We're back with Jarred Butto from the EducationUSA network, and now Jarred, we'd like to speak with you a little bit about the services that EducationUSA can offer the students. >> Sure. Again our network consists of over 400 centers operating in more than 170 countries. And these centers are places where prospective international students can go to get advice and guidance on every part of the U.S. college and university application process. The tool that we use to work with students is called Your Five Steps to U.S. Study. And it's the way that we try to simplify what we know can be a very complicated and sometimes confusing application process. So those five steps are, research your options, complete your application, finance your studies, apply for your student visa, and prepare for departure. And we have a set of five steps tailored to undergraduate study, graduate study, English as a Second Language programs, and short term study abroad programs at U.S. colleges and universities. And this resource is a free guide available to any prospective international student interested in studying in the U.S.. A student can visit the advising center nearest them. And get in person one-on-one guidance or group advising guidance with a group of their peers. And we've also provide an awful lot of, of guidance and access to these five steps to U.S. study on our websites, through webinar offerings, on Facebook pages and other social, social media outlets. So there are many ways to connect with EducationUSA advising centers around the world. >> Jarred, you mentioned a very important word to many of our students, and that word is free. [LAUGH] Can you talk a little bit about the, you know, the, the nature of the services, is everything free with EducationUSA? >> Our network is a very large, very diverse, very diffuse network. Hundreds of centers operating in more than 170 countries. So, students should expect that the level of service in each center will be different. There is a basic set of, of advising services offered in every center around the world, including Your Five Steps to U.S. Study. And students can access those services free of charge. There are some additional services that centers may charge small and reasonable fees for it, but, but basic services are available to any prospective student interested in studying in the U.S. totally free of charge. >> The Your Five Steps to U.S. Study resource is, is, you know, a great one for students to use. Particularly because it addresses some things that we don't review during this course. So I was hoping that we could go through maybe each one of the steps, and you could speak to the students a little bit about what services or activities are offered to help with that particular step. Now, of course as you mentioned, the students have to understand that not all of these services will be available at every advising center, because the network is so large and so different. >> Right. >> Right? So let's start with the, with the first step of research your options. How, how does EducationUSA help a student research their options? >> Yeah, it's a, it's a good question. I mean, I think the truth of the matter is that with so many options for international students interested in studying in the U.S., students need some guidance and some support in thinking about which institution meets their needs best. In the U.S., we have four different sectors in the higher education community, ranging from community colleges to doctoral institutions. There are large urban institutions and smaller rural institutions. And there are so many different options that the important thing to know is that there is an institution that is your best fit. And what an EducationUSA advisor can do is help a student to use college navigator, websites or college search websites. Help them think about a set of questions that they might want to ask as they engage with with a higher ed recruitment or admissions professional. And think about ways that they can decide for themselves which institution will best meet their needs academically, financially, socially, and culturally. >> Jarred, you mentioned advising as a big part of researching your options, the first step. How can students access that advising? Are there, are there options, you know, in getting a hold of that advising? >> There are lots of options. advisor, our advisors around the world offer in-person, guidance on all of the five steps. So a student can visit a center and get one-on-one individual guidance, or join a group advising session with a, with a number of their peers. Our advisors also do a lot of outreach activity. And that means that they travel around the countries where they live and work, and visit students in schools and libraries and at local colleges and universities, to talk about study in the U.S.. We also provide an awful lot of our services online, and students can be in touch with advisors and pose questions to them via email and even call them on the phone. We have very, very active social media networks around the world, and we we use social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, or the local equivalents of those social networks in places where students may not have, access. And again, these are places where or venues through which students can ask questions of advisors about any aspect of the application process, and get answers directly. Students can also share information with one another and, and, and, and give each other encouragement and, and guidance and feedback. These are also places where we post lots of information about EducationUSA events that might be happening around the country. Alright, so a special advising session that would be taking place in an advising center at a public venue or a college fair, that a, that a student might be able to join to, to meet with representatives of a