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I’ve been accepted into a school! What do I do now? The most important first step is choosing which of your (hopefully) many acceptances you will attend. Luckily, Chengdu teacher Ryan has put together a very thorough list to help you through this process. Take a look:
What Really Matters in Choosing a College?
By Ryan Clapp, Tufts ‘12
The obvious factors: size, location, diversity all matter, but here are a few that you may have overlooked which can influence your experience just as much. Campus Life/Resources: What kind of clubs and organizations are on campus? What sorts of events do the students organize? This is a tricky category to quantify or rate, which is probably why it’s so often overlooked. Find the campus publications that students usually read, and the website or other news source where they find
out about events on campus.
Greek Life (Fraternities and Sororities):The percentage of students involved in Greek life can definitely affect the social dynamics and overall feel of a campus. Many schools located in the south (Duke University) and some smaller liberal arts schools (Dartmouth College) have more active Greek life scenes, as well as larger schools (Penn State, University of Michigan) which also have popular sports programs. Some of them are known as party schools, sure, but others are more academically, community service, or culturally focused. Research/Study Opportunities: Research universities by definition will focus more on funding faculty research. The tradeoff comes in the
increased competition to join a professor’s research team as an undergraduate student, since many opportunities will be geared towards graduate students. Liberal Arts colleges (LACs) are able to focus exclusively on the undergraduate experience and tailor research programs to undergraduate students. However, total funding at 2
LACs is often overshadowed by the larger research budgets at universities. Finally, a school’s location near a big city will provide students with research opportunities the school itself may not be able to directly provide.
goals.
Political/Social Engagement: At Wesleyan University, you’d be more likely to see “direct action” protests – students picketing or maybe occupying a space on campusto channel their ideas on social justice into action. At George Washington University, for example, you may not see any street protests, but students are more likely to use political channels to advocate for change such as internships in Washington DC or networking with politicians and their staff. Usually there’s more of a middle ground –students passionate about issues in the world but working through a variety of organizations and methods to accomplish their
Premium on Academic Achievement: Haverford and Swarthmore are known for their commitment to intellectual achievement. You may find students spending more of their time chasing that elusive 4.0 than putting energy into extracurricular activities. If you are planning to apply to med-school, your undergrad GPA will probably be of more immediate concern than if you’re enrolled in a visual-arts degree, so this will vary across majors. Still, it makes a difference in the feel of a campus. Every college will likely say they value “academic achievement,” so take a look at what sorts of issues are brought up in campus publications to see where the emphasis is really placed.
Career Services/Alumni Network: Especially with the current recession in America, more and more colleges are trying to advertise themselves with end result metrics: how many students are employed after graduation, how many alumni stay in touch with the school, average debt vs. other colleges. These may seem like things in the distant future, but they’re well worth paying attention to now. You’re going to invest a lot in your school: time, money, energy. Make sure your school is providing resources for that scary transition to adulthood, as well as exciting social/professional opportunities for alumni. Other Factors: A few other factors that didn’t make the main list are:
Graduation Rate: Students don’t finish their studies all the time, for all sorts of reasons, but if the graduation rate is especially low –say, below 80%you may want to investigate further. Transfer Rate: What percentage of students are getting the hell out of this school after the first or second year? Why? 3
Health and Wellness Facilities: Shiny new gyms shouldn’t be the reason you pick a school, but if athletics is a big part of your life you can factor in facilities. More important are the health services –both mental and physical- provided to students. Dining/Housing Facilities: Most wonderful ideas and multi-billion dollar companies are hatched over cold pizza in cramped rooms. But if you have a sensitive stomach or sophisticated palate, then you should use Google to find out if students at your potential school are happy with the food options. Technology Infrastructure: Most campuses are at least partially wireless at this point, with multiple computer labs, but if you’re a techie you can check to see what kind of neat gadgets are available for student use.
