Educational fit: The sequel.... or Why paying a recruiter $3,000 USD to help with your university application is crazy

In my previous post I wrote about how international students say they want to attend Harvard and other prestigious universities. Then, I included a statistic about 25% of Chinese students who attend Ivy league universities drop out of their schools before earning their degrees. I also shared stories about four university students from China and Inner Mongolia, the schools they attended, and why those schools ended up being the right fit for the students.

Knowing so many international students fall into the trap of attending a university because of its name rather than looking for the best educational fit, the big question we ought to be asking is how did Charlie, Miriam, Sam, and Jack find the right fit when so many other students do not? Or, asked another way, what should international scholars be looking for when they are considering American colleges and universities?

Certainly, this is a complicated question because the answer varies from person to person. However, the simple answer is that scholars should be looking for a university or college that meets their needs. If paying for education is a major concern, scholars should be looking for schools that have lower tuition rates or who offer significant scholarships to international scholars. Community colleges like Delaware County Community College and Bucks County Community College have very affordable tuition rates that are considerably lower than four year universities. Rosemont College, a four year college, recently reduced their tuition rate to make it more affordable for more students. (Delaware County Community College, Bucks County Community College, and Rosemont College are three of our partner colleges.

Scholars who are studying in the US for the first time might be wise to consider a smaller school where they can receive personalized attention and have direct access to their professors on a regular basis. Large universities with classes that can have 300-500 scholars per professor can be overwhelming to students who may have difficulty with understanding the academic language. But smaller schools are able to provide more personalized attention to international scholars who are new to the US.

Students, like Sam, who study in the US for high school are able to experience the academic immersion in the English language and are able to adjust to the cultural differences between the US and their home countries. They also can visit college campuses and speak with college representatives who can answer their questions and guide them to the right college or university for them.

Scholars should consider the geographic location of the university. Universities located near in or near large cities are probably also located near airports and other forms of mass transit that make travel easier. Additionally, universities in or near large cities may allow scholars to find areas of cultural familiarity nearby.

To sort through all the available universities in the US to find the right fit, many scholars enlist the assistance of a recruiter or agent in their home countries. We have observed two main problems with many agents or recruiters. First, agents and recruiters charge up to $3,000 per university application for their assistance, but they are unable to guarantee admission to the university. Scholars may pay $10,000 or more on assistance with their applications with no guarantee of admission. Second, agents and recruiters frequently do not know about smaller, regional universities that may be a great fit for students, pushing the students instead to larger, nationally known universities that may not be the right fit.

Of course, I am biased, but I think it is insane to pay a recruiter up to $3,000 for assistance on a university application, especially since we provide that service to ALL scholars enrolled with Scholars’ Promise International for free. Want to apply to 10 universities? We will help with all ten applications for free.

We also go a step further and guarantee admission for all our graduates to all our partner colleges and universities. We have only partnered with schools we know will be good fits for our international scholars.  
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Take a look at Scholars’ Promise International for your high school studies and for guaranteed university admissions. We are not the right fit for everyone, but I’ll bet we are the right fit for you!