number of U.S. colleges and universities. So, as students seek to engage with our network, contacting us in person is a, is a great way to get one-on-one or, or group advising services, but there are lots of ways to get help and support online without ever leaving your home. >> So now let's talk a little bit about the second step of completing your application. So what services does EducationUSA offer to help a student complete their application? >> The application process for applying to and being accepted to U.S. institutions can be different for each institution. And that's a, that's a tough part of the process for a lot of students. So advisers can help students after they've identified a number of institutions where they'd like to apply. Advisers can help students look at the application and think about what they'll need to compile to meet all of the application requirements. What kinds of documents they'll need from their high school or, or their own college or university. What kinds of letters of recommendation they may need from teachers they've, they've worked with, or bosses they've had at a job. We can help students think about writing their college application essays which is sometimes a unique part of the process and a challenge for students from other parts of the world. So, EducationUSA advisers can, can walk a student through the application process and help them with, with each stage of that process. And our advisers run advising sessions on each of those different aspects of the application process. So under step two a student can, can gain access to a lot of guidance on the, the individual parts of the application process. >> And of course, one big requirement in the application process, is that all documents submitted must be in English. I, I know that not all EducationUSA advising centers offer translation as a service, but I believe that some of them do. >> That's right. Some of them do. And I think again this is a case where students are best served by finding the EducationUSA center nearest them and contacting them to find out which services they can access at that center. Lots of our centers do help students with translation. Some of them may not have the capacity to do that. So, it's best to be in touch directly with the advising center nearest you. >> The third step is, of course, a, a tricky one or it can be a tricky one. Finance your studies. What, how can EducationUSA help in that regard? >> Our advisers not surprisingly get lots of questions about financing their, their study in the U.S.. I think one of the, the things that that an adviser can help a student to do during this step and during the first step, researching your options, is an adviser can help a student think about the real cost of studying in the U.S. and help them find the a set of institutions in the U.S. that are within their means. So, an EducationUSA adviser can work with the student to choose institutions, where they can study and do so comfortably in terms of finances. The other thing that our, our EducationUSA advisers do is help students think about additional sources of funding, whether those funds might come from the student's home government, or are even supplied by the U.S. college or university. And so an adviser can help a student identify schools where funding might be available to support their study, or to learn about national scholarship programs for which they might apply on their own, own home country. >> The final two steps really take students from the application process to the side where they're moving. They're, they're beginning that journey to actually attend their university. So step four is, apply for your student visa. How does EducationUSA help educate students about the visa process? >> It's a good question, and EducationUSA advisors field lot of questions from students who are curious about the visa application process. And in many cases our advisers work closely with the consular section at the U.S. embassy in the countries where they, they live and do their advising work. And sometimes consular offices even join EducationUSA advisers in giving presentations to prospective students about the visa application process. Our advisers can help students to know what to expect and to prepare for for the visa in terms of getting documents, and their documents in order and making sure they have everything again, to meet those application requirements. And they can point students toward the consular section, the U.S. government consular section resources, that, that explain the process to, to students. >> And the final step is prepare for departure. Tell, tell us a little bit about that step. >> Yeah, this is maybe the most exciting part of the process for both our, our advisers and for students they, they work with. And this is a part of the process that is, that is often very tailored to specific countries where advisers work. And we offer pre-departure orientations in our centers around the world. And these are these are programs that, that help students get ready for actually transitioning to the U.S. and helping them think about what they can expect on, on campus when they arrive in the U.S.. And help, helping them think through, small small details like like getting from the airport to campus when they arrive to, to big campus life questions like, residential, housing options and, and things like that. And, not to mention, preparing them for actually doing academic work in a U.S. classroom. So these are often multistep orientation programs that that focus on these kinds of issues and, and help a student again to know what to expect and to be ready to hit the ground running on, on campus when they arrive in the U.S.. >> Now that we've heard more about the services offered by EducationUSA, we'll come back to discuss the advising offered by EducationUSA in more depth. [BLANK_AUDIO]