Final Thoughts: Get this: there’s no one perfect school for you, as much as colleges may try to convince you that they’re the one. There are almost 2,500 4-year colleges in the United States 1. How many have all the characteristics of your “perfect” school? 10? 20? 50? You have options. Relax. You’re fortunate and/or hardworking enough to be considering college in the first place. So refer back to this list if you need to, do some serious self-reflection and then do your research on different schools. Make the decision to be excited instead of stressed out. We wish you the best of luck! Once you’ve accepted the school’s offer and paid your deposit (also, don’t forget to inform the other schools that you will be declining their offers), thecollege will send you a list of things they want you to do, but for now here are some ideas:
After you’ve chosen your school: Making friends before getting to America You can make friends at your college, even before you go. Sounds too good to be true, but it’s easy.
With the advent of the internet and social media websites, it’s easy to find other students from your region who are going to the same college as yourself. Search on Renren and Facebook for groups created by students going to your college and start meeting people early. If you can’t find one for your year, try making one yourself. You guys can whine about hard professors, chat about course choices, and make fun of the school t-shirts together.
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Word of Caution: Remember to meet new friends when you get to college as well. Many students who make close friends with Chinese students online end up hanging out with them for the rest of their college career and never make an effort to meet students from America.
"Number of U.S. Colleges and Degrees Awarded, 2005." Infoplease. National Center For Education Statistics, 2006. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
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LinkedIn LinkedIn is a professional social network. The setup is similar to Renren and Facebook in that you can update your status, post a profile picture, share links, and comment on other people’s updates. But it differs in that the main purpose is to put yourself out their professionally, make contacts and hopefully land a job or internship. So don’t post crazy photos of you partying – it’s not the kind of image you want potential employers to see. You may think it’s much too early to create this kind of professional profile – you only just graduated high school! However it doesn’t hurt to start putting out feelers to what kind of opportunities are out there.
1. In your profile there are spaces to fill out your past work experience, leadership, projects, and skills. Essentially you are listing your CV or resume online. The more you fill it out, the more LinkedIn will list you in Searches when people lookfor others with your skills. 2. Double check for typos! Readers may be willing to overlook bad grammar or spelling mistakes on Facebook, but leaving errors in your online Resume shows you don’t care about your work!
3. Bonus: You can create your profile in separate languages if you like. Make a nice clean one in English for job searching in the US, and an identical or varied one in Chinese for searching in the homeland. There are lots of people around the world looking for someone with just your talents! 4. 5.
Update it often! Just like you wouldn’t go to a job interview with a resume you made five years ago, don’t let your LinkedIn profile go stale. Update every time you get a new internship, etc.
Find Contacts. This is Social Network Etiquette 101: Avoid simply inviting any and every person to connect with you. You should have some sort of reason for contacting them: for example, your AIC teacher went to college with a certain person and could then introduce you two via LinkedIn, or said person is an alumnus from your school and has a degree in the area you are considering studying, so you want to get in touch with them to see what kind of work they have found. When you invite someone to connect with you on LinkedIn, write them a brief message in the space allowed explaining your interest and politely asking them to connect.
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You can also stay in touch with AIC by following our company page. Search for AIC Education under Companies
Take advantage of the great features like Groups! Add the AIC Group and connect with alumni from prestigious universities, look for jobs, post jobs, etc. Search for the alumni group in the dropdown tab labeled Interests, then Groups, then type in AIC Education Alumni Group in the Search Bar. 6
Housing Where am I going to live? The first thing you’re going to get from your school after the acceptance letter is probably regarding housing. It’s not a life or death situation, and you won’t be living in your freshmen dorm for the rest of your life, but your housing situation in the first year can have a large impact on your life.
“One of the things I wish I had done differently in college was to have taken advantage of the housing options available to me. I chose to live off campus in an apartment and I know it really hampered the amount of fun, as well as new experiences, and new friends that I had.”
