Didn’t I tell you the next few weeks would be busy ones for online events and webinars?  This coming week is jam-packed, and features a number of events for prospective MBA students, including the Economist’s annual virtual fair, plus some events for Latino students.

As always, if you attend any of these events, report back and let us know what you learned! (Use the comments, the Facebook page or just email me – jstahl@voanews.com). And please share any online events you’ve found that we haven’t.

Coming up next week:

September 4

EducationUSA: Public v. Private Institutions
10am US eastern time
More details: http://www.educationusa.info/edusa_connects/ 

September 5

The Economist: Which MBA Online Fair
More details: http://registermbafair.whichmba.com/whichmba 

Georgetown University: Law Study in the US
1pm US eastern time
More details: https://lawgeorgetown.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_b4uXxX9wtnJMIjb 
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Anna (not her real name) recently wrote in to talk about a difficult topic.  “This is a serious issue,” she said, “and I think it’s important to talk about it.”

The issue was rape and sexual assault on campus – a serious one indeed, and one that Anna unfortunately had to deal with during her freshman year at a U.S. college.

 I go to an all-girls college and I am from Latin America.

It was the beginning of my first semester and a college nearby threw a party. I drank a little too much before taking the bus to get there, and I drank on our way there. Would it be too much if I add that I kept on drinking as soon as I got there?

Anyway, I got there with a group of friends, we were all girls and the four of us were hammered. I remember talking to a couple of guys and after I don’t know how long, I ended up talking to a guy my friends introduced me to. As I remember, I turned around to talk to him and when I turned back to my friends they were gone.

Since it was our first or second weekend there, we didn’t have cellphones yet and we were all international students; so there I was, totally lost, hammered and talking to a guy I just met. I didn’t even know how to get back to campus.

This guy told me they left me, and asked me if I wanted to go upstairs and try to find them or a friend through Facebook (yes, it sounds lame but given my state of mind I accepted). We went upstairs, and once there he offered me a beer and yes, I took it.

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International students in America can get a U.S. driver’s license and a social security number (which you need in order to work), and the Department of Homeland Security compiled some useful guidance for students planning to apply for either. They tell students:

1. Wait ten days after you arrive in the United States. You may want to apply for a driver’s license or SSN right away, but be patient. This step saves you 20 or more days of waiting! These ten days allow time for all the government databases to update with your arrival information. While you are waiting, talk with your designated school official (DSO) to learn more about your state’s driving rules and regulations.

2. Make sure you are in active status in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS is the database that manages information for all F and M students and J exchange visitors in the United States. Your DSO activates your record in SEVIS when you register for classes or check in for a program. Talk with your DSO before you apply for a license to make sure you are active in SEVIS.

3. Wait two days after your DSO activates you in SEVIS. After your DSO activates your record in SEVIS, you should wait at least two business days before you apply for a driver’s license or SSN. This gives all the databases time to update with your new information. This step can also save you 20 or more days of waiting.

They have three more bits of guidance for students, which you can see over on the Study in the States website. There’s also a comprehensive fact sheet on how to get a driver’s license as an international student available from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But here’s one more important tip: Be aware that your unstamped I-20 may cause some confusion.  As of early August, U.S. Customs is no longer stamping your I-2o form when you enter the country.  It’s part of an effort to make the process less paper-based, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection, adding that a stamp was never necessary to validate your I-20 form.  It was always standard practice, but never required.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education though, unstamped I-20s have caused problems for some students applying for social security numbers of driver’s licenses.  They reported that many schools and benefits agencies weren’t aware of the new procedure, resulting in delays for students.  If you need to get your I-20 stamped, you can make an appointment with the local USCIS office (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) before November 21 to get it done.

We’re not ashamed to admit it; we made some mistakes when we came to the U.S. for the first time.  We brought the wrong things, said the wrong things, and ate the wrong things. But hopefully you can learn from our mistakes.  Here are five mistakes we made in our first year that you should avoid:

1 Poor packing

We’ve fallen victim to two opposite instincts when it comes to packing for the trip to the U.S.: the desire to bring literally EVERYTHING from home, and the attempt to pack for what we thought America would be like. Both approaches failed.

