StrataG

How the get the most out of an Indonesian education fair (pameran pendidikan)

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.

Old GMAT is your friend (until June 5, 2012)

This Strata-G post argues that: it’s best to either 1) take the GMAT now (before 5 June 2012); OR 2) wait and take the GMAT until after August 2012.

According to Businessweek, the new GMAT “will be different from anything students have encountered before on the test” — and that’s not good.

Why was it necessary to make the GMAT harder in the first place? Well, the story from GMAC was:

The most recent survey of 740 business faculty worldwide in 2009 revealed that they believed incoming students needed to assimilate, interpret, and convert data, evaluate outcomes, and listen.

I’m not sure about listening skills on the GMAT. I do know that GMAT is in dynamic competition with GRE (a similar test marketed by ETS). And since GRE just did a major facelift, it’s not surprising to find a “new and improved” GMAT product this year.

So what’s the difference? Just one thing — a mystery section called “integrated reasoning.” It will replace one of the writing essays (the “issue”). So your four four GMAT sections on the new GMAT are:

  • AWA (one essay)
  • Quant (maths)
  • Verbal (like TOEFL but much harder)
  • Integrated reasoning (charts and graphs + analysis)
Read More›

“Unheard of” schools like Green River recruit thousands of Indonesians, other international students

In NYT article titled Illegal Overseas Ross Jennings, VP at Green River Community College (Auburn Washington) suggetsts the community college wouldn’t have been able to recruit its 1400 international students without the help of agents ” “since the whole community college concept of coming for two years and then transferring to a four-year university is unknown in most countries.”

It’s using agents that’s controversial — perhaps “illegal” — not the students themselves. It’s the old notion that education, although the beginning of one’s  career is different in important ways. Supposedly it’s a time when you have a bunch of decisions and choices to make. And everybody — including employers — want to see how you make those choices. Everyone is a bit disappointed — I guess — to think that you weren’t actually the one making the decisions. Instead you were part of a money-making scheme involving a community college with big ambitions but apparently not a lot of resources.

“We need agents who know us and understand what we do,” said Jennings, according to the article.

Actually, I think a lot of  Indonesians have heard of this school. You can even transfer to Berkeley from GRCC.

Would I go to GRCC? Probably. Sounds pretty fun with all the international students, etc. A lot more relaxed than Berkeley. Score some easy credits and transfer. I just wonder what the advantage of using an agent is ??

Focus on application essay this year: why it matters for MBA applicants from Indonesia

Summary: This article discusses the importance of essays in the application process, concluding with 12 points that will guide in conceptualizing the personal statement/ statement of purpose. And here’s tip 13:  Put your feedback/editing team on standby now (parents, professor, professional editor), so they’ll be ready when you finish your first draft.

No matter how good your marks and GMAT score, you can very easily be rejected by top programs like HBS, LBS, INSEAD, Wharton, Haas because you don’t fit the demographic (i.e. too many Asians, not enough Latinos, etc)

Personal Statement Sampoerna

Sampoerna Access' essay "boot camp" (no relation to Strata-G) is an example of this new local focus

Your personal statement (statement of purpose) is very important since it lets you identify and define yourself so you can fit in better.

In theory, MBA applications are counter-cyclical to the job market. In other words, when jobs are hard to find — supposedly — that’s when people go back to school.

But no one really knows. With a bad job market in the US and Europe applications actually fell last year (e.g. Harvard down by 4% and Wharton by about 6 %) .  And this general down trend will likely continue in 2011.

However, the schools say their quality standards and acceptance rates have not changed (they still have plenty of people to reject).

Take the U.S. for example. There, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) last week reported that students from Asia-Pacific  now account for 61% of all full-time b-school applications.  That could pose an demographic problem for some schools  (“too many” Asians).

What’s more, the GMAC data shows that the vast majority of finance programs — 83% — saw applications go up. Master’s in management apps. went up by 69%;  accounting programs were up by 51%.

There’s another reason why quality of your statement matters: this will help the school predict how you handle English language writing assignments. Do you have the skills  yourself?  Are you willing and able to seek out writing help?

Please comment on these 12 tips from Strata-G . You won’t find them anywhere besides this blog. We hope they’ll give you perspective and confidence. Please note that Sampoerna ACCESS  has essay-writing workshops coming up (28 Sept. and 1 Oct.)