– Leah House Umich ‘12 So, how do you pick what kind of room you want? 7
The basic rule of thumb is that the larger the living space, and the more amenities the private room has, the less the people talk to each other. For example, a suite at William and Mary might have its own living room and bathroom, so you may never need to leave your room to study or pee or just relax… In comparison, a hall might be so cramped you may begin to develop claustrophobia if you don’t go outside to meet other people who are in similar danger of developing claustrophobia. So living in a suite is relaxing and private and possibly lonely, while living in a hall is cramped, crowded, and possibly where you will meet your best friends. Every college uses different terminology. A hall could mean something different at UCLA vs Uchicago. Try not to memorize the names of different housing systems, as much as the amenities that each provides.
A few examples:
A typical college dorm/hall:
Listen, we are going to tell you the secret to college success. If you want to know where the best eateries around campus are, who are the best teachers, which club has the hottest girls, there’s one place to go: GOOGLE. So if you want to know if you should live in a hall at Colgate, type it in and search until you find a site that has the answer.
In real life, that translates to something that looks something like this… or this:
Many beds are bunked in doubles and triples. 8
Terminology to know: Bunk Bed Two beds stacked on top of each other. An ingenious method created to save space and instigate roommate drama in depressingly small dorm rooms. Top or bottom: this is always the yearly debate for students. Bottom is more convenient, but people will probably end up sitting on your bed. Although it seems like you don’t have much living space, the truth is…. You really don’t. But that’s the point. The point is that it forces you to leave your dorm because eventually, you will need to pee, and eat, and get away from your roommate. The basic amenities of every dorm room are a bed, a desk, a chair, drawers and a closet. Bathrooms, living rooms, couches, etc. will not exist in these types of small dorms. Outside the dorm, there will be a common living room, and a shared bathroom for everyone to use. What are your other options?
This type of room, may it be called plaza, or suite, or whatever, is slightly roomier, and most importantly, it has a bathroom. But remember, more amenities = less sociability, more room = less reason to go outside.
If you get something that looks like this…. ….Expect to barely ever come out of your living space.
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Get the idea? If you want to make a lot of friends in your first year, we highly suggest the smallest, most cramped space available.
Another point to take note of is that many colleges have different “residential” communities. For example, some schools have an environmental living community where everyone who is a tree-hugger environmentalist can spend some time with fellow tree-huggers. Or if you are part of the LGBT community (see LGBT in College Survival Guide), there may be a floor or a small section of a house dedicated to others who are involved in the scene.
Roommates Best Friends Forever (BFF)or Worst Nightmare?
A roommate can be very important. Many people will form very close relationships with their freshman roommates, because freshman year is a very flexible time and ideal for making friends. People gravitate towards others who are living close to them…(another reason why long-distance relationships don’t work<see Dating in College Survival Guide>). Living with someone new is a chance for you to intimately understand someone who is potentially very different from you. Colleges sometimes give you the option to request a roommate. Therefore, if you have a friend, or you meet a friend on Facebook and get to know them, you can request them.
But, should you live with someone you know? We suggest no. It usually limits your social circle because many people meet new friends from their freshmen dorms. Even if it turns out your roommate and you are totally incompatible and they’re completely nutso, at least you’ll learn more about the weirdos that exist in this world; or at least be forced to go out and make different friends.
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“Students often ask me…’I hear all these horror stories on cuus.com about crazy American roommates. What if I live with an American roommate?’ Well, first of all, you will most likely live with an American roommate. Secondly, there are crazy Chinese roommates as well, you’re probably just on the wrong forum to hear about them. Thirdly, as long as you don’t die from the experience, it will make for great stories for your grandchildren and a memorable first year. If you’re going to get a Chinese roommate, the chances that your social circle will become totally limited to Chinese students increases by 30%, and then you might as well have stayed in China and hired some American teachers to teach you.”
-Charlene HsiaoUCLA‘12
How do I fill out my roommate survey? Just be honest, answer to the best of your ability, and use examples and descriptions if you can’t put your thoughts into words.
What should I do after I’ve gotten the contact info of my roommate?
After you submit your survey and preferences, you’re going to get a roommate. This is a very unceremonious process for an event that could change your college experience forever. Each school uses a different roommate pairing system. Some residential colleges don’t provide a roommate for you until you get to school, others will notify you ahead of time. Generally it’s very random who your roommate will be. Get to know your roommate via email or Facebook before you arrive in the US. How do I go about writing my roommate a letter?
