the rate and nature of participation varies across majors and colleges, almost all courses require students to show some level of class participation. In addition, most professors expect students to make meaningful contributions that further class discussion.
For participation to be constructive, students can share insights from their work experience or knowledge gained from extracurricular reading related to the course. As Indian students going abroad for higher education generally lack actual experience in the workplace, the reading approach—gaining relevant knowledge through extensive reading—is arguably more viable for them.
Proact: Indian students tend to be reactive, waiting for things to happen when it comes to academic issues. This is the opposite of a proactive approach, which requires students to step out of their comfort zone and take charge of the situation. A very critical aspect of being proactive is networking with peers, professors, alumni and others on campus. Networking can be virtual, through LinkedIn and Facebook, or face-to-face in campus socials and professional events. More opportunities for assistantships, internships and jobs are available to people who are good at networking.
Project: These days, early to bed and early to rise is no longer enough. It’s also important to work hard and advertise. I refer to the willingness to advertise about one’s achievements as project. Just as it is useful to stand out by pursuing unique activities, it is also important to ensure that credit for those activities accrue where it is due.
Students should make it a point to tactfully share information about out-of-class activities with their academic advisers and professors, projecting themselves in a positive light. They should also frequently update their résumés and use them as tools for self-assessment as well as to project their name in a positive manner.
Two other Ps are important for success in an international environment. The first of these isproud. This involves taking pride in one’s country and culture. I have come across several Indian students who criticize their country and culture in international settings, oblivious to the fact that such criticism undermines their own image. Some Indian students leave their country with little intellectual understanding of the events that shaped their country and provide the underpinnings of their culture. I strongly encourage students to invest time and effort in learning about their country and culture, and take pride in its unique heritage.
The second element for success internationally is perspective. We live in times of unprecedented globalization. To compete effectively in such an environment, Indians should develop a global perspective. This involves learning a foreign language, becoming aware of historical and social issues in other countries, and reading about developments around the world. Today, a person in Mumbai or New Delhi is not just competing with those around him, but with his peers in Shanghai, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and New York. Developing a global perspective helps one become a potential manager and leader for companies and organizations competing internationally.
The 5 + 2 P framework presented here is neither comprehensive nor a conclusive guide. They simply reflect my understanding of some of the essential areas that young adults need to focus on as they embark on a new course in life.
In addition, they are tools to enable students to think about what they can do to thrive in an unfamiliar system in which missteps can be costly in terms of time and money, while the right steps can take their career on an upward trajectory.
By VISHAL GUPTA
(from New Delhi is an assistant professor of strategy at the School of Management at Binghamton University, State University of New York.)
tips from admissions officials on how to rise above the crowd.
College acceptance in the United States continues to be extremely competitive.
Here are some tips from admissions officials on how to rise above the crowd.
Over the past few years, American universities and prospective Indian students have developed a growing interest in one another. Top-ranked institutions like University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have seen Indian undergraduate applications more than double since 2009, and acceptance rates for India nearly triple. The numbers are expected to continue going up, as more of America’s most competitive colleges and universities send recruiters to India with increasing frequency.
More Indians applying. More and more accepted. What’s this mutual affection all about?
“Global diversity,” explains Susan Wilbur, director of undergraduate admissions at UCLA. “For a long time, the University of California schools have focused on recruiting students from California, as our first mission is to serve the people of our state. But we live in an increasingly global community, so we want to provide more and more opportunities for students to interact with people with different perspectives.”
India, in particular, offers a growing number of highly qualified applicants with solid English skills and an interest in studying at American institutions. “India, frankly, has become more of a hot spot for us,” says Rebecca Munsterer, senior associate director of admissions at Dartmouth College. “We increased our visits to India last year, because we recognized both an interest in Dartmouth there, and a lot of talent.”
As the number of applicants increases, putting together an application that rises above the crowded field becomes a bigger challenge. Admissions officers from four top-ranked colleges and universities spoke with SPAN to share advice on how Indian students can develop applications that stand out.
Begin with a good fit
Schools are looking for international students who will succeed even though they are far from home and in unfamiliar surroundings. Therefore, successful applications begin with students who have done their research and know if the school will be a good match for them. How long is the winter? What kind of community surrounds the school—urban, suburban or a quaint college town? Is the university residential or do most students live in apartments off campus? Which academic areas are the strongest and do they align with the applicant’s interests?
Looking For a Harvard Education? Head to Mumbai
For more than a century, Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts has trained students who have reshaped the way business is conducted around the world. In March 2012, the school established a classroom at Taj Lands End Hotel in Mumbai. With a seating capacity of up to 82 students, the amphitheater-style classroom will offer state-of-the-art multimedia facilities and replicate the MBA classrooms in Boston.