Application season

I can feel it in the air. This is that lovely time of year again. When the work day gets shorter and the nights get longer. We have exactly 6 lovely months until doomsday, recognized by universities worldwide as the date by which it’s everlastingly too late to do anything at all besides bite your nails.

My testing goals this season are:

a) take the GMAT (just for fun)

b) decide which bar exam to take next

d) translate the Logical Reasoning & Writing workshop word for word into Indonesian

c) develop an LSAT prep course

Please feel free to send me an email to tell me about your testing goals or share information about how to make your life more exciting by spending time overseas.

 

Sampoerna Foundation’s Access America Fair Connects American Universities and Indonesian students

Whoa! The US is seriously gearing up to promote education in Indonesia. That’s what the local newspapers have said about the Access America education fair at Sampoerna Strategic Square in Jakarta last week. More than 75 American universities were represented.

Visitors at the free event — most of whom were shopping for a degree at the undergraduate or S1 level – quickly realized that this was the best opportunity they had ever seen for learning about US education trends and opportunities without leaving Indonesia. Even language wasn’t a barrier since each American university delegation was accompanied by bilingual interpreters from the Sampoerna School of Education. In addition to being able to speak with a wide range of American education professionals –from international student coordinators to university deans – talks were also held on how to apply for a visa, how to apply to law school and a wide range of other topics.

The reason that the quality of the event impressed Indonesian journalists is that for decades, as numbers of Indonesians enrolled in higher education in the US has declined, the US Embassy in Jakarta and other official channels for promoting American culture appeared to be been stuck in neutral.

Meanwhile Indonesians are spoiled for choice when it comes to education. First because Indonesian universities are getting better without becoming significantly more expensive.  Next, because some of the best universities in the world are located in nearby Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. And what’s left over – extremely popular study destinations like Australia and Europe –  easily attract Indonesians by competing on quality, cost and long-standing culture, sports, entertainment and business ties. That’s why, after so many years of disappointing numbers, people began to wonder if the US really cared about involving Indonesians in the exciting world of education USA.

My experience working as an education attaché at the US Embassy in Malaysia about 10 years ago was that all the best Malaysian universities already had a wide range of partnerships and exchange programs already in place with universities in Australia and the UK. “Of course, our students and professors would like to study in the US,” they would tell me. “But it’s difficult.  There’s not enough information. There’s no guarantee.” Today I hear the same thing at universities in Indonesia. The fact is, unlike the British Council and the Australian national foreign student recruitment machine and others, the Americans really did  assume that the benefits of a US education would sell themselves. Not in Indonesia.

Now, hopes for closer Indonesian-American relations in the field of education have risen, on the back of a agreement between US President Obama (who studied in Indonesian) and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang (who studied in the United States) for a “comprehensive partnership” (kemitraan komprehensif) which specifically covers education and provides money and a general strategy but not many details.

But the Access event on 3-4 April — attended by US Ambassador Scot Marciel — proves that third parties like the Sampoerna Foundation have an important role to play in the hoped-for turnaround. Having accumulated too many fortunes to spend in a lifetime, Putra Sampoerna  — another famous US-schooled Indonesian – oversaw the sale of his family’s tobacco empire to Phillip Morris and moved directly into education.

Now it seems the vision and resources of the Sampoerna Foundation are themselves sufficient to affect education trends in the world’s fourth largest country, although we’ll have to wait to see the results. Without too much to offer visitors in terms of refreshments or entertainment, visitors at the Foundation’s palatial offices in the center of the banking district were dancing with energy from early morning until the last of the brochures were packed up around 6:30 PM.

The event was co-sponsored by the US Commercial Service, a unit of the US Mission to Indonesia which operates independently from the Embassy. The of USCS suggests that the US — like Australia and other countries — are amenable to viewing education as an export and Indonesia as an important market.

Case Study: Be flexible, send lot of applications, you’ll make it

“I thought I was pretty smart,” an accomplished Indonesian attorney told me last week.

My client holds an Indonesian master’s degree in law (MH) and has assists decision-makers at the highest levels within Indonesia’s legislative and judicial spheres. He contacted me when he learned that he was to become an Australian Leadership Awards recipient. Both of us regarded this as an excellent conclusion to his quest for educational 0pportunities overseas.

