MR. ALFRED BOLL: Good morning and good evening to our viewers from around the world. My name is Alfred Boll, and I represent EducationUSA
and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C.
The goal of today’s Facebook Live is to equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to better navigate the U.S.
college admissions process. We want international students like you to be able to study in the United States.
And 550 EducationUSA advisors in 180 countries and territories
around the world offer free advising services to help you. During the program, we will be answering questions
from viewers. So if you have questions on navigating the U.S. admissions process, please post them at any time during this program
in the comments section below. I am excited to introduce our speakers, who collectively
have a wealth of knowledge in the college admissions process. Joining us virtually is Chenelle Goyen,
Associate Director of Admissions at the University of Georgia. Chenelle manages the International Recruitment Plan
for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Welcome, Chenelle. In our studio we are joined by Anna Wise, who
is the Associate Director of International Recruitment at Towson University. Anna serves as the university’s NAFSA Region 8 International
Enrollment Management Liaison, and the Study Maryland Recruitment Liaison. I’m also pleased to welcome Joscelin Rocha-Hidalgo, who
is an international student from Bolivia. Joscelin is currently pursuing her doctorate degree in psychology at Georgetown University.
Ladies, thank you for joining us. Joscelin, I wanted to start our discussion
by getting your perspective as an international student. Can you share with us some of the common mistakes
students make during the application process? MS. JOSCELIN ROCHA-HIDALGO: Yeah, of course. I think I’m going to start first with my background.
My Background
I did my college degree at [INAUDIBLE] College in the U.S. I’m originally from Bolivia.
So I went there and do my bachelor’s degree in Kentucky. And then now I’m doing my doctorate degree
at Georgetown University– MR. BOLL: That’s fantastic. MS. ROCHA-HIDALGO: –in D.C. So I went through the application process as an undergrad,
and also for a graduate school. And I found myself doing this these mistakes sometimes
and found my peers doing these mistakes. I wanted to share these with you all. And I think the first one I want to share
is choosing only famous schools to apply to. And it’s such a common mistake.
When people start this mistake, it’s like wanting to go only to ivy schools.
The only famous schools I’ve seen on TV is Stanford, Harvard– but there’s so many more.
There’s so many universities, colleges around the U.S. It’s crazy that I only focus on 10, 15, that I’ve heard on TV.
So I will definitely suggest people to just search for more.
Spread out your research and look for that tiny corner in Kentucky, that tiny corner in Maine, even in states you haven’t heard of.
MR. BOLL: That’s fantastic. That’s great advice. MS. ROCHA-HIDALGO: Yeah. That’s really something to look at.
Another thing I found it’s being afraid of asking questions. But please check the website before you do ask questions.
There are frequently asked questions, FAQs, that you can look for in the websites.
Make sure to get informed. And if there is none on the website, don’t be afraid to ask the people that are in charge.
It is their job to help you get into these universities too, and guide you.
So ask for help. Another thing– when you’re writing your personal statement for any degree, please proofread it.
Ask for help to proofread it. It’s such a common mistake. I was like, I’m perfect in English.
I don’t need help. We all need that extra– you are spending hours on these papers.
Look for help to help you with those typos, and just phrases
that you think make sense in your mind. But you probably have been reading it for two hours or 20 hours, so it ends up making sense.
So you need help. You need fresh eyes. Also, I know there are many or Google websites that
teach you the samples for essays that you can write.
But guess what? There are so many people looking at these papers, too.
You want to stand out. You want to be unique. So that’s something I would definitely recommend.
And finally, another mistake that I did while I was going through this–
I’m going to be– as an undergrad I was going to be spending four years in this town, in this university. So don’t ignore other aspects of the school,
such as location and weather. Because you’re going to be there for four plus years.
Might as well enjoy it. And then again, please reach out for help.
That’s a common mistake. Don’t doubt it. Ask for anyone’s help. Yes.
MR. BOLL: Joscellin, thank you so much. I mean, that is– you make very good points. Especially the one saying that there are 4,700
accredited colleges and universities in the United States– a wide variety. And there’s the right fit for everyone, for every student.
Right? And that’s something that EducationUSA advisors– whose basic services around the world are for free–