The new classroom will house the executive education programs Harvard Business School already runs in India and replace the various temporary spaces the school has used previously.
“India is a key component of Harvard Business School’s global strategy,” says Dean Nitin Nohria. “Our aspiration is to expand our intellectual footprint by working with business, government and academic leaders from across the country, all the while contributing to important discussions about India’s long-term economic growth.”
The school opened its India Research Center in Mumbai in 2005 and has run executive education programs in India for nearly six years. Using the new classroom, Harvard Business School faculty will offer programs and symposia to leaders in business, government and academia on a wide range of subjects such as corporate social responsibility, building a global enterprise, case writing and course development. According to the school’s Web site, “Indian business schools extensively use Harvard Business School cases in the classroom and over the past four years some 100 Indian faculty have participated in the school’s Global Colloquium for Participant Centered Learning, where they learn from HBS faculty how to teach using the case method.”
A classroom at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
At Stanford University, where most students live in dorms all four years, admissions officers look for candidates who would make good roommates. Similarly, at Dartmouth, an Ivy League school set in a remote area in the middle of New Hampshire, applicants need to be able to live in dorms with a diverse group of students. “This can be a real challenge for some high school students who grew up surrounded by people who look, talk, eat and think like them,” says Munsterer.
Applicants can learn more about the schools before applying by meeting recruiters or alumni in India, and asking about the culture, the weather, the support systems in place for international students, academics, lifestyle and extracurricular opportunities. Information on these are also available on university Web sites.
Demonstrate strength in academics and beyond
Competitive American universities expect applicants to have proven academic success—excellent grades in rigorous coursework, high marks on external exams, and strong ACT/SAT and TOEFL results. But beyond these in-class results, admissions reviewers look for evidence of skills outside the classroom that reflect a student’s personal interest and sense of responsibility: leadership, awards and service to the community.
“Our admissions decisions are not based solely on any single criterion but on the whole record,” explains University of Michigan’s international admissions and recruitment coordinator, Cindy Gould. “We use an individualized, comprehensive, holistic, multiple-review process in evaluating each student’s application. And we know that there is great variation among our applicants’ personal circumstances, home communities and high schools—even the curriculum available and the grading practices can vary widely.”
At UCLA, Wilbur suggests that students include additional comments on their applications to explain anything unusual about their educational system. “This can be helpful to admissions reviewers in the U.S.,” she notes, “as each student comes to us with a unique educational history.”
Seek out meaningful recommendations
In the United States, high school students typically participate in extracurricular activities such as athletics, arts, clubs and community service through their schools. Therefore in most cases, teachers see and get to know their students beyond a strictly academic setting.
OWU Students Learn About Gandhi
A group of students and teachers from Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware visited Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) in New Delhi in March for a week-long academic and cultural exchange program to learn about the life and works of Mohandas K. Gandhi. They explored Gandhi from many perspectives, including peace and conflict resolution, and had discussions with LSR students and teachers. They also visited the Gandhi Smriti (earlier known as Birla House), where Gandhi stayed during his Delhi visits and places of worship of various faiths frequented by Gandhi.
Photograph courtesy Ohio Wesleyan University.
Screenshot of the Lady Shri Ram College for Women Web site.
“We began our course…with a prayer service on the lawn of LSR…. We were all deeply moved, many to tears, by the beauty of the music, the serenity of the prayers, and the unity of the human spirit reflected in the service,” Rock Jones, president of Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) wrote in his blog. OWU students also participated in community service at a center for intellectually disabled youth and adults run by Muskaan, a nongovernmental organization.
The visitors and the LSR students discussed the possibility of sharing their talents and resources, including student and faculty exchanges, joint faculty development and short-term courses for students of both colleges.
Two years ago, Ohio Wesleyan University was selected by the Institute for International Education as one of 10 colleges and universities in the United States to participate in an International Academic Partnership Program in India. The program is designed to foster partnerships among institutions of higher education in India and the United States.
However, Munsterer notes, producing a robust teacher recommendation can be a challenge for the international student. “Student relationships with teachers and guidance counselors are different from the United States. International teacher recommendations might simply state that the student is smart and receives an A in class. So it becomes important for these students to show their intellectual curiosity themselves. In the essays, share what you did with math, not just how hard you worked to get the grade, for example.”
Dartmouth is one of the few institutions that also require a peer recommendation. “The prompts are purposely vague,” says Munsterer. “We’re looking for anecdotes about their experiences to help us add a layer about who they are and what they have to offer at Dartmouth.”
