By Marty Bennett

Planning to attend a university or college in America? You need someone who understands how to help students from your country search for the right school. You need tips for how to express your ideas and dreams in your application essays. You need someone who can help you navigate the financial aid process. And you need someone who can help you prepare your student visa application.

In more than 400 locations around the world, you’ll find EducationUSA Advising Centers where professional, caring advisers are trained to help you attain your goals. They’ll take you step-by-step through the entire admission process, explaining procedures in terms familiar to you, usually in your own language. Their knowledge is cutting-edge, and they are sensitive to what works for students from your culture. They will help you maximize your chances of admission, and they’ll keep you from making mistakes that could leave you behind.

How to locate them

Six questions to help you make a wise choice

By Adrienne Jerram

Not all universities are the same, some are small and aim to prepare you for a specialist career and others are larger and have a range of study choices. Some are located in the country, others in the urban jungle. Some are traditional, others more modern. So, how do you narrow your choice? Start by asking yourself these questions.

What do you want to be “when you grow up”? A doctor, a lawyer...a priest?? Do you need a degree in order to fulfil your dreams?

There are some careers for which formal training and a degree is an absolute must. Would you be willing to see a doctor who hadn’t learnt the mechanics of the human body? How about employing an architect to build your house who had never seen a floor plan before? Hmm...I didn’t think so. So if you want to become a doctor, an architect, an accountant, an engineer, a dentist or any of those jobs for which highly-specialised skills are needed then the answer to the question above is straightforward.

In April, we asked future international students to tell their stories. We wanted to hear about their backgrounds, educational goals and their interests. The Tell Your Story competition was a huge hit and we learned a lot from our student community. We debuted a compilation video of those stories at NAFSA with one message to universities: GlobalCampus students have talent.

Differences between education systems

The world of international education is fascinating, but may also be very confusing for those who just started the university search. The differences from country to country can be quite subtle but some ‘details’ may change entirely whether one option is better suited for you than another.

The first thing to have in mind when choosing where to study is that not all the national education systems are the same.