“Hi, I’m Jennifer. I am your new roommate. I’d like to get the top bunk, or I’ll hate you forever. Thanks!”
Haha, jk! So how might a roommate letter really go?
Dear Leah,
I'm Charlene and I’ll beyour new roommate at Life University!! Just checking in with you about the rooming situation and giving you some basic information about me. I'm a pr etty laid back girl from North Carolina. Although I like to hang out with friends, sometimes I will bum around at home and just read. I'm a light sleeper so I'd appreciate if you don't make too much noise at night. And likewise, I'll be very careful to not disturb you when I'm getting up at night. I'm bringing a fan (a large 3 foot one), and a tall lamp that we can use in the room. By the way, do you want to rent a refrigerator from the school and split the cost?
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As for beds, I don't really care which one you take, although I'd prefer the top right one. If you have a strong preference, you can choose the one that fits you the best. Looking forward to getting to know you! -Charlene
What else do I need to prepare in advance? What books should I read to be more prepared than everyone else when I get to college? What classes should I take?! What if… I don’t get into my class? What if I don’t like my class?! First, take a deep breath. Calm down. AIC Course Choosing Guide 101 is in the “What to do when you get there” section of the College Survival Guide, precisely because there’s very little you can do right now without knowing the course options for next year. It’s like picking a car without knowing what cars you have to choose from. Besides, youdon’t usually choose courses until Orientation, a few days before the semester starts, and your school will walk you through it the first time so you can to do it yourself for the next four years. But if you cannot sleep, eat, drink, or think unless you have something to prepare for, you may become crazy and paranoid. Just kidding, if it really bothers you, you can look at your school’scourse catalogue from last year, which should be available on the school website if you search for it. You can look online at ratemyprofessor.com (a college student’s best friend) for biased student reviews of different professors. Or you can just relax, and enjoy the sunshine of the summer.
Vaccinations
In America, the rate of STD transmission is crazy! (JK, but seriously). Terminology to know: STD/STI Sexually Transmitted Disease/Infection transmitted through sexual contact (typically intercourse or oral sex). Can cause infinite uncomfortable or even fatal problems for both guys and girls. Usually prevented by condoms and always prevented by abstinence. Play it safe; you should get the HPV vaccination if you are a girl, to protect you from Human pampillomavirus, also known as genital warts. Your school will probably send you a list of vaccinations that you NEED to have before you live in the dorms. Make sure that you get those listed vaccinations before moving to America. There are some diseases in America that we’d rather not tell you about. (Okay, that’s just to scare you.) 12
Packing What should I bring to America? Nothing? Everything?! You can bring nothing, or you can bring everything. However, keep in mind, most things are more expensive in America. Below is a list of what you need, what you would appreciate having/buying in China, and what you don’t need.
What you ABSOLUTELY NEED:
Your brain. First and foremost, realize that living in a new country requires some awareness of your life and some willingness to compromise. If you can’t compromise, find resourceful ways to solve problems. For example, if you don’t want to wash your clothes, find out a way to get your roommate to accidentally wash them for you. (We’re kidding; they will hate you).
Courage. Like FDR once said, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Be open, the minute you leave your home, carry yourself with respect and be fearless. Imagine yourself as Frodo Baggins, or Harry Potter, going to a new place where you have no idea what lays ahead. You don’t have magic powers or a magic ring, but then again, neither does anyone else. Tooth brush, toothpaste, a towel, a cup, a small bottle of body wash and shampoo, a comb, face wash and skin care products. Buy small travel sizes first; you may not have a chance to immediately go out and buy those things your first day on campus. You should bring a pair of glasses or contact lens if you need them. (Glasses/contact lens are much more expensive in America than China, so you may want to buy extra in China before you leave.)
For your flight REMEMBER to bring your passport, I-20, admission letter, and other documents that you might need at customs. Cash and a credit card are 100% non-negotiable necessities.