Tara said her mom tried to overload her suitcases with all of her stuff from back home in China, but when it came down to it, “you can get 80 percent of what you have at home in the US, especially if you live in LA, San Francisco, New York or other cities with ethnic and immigrant communities. However, there did end up being things I couldn’t find in the U.S.”

In particular, she wished she’d brought an electric rice cooker and Chinese spices to cook her favorite foods from home.

Senzeni, on the other hand, cautioned against leaving home without certain clothes, thinking they won’t be in style in America. Not true, she said. You may think college kids only wear jeans and t-shirts, “But pack at least three formal outfits. I had to attend five receptions and dinners in the opening week of freshman year where t-shirts and jeans were a definite no-no.” And prepare for the cold weather, but don’t forget, “When you arrive in August, the weather will be hot and humid and you will love yourself for bringing a tank top and a pair of shorts.”

2 Not getting involved right away

It’s easy, and natural, to feel overwhelmed at the beginning. But give in to that feeling and you’ll only feel more homesick. We’ve found that getting involved in campus life actually helped us get over the anxiety.

Sebastian said he had a difficult time when he first arrived at the University of Kansas. Between moving into a new place, adapting to a new culture, and getting accustomed to new food and weather, “I was too busy to even meet new people. And without people around I got homesick real quick. I missed my family, friends and so many people that it made my whole stay hard for the first week or so.”

“And then I met some Bolivian guys, and then American people too, who made the whole experience different.”

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After a long summer drought in webinars and virtual fairs, the fall is coming back with a vengeance!  Coming up are a couple of packed weeks for admissions events and virtual college/grad school fairs, so stay tuned.  This week it’s all for grad students: law school seminars by Georgetown University, a Q+A on MBA admissions, and a GRE application workshop.

As always, if you attend any of these events, report back and let us know what you learned! (Use the comments, the Facebook page or just email me – jstahl@voanews.com). And please share any online events you’ve found that we haven’t.

Coming up next week:

August 27

Georgetown University: Law Study in the U.S.
6:30pm US eastern time
More details: https://lawgeorgetown.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_b4uXxX9wtnJMIjb

MBA Watch: A Closer Look at UCLA Admissions
More details: http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/events

August 29

Kaplan: Graduate School Personal Statement Workshop
8pm US eastern time
More details: http://www.kaptest.com/enroll/GRE/20008/events
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In part I of Paolo’s story he discussed his decision to apply to community colleges, and how a great first year validated that choice.  In part II, it comes time for him to think about transferring to a university, and suddenly things don’t go as smoothly.

My first year as a student at North Hennepin Community College had been a success.  I made some great friends, more than kept up academically, and thrived as part of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society.  When I came back for my second year, though, everything changed.

Having fun with the Hispanic Student Association, one of the clubs I joined at NHCC

Second year struggles

At the end of my second year in the U.S., I expected to be completing my time at North Hennepin.  My aunt had only agreed to pay for my first two years of college – once I transferred to finish my degree at a university, I was on my own. Unless I managed to get a full scholarship, my dream would be brought to a halt.

On top of that, I had my classes, projects with Phi Theta Kappa, and I was working on campus to earn extra money.  I had applied for a work-study position during my first semester, and had been working at the Records and Registration office ever since.  I have to admit that I entered a period of tiredness.  It felt too much of a burden to bear, and I just wanted to go back home to Peru. I wanted to give up.

Matt Foss, who has been my math instructor for as long as I have been here

Towards the end of the semester, my friends, co-workers, classmates, instructors, advisors, and also family, friends, and other loved ones in Peru were there for me.

