International Student News

Issue 125 - July 2009

An InternationalStudent.com Publication

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Welcome to the 125th edition of the International Student News!

 

With only around six weeks or less before many students will be attending orientation for the first time, or will be heading back to campus for the start of the school year - there is so much to do and organize that it can seem overwhelming!

 

We have put together some tips and hints to help you prepare and plan over the next few weeks - and if you have any question drop us a line via email, our forums, our blogs or even through Facebook and Twitter!

 

Ross Mason

Editor, InternationalStudent.com

Facebook | Twitter | Blogs | Forum

 

> Student Health Insurance

undecided student insurance

Faced with the prospect of having to either search for your own health insurance plan, or pay the high fees that are often associated with your school's plan, many international students get frustrated at this time of year. Searching through endless health insurance policies is hard at the best of times, but especially now when you have so many other things to prepare in time for the new semester.....

 

Catering only to the needs of international students, International Student Insurance makes insurance easy to understand and takes the guess work out of questions like "What does the insurance cover?" and "Will it meet my school's requirements?"

 

Your first steps should be:

  1. Visit our School Requirements Database
    This database provides you with a comprehensive listing of schools in the USA and tells you if our plans will meet your school's requirements.

  2. Contact our Customer Support Team
    If you have any questions or need help with your insurance waiver form, give us a call (telephone or skype), send us an email or chat to us live via instant message.

With all our plans you can also apply directly online, and we offer instant fufillment so you can print all your details off immediately for proof of insurance. For further details, or to start the process of purchasing our international insurance plan, please see the International Student Insurance website.

 

> Semester Preparations

Making sure you prepare as much as you can for the new semester will help you enjoy it that much more, and hopefully, reduce your stress levels somewhat as you get ready for your time abroad. Now is the time to take a few moments to think through the most important things and make sure they are all in place. This includes:

 

Is everything in place for your student visa?

Have you booked your accomodation for your first few nights?

Do you have health insurance?

Do you have copies of your passport picture page in a safe place?

 

All these questions and more are answered in our "Preparing for a New Semester" posting which outlines the main areas you need to be concerned with - along with a host of useful tips and hints to make life easier for you.

 

> Student News from Around the World

Top Financial Finds 2010 - US Colleges

 

Shopping for a college education in the US is like shopping for anything else.  You want to find the highest quality, and the right fit for the education you want, all at the best price.  Choosing a college is not an easy process, especially for international students.  Take a look at this blog post from the Readers Digest, featuring money-saving tips as well as the following 7 schools that are financial bargains in comparison to their competitors:

 

Cooper-Union (New York City, New York)

Elon University (Elon, North Carolina)

Iowa University (Iowa City, Iowa)

William and Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia)

Olin College of Engineering (Needham, Massachusetts)

Warren Wilson College (Asheville, North Carolina)

SUNY - Binghamton (Binghamton, New York)

We also have a lot of information for international students trying to select a college in the USA in the Study USA section of InternationalStudent.com.

 

> From the Mailbag

The International Student Forums and Message Board are a great way for students and advisors to interact with each other to share advice and pass along knowledge. Our forums currently have over 5,000 members and nearly 7,000 posts have been submitted - we welcome you all to join us!

 

This month we are highlighting a message from a student who has asked for help and thoughts on what learning pathway to choose:

Hi everybody! I am writing to ask for advice about my future educational major. I am graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Kerman university in Iran with 3.06 out of 4 GPA and manged to attain 7 Academic IELTS overall score.

I have doubts about selecting between three ways to continue my education :
1) Master (postgraduate course) of Mechanical Engineering.
2) Master (postgraduate course) of Civil Engineering.
3) Bachelor of Civil Engineering.

Since I am interested in both mentioned majors. But job opportunities and future prospects are also very important to me. According to these factors, Would you mind informing me that which one could be the best choice?

If you can offer any insight, visit our forums and post your response:

http://www.internationalstudentforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7686

 

> Fun Site of the Month - Instructables.com

You've got to visit Instructables.com to really understand what they're all about, but we'll try. In their own words:

 

"Instructables is a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others. The seeds of Instructables germinated at the MIT Media Lab as the future founders of Squid Labs built places to share their projects and help others."

 

Whatever. We like it because it shows you how to build cool stuff - like marshmallow guns, jello fuel cells, vertical vegetables and teeny robots. You'll like it, too.

 

http://www.Instructables.com

 

> How to save money on College Textbooks

In keeping with this month's theme, we want to help you deal with an issue that our Facebook Fans tell us is one of the biggest as you head back to school - How do you save money when it comes to college textbooks?

 

You need to do a lot of reading in college, and often you will need to use a certain number of books over and over again - so taking them out from the library is not the easiest, especially with the 100 other people in your class after the same book! Purchasing books can also be pretty expensive, BUT.....there are ways to purchase cheap books and the Cheap College Texbook eBook is your guide on how to do this!

 

The eBook is packed full of useful help and advice - and is must for any student looking to save some money on college books so download it today.

 

> Update on International Student Loan Availability

As the fall semester approaches, and the level of inquiries that we receive about international student loans peaks, its a good time to review the state of play in the market for international student loans. Much has changed in the past year.

The credit crunch and economic crisis continues to impact the availability of international student loans. There are many fewer lenders providing private loans to international students than there were a year ago. Underwriting and credit criteria have gotten tougher, and school lists have shrunk.

 

Read the rest of the update on the International Financial Aid Blog.

 

> Last Word

We hope you enjoyed this month's newsletter, and best of luck to you as you pursue or help others pursue an international education! As always please contact us with any questions or comments you have about the newsletter - we love to hear from you!

1101 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 900, Washington, DC 20036 - USA

 

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