Has it been a year already since the Sampoerna event? Whoaa. Time flies. Here’s the details about pameran pendidikan USA.
Sampoerna was huge and a lot of fun. I can’t imagine there will be as many schools this year. Does anyone know? Here’s what’s happening tomorrow at Shangri-La in Jakarta:
- Workshop from 10:00- 12:00
- All about the sistem pendidikan Amerika or US education system
- Immigration (student visa)
- Scholarship (beasiswa)
- Tips menulis essay — that would be more or less your personal statement
I go each year and these events are fun but also exhausting. It’s really like being on campus — tons of interesting information, but not enough time and energy to deal with it all.
Bring a backpack for all the brochures. Pack a lunch. Wear comfortable shoes. Get mentally prepared before hand so you’re not shy or tongue tied. Have fun!
Here are a few specific tips:
- Set goals about who you want to talk to. Don’t get frustrated if you run out of time. All the information is online.
- Ask everyone the same questions. Some people will not understand. Some people will be tired or even rude. It doesn’t matter. Eventually you’ll get good answers if you keep asking the same questions.
- Take notes. A voice recorder might work.
- Send follow-up emails the next day. Even if you don’t get answers, you’ll still have the key information saved in your sent mail.
What are my favorite questions for the reps?
- So why do you think Indonesian students are interested in studying in the US? (Very often they have no answer. Which means they failed to prepare.)
- I hear your university is famous for [insert big guess lucky guess ]. Yes, you may get it 100% wrong . But it’s a fast non-boring way to learn.
- Say something about the education market. Education is business and the reps are in sales, not academia. (There are plenty of exceptions and you may well find yourself chatting with a professor). So, to get the conversation started ask about competition with other universities within the same system, other types of universities, other countries, etc.
- Say this: “My friend said UCLA might give him a scholarship for if he decides to go there. Personally, I find it hard to believe. From what I know, plenty of Californians are having trouble paying for college. So why would the state give money to Indonesians. (It all depends on the program. While it’s an obvious argument, sometimes the universities are trying to solve a problem or create a solution with the scholarship money and they really don’t care about nationality.)
- So what do you think about Indonesia? This is just small talk. But it helps the rep remember who you are. That way you’ll be more likely to get a response later when you do your followup via Linked-In, email, etc.