One way or another, they made sure I remembered that it’s not only my own dream and hope that were at stake, but also theirs. They have all been supporting me since they have always believed in me and wished for my success. I dove into a whole new country on my own to chase my life goal, and they were cheering me on. If there is one thing I hate, my biggest fear, is to let someone down. And I will never let them, or myself, down.

[Inspirational stories to get you through hard times]
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I am about to turn 22. I have been accepted into several four-year institutions with partial scholarships to pursue a degree in several engineering areas, I have achieved a 4.0 GPA, and I have lived experiences I would have never had in my home country, Peru. My name is Paolo Castelo, and I am an international student currently attending North Hennepin Community College. This is my adventure.

On my way to achieving my dreams

Twelve years ago, I formulated my dream: to become an aerospace engineer and design all sorts of planes, from commercial aircraft to fierce fighters. Unfortunately, this career was not offered in my country, so I set myself the goal of coming to the United States to study. After graduating from high school, I worked closely with my EducationUSA advisor on getting my dream started.

It took me a year to prepare myself, take my SAT and TOEFL tests, and begin applying to colleges. The goal was to apply to several universities and hopefully get in with a full scholarship. I indeed managed to get into a few institutions, and some even gave me some financial aid, but I was still unable to meet the remaining balance.

Changing my approach

Bummed out by the result, my advisor suggested I consider community colleges instead. He explained to me that they can be incredibly cheaper ($170 per credit at my current community college compared to the $500-$1000 per credit at four-year universities), and that any courses I took could transfer to a bigger university.

He didn’t have to say any more. I changed my approach and looked for some community colleges in Minnesota, since I had friends able to help me temporarily with housing there.  The only problem was that I was not able to find a community college in the area that offered aerospace engineering), but my advisor said I could just study engineering and then specialize further once I transferred to a university.

I applied and got accepted, which made me and my family extremely delighted. Furthermore, I was able to come across some money, given to me by my aunt. She had just sold her house, and agreed to “invest” in my future. The amount she gave me was enough to cover two years of community college education. That solved the biggest of my drawbacks, so as long as I could get my visa, I was all set to go.
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We hear from many students who have faced unique challenges in studying in the U.S., but Sarah’s story is one we haven’t heard before.  She wrote to us to say that she was “over the moon” to receive her acceptance to Notre Dame University, but “the big question? How will we take the children calmly through a 17hour flight?”

With a husband and two small children hoping to accompany her to the U.S., Sarah had some extra stress during her journey to start school this fall.

“You are never too old to dream or pursue your passions; it’s never too late no matter what; hope should never die; one must never give up.”  Those were just some of the things I told myself when I was nursing my unfulfilled desire to pursue a masters in international human rights law.  I thought to myself, “I believe in a big God able to do impossible things, so eventually, no matter what, this Master’s will come my way.”

Lo and behold there it was in front of my eyes; an email from the University of Notre Dame accepting me into their international human rights law program for 2013. I was stunned. I was breathless. I read it over and over again savoring every word, especially “pleased to offer you.” I, a wife, mother of two energetic toddlers and public prosecutor, was about journey across the globe to fulfill a seven-year-old dream!

University of Notre Dame (Creative Commons by Gbozik)

But first I had to get there.

Step one was easy: accept the offer by email and relish in telling friends and family, especially my mom who was living vicariously through me, that finally it had happened and what a prestigious university  I had been accepted to.

Step two however, getting the visas, was something of a mission.  All the spook stories I heard of people being turned down for some unattainable unidentifiable reason loomed large as my family and I waited for our interviews to come. Would they allow us to go together, or would they decide that I didn’t need my family to be with me on this journey?
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Want to know what Americans think of the various states in their country? You could look at the movies or TV shows made in/about each state.  You could look at the faux pas to avoid in each state (don’t put ketchup on a hot dog in Michigan!). Or you could look at what Google auto-complete has to say about each state.

The “no upside” blog searched Google for “Why is [State] so …?” to find out what each query brings up in auto-complete.  They found some fun gems like, “Why is Pennsylvania so haunted?” and “Why is Oregon [and Florida] so weird?”

