subject: International Students and Resources [print this page] International Students and Resources International Students and Resources
Before you give any US university serious consideration as a international student, you have to make sure that they have the resources available to give you the education you want. This doesn't just include the professors. You'll need to make sure that you'll have a way of affording that education. Fortunately, some universities have excellent staff available who understand what international students need and how to make sure that they get it.
International students generally need help with funding more than anything else. In some cases, the university you're looking at may have resources available in the form of scholarships. Be sure you ask the staff members who are helping you get enrolled whether there are scholarships that you're not aware of. Some schools use these as ways to make sure that they can get international students to their campuses and provide them with a good education.
International students also need to make sure that the university they're dealing with is easy to communicate with. When you're in your home nation, it can be very difficult to keep in touch with the admissions staff and other vital personnel at the university who need to know where you are with your applications, immigration and other concerns. The best universities out there have live chat features on their websites. This allows you to get in touch with the staff member very quickly. It's also a huge advantage because it's sometimes difficult to understand people speaking your second language over the phone. If you have trouble understanding anything, you can simply translate it using one of the many features on the Internet or those found in some word processing programs.
Remember that a university that's set up for international students generally has students from all over the world attending. You may be the only one from your home nation, but you probably won't be the only student who came along way to get an education in the United States. Ask the university if they have a lot of international students. If they do, it's a good sign that they not only have the facilities and qualified staff to help such students out but that they genuinely welcome such students to their campuses. This is an important part of feeling at home when you're far away from your own nation. It will also make your experience of the United States much richer and a lot more fun.
