A new study ranks countries in terms of how accessible and how affordable higher education is.  Finland came out on top in both categories.  The U.S. came in 12th in affordability and 4th in accessibility (via The Chronicle of Higher Education).

“Hi. My name is Senzeni.”

I stretched my hand expectantly towards the tall bespectacled Brazilian freshman on my right. Instead of taking it and shaking it profusely as I expected, he gasped and  stared at me incredulously.

“You ARE Senzeni?” he asked, his question punctuated with a thousand exclamation marks. “Are you the Senzeni from Zimbabwe?”

I nodded and licked my lips nervously. As far as I knew, I was not  related to anyone in the Brazilian mafia. Neither had I submitted any works to be reviewed by the Pulitzer Prize Panel nor had I appeared on Rede Globo, the famous Brazilian TV Channel. At the  time, I was just a simple Zimbabwean freshman, who in true freshman spirit, was trying to maximize Freshman Orientation week by meeting as many people as possible. Other than accidentally setting off a couple of alarms, I had not done anything that would make anyone’s face light up with recognition at the mention of my name.

“I am Paulo! USAP Brazil!” He announced.

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China Geeks translates an article from Southern Weekend about the “substitute test takers” industry in China.  Apparently, there is a sizable market for students who want to pay someone to take their TOEFL, IELTS or other standardized exams for them.

Is anyone from China aware of this and able to tell us about their experiences?  Does this exist in other countries as well?

CNN reports on how African students in the U.S. view their return home after graduation.  According to the article, Africans who study abroad have a difficult time returning home after their studies because they see fewer job opportunities on the continent.

I have been in America for three years now. This time has meant a lot to me. I have learnt many things, I have grown and changed in many ways.

But there is one change which I refuse to make. It isn’t quite philosophical, nor technical, conditional, or circumstantial, although it is a little bit of all of the above. It is orthographical.

I am Armenian, but I grew up in New Delhi, India. I have spoken the English language pretty much my entire life, and I have written in the English language during most of that time too. In India, we use the British way of spelling things, and of expressing ourselves in general.

So, as I said before, I have “learnt” much in America, not “learned”, although I could say that I might someday consider myself “learned” (pronounced “learn-ud”).

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The funny thing about this blog is that even though we all work together and talk somewhat frequently, with everyone spread all over the U.S. we actually haven’t gotten a chance to meet each other.  Happily, we changed that in a small way on Tuesday when Chris, Roua and Alex came by VOA for a visit.  Here they are in a studio together, right before being ambushed into appearing on my friend Jackson’s radio show, Up Front Africa.

When you’re looking into applying to the U.S., should you apply for specific sponsor programs like the Fulbright Program, or is it better to go it alone and find other sources of financial aid?  If you do want to apply to one of these programs, what will it take to get accepted?

Our bloggers have had a variety of experiences.  Nareg did not go through an exchange program and talks about how he found other sources of financial aid.  Nick looked into a specific study abroad program but ultimately decided not to pursue it.  And Sebastian was only able to afford his U.S. studies through an IIE scholarship.

Over the next few weeks, also look out for posts by Senzeni about the USAP program, which she is part of, and Rudro about why he wishes he had done more research on financial aid programs.

Nick Hoang
At the beginning of my senior year in high school, I started doing online research to figure out a plan for my college applying process. Since affordability was my top priority, my Google queries were mostly along the line of “U.S college scholarships for international students.” Eventually, there was one scholarship program that caught my interest and whose eligibility I met, namely the Wesleyan Freeman Asian Scholars Program.

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Setting down my heavy, chock-full plate, I took off my jacket and sat down next to Chen, my friend from China. As usual, she was enjoying a wok dish of fried noodles with chicken and vegetables. I watched as she turned to look at my plate and, in a mocking tone, uttered her latest discovery: “Hoang, you’re so ‘Americanized.’”

I rolled my eyes at her, then at our plates, and burst out laughing. Chen joined in the laugh, seeming to share a mutual understanding. The stark contrast between our plates said it all. On my plate was a sizable cheese burger, sitting on top of a bunch of curly fries, accompanied by plenty of ketchup and pickle slices to round up the over-packed plate. Meanwhile, Chen’s plate looked a little more vibrant with sauteed vegetables and noodles mixed up in some kind of oriental sauce.

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Our bloggers have looked at a lot of things you’ll find different about American culture, but here’s a new one.

A study shows that American informality leads to more bad behavior in the classroom, according to Times Higher Education.  Do you agree that Americans are ruder to their teachers than students elsewhere?

A place to hear stories about studying in the U.S.  Our bloggers have come from all over the world to U.S. universities, and they’ll be sharing their experiences, advice and more.

A place to connect with other current and prospective international students.  For even more discussion and interaction, find us on Facebook and Twitter.

A place to find interesting and relevant links from across the web to help you understand the international student experience.

So, welcome! Scroll down to see the latest, or use the tags and categories at the right to navigate.

“Headmaster’s Holiday tomorrow!” Somebody yelled and ran down the hallway. I listened to her while reading the last passages of my biology homework which was almost done. I quickly went to check my email to make sure of what I have just heard.

Yes! There is a holiday tomorrow. I cheered up.  Headmaster’s Holiday is a day off from classes that our headmaster gives us 6 times a year.  It’s a tradition at many boarding schools or prep schools, like Kent School, where I go to high school.

After a second though I realized that tomorrow is Wednesday. Wednesdays are half days at Kent School (the other half of the day is on Saturday), so I only have three classes, and I had done all my homework for those classes already.

“What is this holiday good for?” I asked myself.  I didn’t even have any tests or quizzes the next day, so I didn’t see any reason to get really excited about it.

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The Kansan (the University of Kansas student newspaper) compares the experiences of three international students who had very different reactions to arriving in Lawrence, Kansas.  One was so overwhelmed with homesickness and stress he made himself ill.

Our very own Sebastian also attends the University of Kansas and wrote about how he adjusted to life in Lawrence.  He concluded that it’s much different than Santa Cruz, where he comes from, but that learning about the differences is exactly the point.

According to China Daily, more “average” Chinese students (as in, not wealthy or very high-achieving) are studying abroad at English-speaking universities, seeking out community colleges and technical schools rather than elite universities.

I sometimes think of my graduate program at George Washington University as a rite of passage.  It helps keep me motivated through those 12 hour days in the library, when I worry that I’m wasting the prime years of my life cooped-up in books.

Students at the Global Resources Center

I remember what my political science professor said on our first day of class: “If you’re a graduate student, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be reading all the time.”  He was talking about the trials of graduate study and his personal approach to teaching.  Of course, last week he appropriately assigned 553 pages on the comparative historical analysis of revolutionary change.

I think a lot of professors share that mindset though.  I met last April with my former Russian literature professor, who gave similar advice that, as a young man at this point in my life, I should be working my fingers to the bone.  His exact words: “Now’s the time to be like Stoltz!” – a particularly industrious, and awesome, character from Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov.

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