Apparently 18 states in the U.S. are so boring, and more than 10 are so humid. But (according to Google searchers, anyway) Colorado, Minnesota, Texas, and Vermont are also so awesome, while Montana, New Hampshire, and New York are so great.

For more auto-complete fun, check out the full map on blog.noupsi.de.

It’s a big week in online events for prospective college students.  CollegeWeekLive is holding its virtual college fair for international students. Plus, our weekly searching found some grad school webinars from Kaplan.

As always, if you attend any of these events, report back and let us know what you learned! (Use the comments, the Facebook page or just email me – jstahl@voanews.com). And please share any online events you’ve found that we haven’t.

Coming up next week:

August 21

Kaplan: Grad Degree Series – Psychology
8pm US eastern time
More details: http://www.kaptest.com/enroll/GRE/20008/events

Kaplan: GMAT Study Plan
9pm US eastern time
More details: http://www.kaptest.com/enroll/GRE/20008/events

August 22

CollegeWeekLive: International Day Virtual College Fair
More details: http://www.collegeweeklive.com
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Imagine the scene:

“This group of boys, dressed in silk gowns, their queues flapping, was too much for New Englanders, be they small-town folk or city dwellers, to ignore. In Springfield, for example, the boys’ dinner at a local hotel was interrupted when an American woman, dining at a nearby table, stood up and wordlessly approached the Chinese youths an started dreamily fondling their queues … They were less amused a few days later when, while visiting Hartford, American children chased them down the street, pushing and shoving each other for a better glimpse of the strange, new breed of humans that had arrived on their shores. … The more fearful among them recalled the horrific stories circulated back home about Americans and their desire to turn the Chinese boys into sideshow curiosities.”

In 1872, when 30 Chinese students arrived on America’s east coast as part of an educational program sponsored by the Chinese government, they attracted quite a bit of attention.

Yung Wing in his Yale College class album (Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University)

They weren’t the first to study in the area though.  The first Chinese student ever to receive a degree in the U.S. was Yung Wing, who came to America for high school in 1847 and received his diploma from Yale University in 1852.  Yung then spearheaded an educational mission to send 120 Chinese boys to study in the U.S. for 15 years, arriving in dispatches of 30 per year.

What would it have been like to be one of those Chinese students in the 1800s?

Part of the answer can be found in letters and diaries kept by the students, which authors Leil Leibovitz and Matthew Miller used to write a book called Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization.

“We were amazed to find how meticulous these men had been about documenting their lives,” Leibovitz said about writing the book. “So you really just had to open the boxes, which to my amazement and great fortune, no one had thought of doing in the century that passed.”

Yung Wing also published a memoir recounting his experience, as did Li En Fu, one of the 120 to participate in the educational mission.

Here, in their own words, is how Chinese students experienced 19th century America.

How did they apply?

Here’s how students apply today.

Yung Wing wrote in his memoir, My Life in China and America, that he was attending the first English school in China when he got a unique opportunity:

“[Schoolmaster Rev. S.R. Brown] left China in the winter of 1846.  Four months before he left, he one day sprang a surprise upon the whole school. He told of his contemplated return to America on account of his health and the health of his family. Before closing his remarks by telling us of his deep interest in the school, he said he would like to take a few of his old pupils home with him to finish their education in the United States … When he requested those who wished to accompany him to the States to signify it by rising, I was the first one on my feet.” 

The 120 boys who followed him in 1872 had rather a different experience.

Six boys from the first detachment in 1872, shortly after arriving in San Francisco. From left to right: Chung Mun Yew, Liang Tun Yen, unidentified, Sze Kin Yung, unidentified, New Shan Chow. (Public domain photo)

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Rahela spent her junior and senior years of high school studying in Vermont, and is now starting at an American college. She shared this story about her first year in the U.S., which held more than its fair share of disappointments.