Pak Bambang (not his real name) has a firm handshake and infectious levels of positive energy. I asked to meet him for lunch because I was curious about what it took to win.

He summed up the process of identifying and going after suitable opportunities by noting that it was more involved and competitive than he had expected. “The [applications] process makes you realize that maybe you aren’t as smart as you think.”

I hadn’t met in person with this client for over a year year. Over excellent Javanese food — sedikit manis juga tapi pas — we chatted about the winding road that leads from Indonesia to top educational opportunities around the world.

What does it take to get a “dream” opportunity?

All it really takes is a dream and a lot of patience — I think that’s a fair recap. For a few years Bambang has had two full-time jobs — doing legal research and policy work and applying to PhD programs. Now, upon seeing the excellent results of his twenty-first application, he is preparing to move his family to Australia and go back to school.

Completing application requirements is time consuming. Generally, Indonesian academics have a wide range of choice in terms of what country, which university, what degree, which program?  Reviewing and negotiating the offers you receive in response to your applications also takes takes time.

The Australian Leadership Awards is a prestigious and highly competitive program whose aim is to  promote Indonesian development and Australian-Indonesian bilateral relations. As an award recipient, Bambang will advance Indonesian legal scholarship (in the field of constitutional law) with academic backing from top Australian legal scholars and financial support from the Australian government.

And his family is happy with the results, too. They’ll be close enough to visit Indonesia often.

I asked Bambang about effort expended and results realized.

“There were some very exciting opportunities for me in the US. But where was the funding? New Zealand has lovely things for me. But I would have to wait another year for those. Canada, England, Holland? Yes. Many opportunities. I applied for everything.

“Of course there are a lot of tests and deadlines. You can’t give up. That’s what I learned.

So, it seems shopping for a PhD is like shopping for a laptop: you’ll want to make sure you have some good options to chose from, keep an eye on costs, give yourself a time frame, and don’t run out of energy.

Shopping for a PhD — considerations & decisions

If you were a constitutional law specialist wishing to pursue higher education overseas at the s3/ PhD level, you would probably consider the following:

Indonesian law is rooted in Dutch law. And that’s why many Indonesians go to Holland for legal study. Scholarship there is conducted in English (which is the preferred second language for the candidate in this case study). The US and Australia have both played key roles in pioneering the practice of judicial review (the work of a constitutional court judge). But the Netherlands legal system doesn’t recognize judicial review (however, Indonesia does). At the same time, neither the US nor Australia have a court which is dedicated entirely to constitutional matters (ie, a constitutional court). Germany  — now — does have a constitutional court (and so does Indonesia). And Germany is a key partner in Indonesian law reform. But research at German universities is usually conducted in German. (But Bambang doesn’t intend to do research in German.)

And it is in this context that we hear the solid advice, “Don’t get frustrated. Just keep applying.”

So where is the strategy?

1) In your mind, define your expectations as broadly as possible. (EG, I want to study constitutional law overseas at the s3 level.)

2) In your applications, however, define your objectives narrowly so your application will fit the needs and expectations of the universities and programs you apply to. (EG, example, I would like to study at this university with Professor Brightstar because he is the best in the world in this field.)

3) Trends develop very quickly in the educational market, just like any other. Candidates, however, have relatively limited access to information about these changes.  So even if you aren’t getting the results you want, it makes sense to keep trying, because changes may have occurred.

4) Expect improvements. Do you remember the first time you bought a durian or watermelon? Today you’re probably a little better at this. Shopping for a PhD will get easier over time. So you may as well start now. After you send 3 or 4 applications, you’ll know a lot more about what to expect — a lot of writing, a little stress as the deadline approaches, some of the same questions asked again and again (your answers should improve). You will soon be in a position to make a good purchase.

5) Go ahead and track the costs. Ideally you will find they are less than the benefits. For Bambang the magic number was 21 applications. (If I’m not mistaken, that’s exactly the same number of applications I sent when I applied for my Juris Doctor degree (S2) .  Yes, DHL can be pretty expensive — especially if you wait until the last minute. But just think what an Australian Leadership Award could do you for your career. It may be worth another 30 or 40 dollars.

US and Australia both pioneered