What you should/could bring, but won’t die without:
Cellphone and charger: Of course you will need a phone, but you don’t necessarily need it straight off the airplane. If you have a good phone and you don’t want an upgrade, bring it; you can get a new sim card in America. If you want to get an upgrade, or a new phone in America (because it is cheaper), please refer to our next section “What to do when you get there.” Laptop: It’s pretty much a necessity.
Outlet Adapter: Something that converts Chinese plugs to fit American outlets. We suggest buying these in China since they’re pretty common.
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USB drive: almost a necessity.
Clothes: While America is the land of the free, don’t be freely naked. What brands are popular in American colleges? J. Crew, Banana Republic, Zara, A&E, Forever 21, H&M, A&F, Hollister. Want something higher end? Girls, check out shopbop.com. Guys, go to Polo or Brooks Brothers.
Americans typically have a different sense of fashion from Asians, so we advise you to do some research by watching shows and checking out fashion blogs, and maybe even creeping on students in your college via Facebook. That being said, college is not always about fitting in…often, it’s more about standing out.
How to figure out what to wear in America? Think seasonally. If you’re going to the east coast, bring thick layers for winter. Dress as if you are going to Harbin, but bring light clothes, too, so you don’t get baked when hot summers hit.
If you are going to the west coast, bring shorts and tank tops as if it was Yunnan summer all day long. If you are going to Seattle, bring rain boots and happy music to listen to on cloudy days. Terminology to know: SAD This stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder. It usually affects people who feel depressed on cloudy days or in the winter. A lot of people have this, unless you live in California because let’s face it, it’s California.
Keep in mind: Americans will talk about temperature in Fahrenheit, not Celsius, so start to familiarize yourself with converting to Fahrenheit. While you’re at it, weigh yourself in pounds and measure your height in feet and inches. The US doesn’t use the metric system for everyday things. We know, we’re the only ones and it’s weird.
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Here is a rough table of average temperature ranges for various regions in America. Definitely check the weather sites to see what the weather is specifically like for your school’s city. Region
Spring Temp. in ℃
Summer Temp ℃
Fall Temp ℃
Winter Temp℃
Northeast
13-3
27-17
11-1
2-8
15-4
30-18
10-1
0--7
Southeast Midwest Northwest Southwest
23-13 16-6
28-11
32-22 24-14 38-16
20-7 11-0
20-10
18 - 1 9-3
18-6
More on what you can pack: If you prefer Chinese medicine, you should take the most important ones you think you will need. Otherwise you can get Western medicine at your school’s health service. Nobody is expecting you to bring a gift for them, but if you like you can take some small souvenirs that represent China for your new friends you will meet.
If you have a favorite Chinese candy or snack, or spices (although you might not have access to kitchens), you might want to bring some with you. If you’re sentimental, keepsakes from home, like a security blanket or photos of family members… Good sneakers and quality sunglasses are cheaper in America than in China.
A suit for interviews can be nice, but often these are better quality and a different style in America.
Blow dryers and hair straighteners: American plugs and voltage (US uses 110V as opposed to 220V in China) are different from Chinese, so please check that your hair straightener/ blow dryer can be used in America. Or to save room in your luggage, just buy one when you get there. A mini stapler and staples: Professors will ask for you to turn in papers and everyone always forgets to staple the papers together! Your classmates will always be grateful when they borrow your mini stapler.
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What you DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T NEED: School supplies: unless you have a favorite pen in China, buy thesein America. Printer: Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bulky. There will be plenty of printers in your college.
Find out where the printing places on campus are. Some schools offer free printing in some centers, some have limited student printing in other centers. For example, in the Social Studies center at UCB, each student taking a social science class could print 100 pages during the semester. At Michigan, each student receives 400 printing pages for free every semester (600 if you study engineering!)
We hope this introduction has satisfied your curiosity for what to do right now in regards to your college adventure.
Keep an eye out for the College Survival Guidebook coming to an AIC office near you at the end of the summer! Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all for now, folks!
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