Click for full-sized image

The United States is a multi-cultural country that is famous as a melting pot. This country has many international students who came from different countries around the world. Some international students can’t get close to American students easily, and have a difficult time making American friends.

I was one of those students.

[Read more about the difficulties American and international students have in making friends]

I spent my junior and senior years of high school in the U.S. and had a hard time finding an American friend. I think one of the main reasons was my language. This problem is common in the first year of being international student in a foreign country.

It was hard to share my feelings and experiences with other students. Sometimes I was afraid I would use improper or unrelated words in my conversation that would embarrass me.

I remember one day I went to a doctor for an examination. The doctor said, “Ok! Now you’re here.” I thought that she said, “Ok! Now your hair,” and I immediately took off my head scarf. The doctor looked at me strangely and smiled. She realized that I misunderstood and said “No! No I mean you are in our building, in the hospital now. You are here.” I was a little bit embarrassed, but was pleased that she behaved kindly and tried to understand me.

Language is like an ocean – the learners need to swim in it in order to learn. I really wanted to improve my language by finding an American friend.

My religion was another thing that limited my relationships with students. As a Muslim female, I wear a scarf and have certain beliefs, and this created differences with my classmates. I could not be friendly with males and could not shake their hands.

[More about being Muslim in the U.S.]
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U.S. News and World Report recently published tips for researching the safety of a campus before you apply.  In particular, they advise prospective students and their parents to look at safety statistics for the campus and surrounding area:

Beginning the search is simple, [Rob Hardin, assistant director of admissions and international student recruitment at the University of Oregon] notes: In the search bar on a college’s website, “Type in safety; hit enter; see what comes up,” he says. 

By federal law, all U.S. colleges must disclose campus crime statistics, including counts of rape, murder, robbery, and arson. You may be able to find this information posted somewhere on the school’s website, or through the Department of Education’s online Campus Safety and Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool. 
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I’m glad you asked!  We were curious about just that question, so we checked out the athlete bios on the London 2012 website to find out.  From the information available there, we found about 400 international athletes who studied in the U.S. for their degree!

What countries do they come from?

1) Canada

Canada’s Derek Drouin took home his country’s first medal in high jump since 1972, in what the CBC called “one of the most unusual finishes.” He also studied at Indiana University, where he was a three-time NCAA champion. (Photo: Reuters)

2) Great Britain
3) Trinidad and Tobago
4) Jamaica
5) Bahamas

6) Nigeria

Nigeria’s Muizat Ajoke Odumosu competed in the women’s 400m hurdles for Nigeria, placing first in her semi-final heat, and finishing 8th in the finals.  A Nigerian website called her semi-finals performance “stellar” and hailed her as “one of Nigeria’s few hopes for a medal.”  Oh, and she attended the University of Southern Alabama. (Photo: Reuters)

7) Australia
8) New Zealand
9) South Africa

10) Colombia

Colombia’s soccer team features several athletes from U.S. college soccer teams.  Tatiana Ariza (center) and her twin sister Natalia were both picked for the Colombian team from Austin Peay State University in Tennessee, where they currently study. The other Colombian athlete in this photo is Nataly Arias, who grew up near Washington, D.C. (Photo: Reuters)

What schools did they go to?

1) University of California, Berkeley

In this photo, Serbia’s Aleksa Saponjic, who is a student at UC Berkeley, can be seen celebrating his team’s semi-final water polo victory over Italy (Aleksa is the one with his face hidden – on the left is goalkeeper Branislav Mitrovic). The team’s medal fate will be decided by a bronze medal match still to come. (Photo: Reuters)

2) University of Florida
3) Auburn University

4) Texas A&M University

Texas A&M put out a press release to celebrate the Olympic success of Jamaican swimmer Alia Atkinson, a former “Aggie.”  She didn’t medal, but finished 4th in the 100m breaststroke and set new Jamaican records in that event and in the 200m breaststroke. (Photo: Reuters)

5) University of Southern California

And many more!