Share your personal voice
Although not all American universities require essays for admission, most of the top-ranked schools do. The essay provides an opportunity for the applicant to reveal her or his personal passion, unique experiences, struggles, humor, aspirations. Schools hope the essay will help them discover a student’s personal qualities, those less tangible elements of a student’s application that indicate what the person might gain from and contribute to the campus community if admitted.
In the American education system, students are often encouraged to express their personality in their writing. For students raised in an educational culture that emphasizes studying and scores, this expectation can be a challenge. Applicants should begin their essay-writing process by reflecting on both their achievements and setbacks in academics and extracurricular activities, recommends Gould at Michigan. “Students should complete their own applications,” she adds. “We like the student’s voice to come through and the essays create an opportunity for this.”
Stanford University’s admission officer Theresa Bruketta explains that due to sheer numbers they must turn away many qualified applicants. So the essay offers a real opportunity for a strong and passionate student to make an impression. “To stand out, an applicant must be both competitive but also compelling. This is not something that is easily defined because it is what makes that applicant unique. There is no formula for getting into Stanford. My best advice is for students to do what they love and to do it well. This will not only help them find their true passion and their true voice, it will also be the thing that stands out in our process.”
Student visa advice from a U.S. visa officer.
A View From Behind the Glass
By MONICA L. SHIE
July/August 2012
July/August 2012
Student visa advice from a U.S. visa officer.
Over the last decade, nearly one million Indian students were granted visas to study in the United States. Every one of them appeared before an American visa officer for an interview. If you’ve ever applied for a U.S. visa, you too have come face-to-face with one of us. Have you ever wondered who are the visa officers who will approve or deny your visa?
When I was a child, I did not dream of becoming a visa officer. Even as a young adult, first majoring in literature and then taking up teaching, it didn’t occur to me that I would one day sit on a high stool behind a glass window at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and adjudicate visas. But for the past several months, I have been doing just that—almost 100 interviews a day.
I mention this by way of reminding you that visa officers are people, too. We come from a variety of backgrounds. We once were lawyers, teachers, IT professionals, even fire fighters. But at some point in our lives, we took the Foreign Service written test, passed the day-long oral exam, and, after extensive training, became diplomats. Most of us are on our first or second tours.
We joined the Foreign Service because we are interested in other cultures. Most of us are here because we chose to come to India. We visit the Taj Mahal; we read Chetan Bhagat’s novels; we watch “Delhi Belly;” we love butter chicken. We want to be here, and we enjoy talking with you.
A lot of us studied Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu or Bengali for several months before we came to India so that we can conduct interviews with applicants who do not speak English. We might not be fluent or flawless, but we can ask a few basic questions: What is the purpose of your travel? Who do you know in America? How long do you plan to stay? Usually, we can understand the answers; when we don’t, we ask our Indian colleagues to translate.
Every day in New Delhi, eight or nine officers interview hundreds of people seeking visas to the United States. Because we try to serve as many applicants as we can, the interviews are quite short—only two to three minutes. A lot of the information that we need is already there in your application, but we like to hear from you, personally, about your travel plans. Sometimes, visa applicants bring stacks of documents, and they seem disappointed when we don’t look at them. But the idea of a personal interview is to speak with you face-to-face—not to examine documents.
Many visa applicants pay consultants to prepare their applications. Although some consultants might provide helpful information, many do not. Remember that you alone are responsible for the accuracy of the information in your application. False information or fake document packages could result in permanent ineligibility.
If you are a student, you should be prepared to talk about why you chose the university that you plan to attend, and you should be able to explain how you will pay for your studies. It should be easy for us to believe that you will finish the degree at the institution you have selected, and we must be convinced that full-time study is the primary purpose of your travel.
It is best to apply early, but not before you have heard from your first-choice school. (Your visa will be annotated with the name of the school listed on your I-20 form at the time of your interview.) You can apply for a visa up to 120 days before your program is scheduled to begin. However, you may not enter the United States more than 30 days before the report date for your course. If you are applying for graduate work, be sure to apply as early as you can, as administrative processing is sometimes required that might delay the issuance of your visa.
Nearly 104,000 Indians are currently studying in the United States. Like you, they were nervous when they faced the American visa officer behind the glass. The situation, admittedly, does not put one at ease. However, if you know yourself to be a credible, qualified student, then you should have nothing to worry about. Take a deep breath, relax, and remember that the person behind the glass is there to help you. We are regular people, too—just like you.
(Monica L. Shie is a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi)
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