Applying to Grad School - International Students

Hello, Welcome everybody.

My name is Jessica Host. I'm part of the mission team here at the University of Illinois, Springfield. Before we get into the presentation today, I have a couple of housekeeping items to go over so that you are all aware this webinar is being recorded and will be made available for viewing. So don't feel like you need to take frantic notes and write everything down. Within your share screen you'll see that there is a closed captioning option. It's in the bar top right corner, right next to it is a option to make the video full screen if you'd like that as well.

If you need to re sync your audio or video at any point in time, just refresh the browser and that should clear things up. Also we'd love to hear your questions in chat. Feel free to post those throughout. We're going to be looking at questions at the end of the sessions. We will put those on pause until later and then we'll go through those. I know there are lots of people on today which is absolutely wonderful. We're happy to have you here. With that I want to introduce Dr. Jonathan Pierce from our international admissions program. Thank you Jonathan for joining us today.

Are you able to hear me?

Able to hear? Yes.

OK, very good. Want to make sure my volume is set correctly.

Well, welcome everyone to the International Graduate Admission Information Session. My name is Jonathan Pierce. I'm the Assistant Director of International Recruitment here at UIS. I'm grateful that you joined today's session. Look forward to providing some information that you may need as you progress with your admissions application. Some of my colleagues from US have joined the meeting as well and they're available to answer questions in the chat. But if you don't mind, I'll just keep. I will probably answer those questions towards the end of the session as well.

And don't provide any personally identifiable information in the chat as we go along.

Now here's my contact information. The QR code that you see on screen there directs you to the application link to submit an admissions application, and the e-mail address you see is the best way to connect with me International Dash Admissions at uis.edu.

Now, during today's session, I'm going to cover some of the common questions regarding the admission cycle now, whether you have already applied or if you intend to apply in the future. I'll provide information about the application process for graduate students and discuss the requirements, and I'll share details about available scholarships and funding for graduate students as well.

Now, as you see on the map to the left, the state of Illinois is into dark blue on the map. It is centrally located in what is known as the Midwest part of the United States. On this map you see two of the main entry points for international students. The first one is Chicago to the north and then Saint Louis to the South.

These are approximately about an hour and a half. Saint Louis is about an hour and a half from Springfield, and Chicago is about a three hour drive or train ride. So many international students will visit these cities during the weekends or during breaks. Our campus is about 3 square kilometers with many outdoor and peaceful activities to engage in. The city has sprinkled the population is about 114,000, which might seem like a small city for you if you're from a large city.

But we're very supportive of our international students, both here at UAS and within our community.

And we want to provide students with every opportunity to succeed.

Now UIS is a mid sized university in the capital city. We're well connected with Illinois government public policy and we have a tradition of educating public servants and leaders. Many of our alum transition to private or public service in the Springfield area.

We're not considered a research one university, but we have research opportunities in part because of our connections to public servants and business leaders. We are a liberal arts institution that prepares students to function in today's complex world.

And we prepare students with workplace skills that are transferable and practical in their employment. You'll develop a sense of social responsibility in your local and broader worldwide community now within the Springfield area and within the state government. More than 25% of our workforce are UAS alum, and this provides great opportunities for network networking and for internships as well.

Now UIS is accredited by a regional accrediting body called the Higher Learning Commission. As you consider various university options throughout the US, it is important to note that university is regionally accredited. This involves a high vetting process and high standards for the education they provide. Unfortunately, there are some universities that are not accredited, so coursework or even degrees from those universities may not be recognized or transferable. And UAS is part of the University of Illinois system made-up of three sister schools that provide a world class education. The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign is the largest, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from Springfield, University of Illinois, Chicago, located within the City of Chicago and US the University of Illinois, Springfield. Now each university operates independently from each other with their own application, admissions process and with different programs and we do not share documents between the universities.

We are a very student focused campus with small classrooms which offers many opportunities for students to have direct contact with faculty who will work with students, and therefore faculty can provide a richer and more engaging learning experience directly related to your degree subject. On average, our student to faculty ratio is 13 to one. While we have some large classrooms, we don't typically hold large lecture halls with hundreds of students, which makes your learning environment more personalized. Now all of our degrees are housed in four different colleges, the College of Business and Management, College of Health Science and Technology, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, College of Public Affairs and Education, and when you apply to UAS as a graduate student, you're applying.

To one of those specific colleges or to one of those specific programs?

Now students are frequently asked what's the difference between undergraduate and graduate studies. In the United States, undergraduate studies lead to a bachelor degree. You can apply the first time, first year student if you will complete or have completed a high school diploma or have not earned at any university level, Coursework or credit. If you have some university credit but have not earned A banshee degree yet, you can apply as a transfer student, but you'll be working towards completing a bachelor's degree. Graduate studies at UIS and universities throughout the United States is for students who have completed or will complete an equivalent to AUS. Bachelor's degree in the graduate program will lead to masters or doctoral degree. So be mindful of these differences as you submit your application based on coursework that you have already completed.

Now our on campus classes are taught in Springfield. We offer over 60 programs and over 40 graduate programs, including one doctoral program. Students who are admitted to on campus programs are eligible for F1 student visa. Students who are admitted to online programs are not eligible for F1 student visa since they are studying from outside of the US The benefit of online programs is that you can earn the UIS degree from anywhere around the world and from the comfort of your own home. Now online classes are taught by the same faculty who teach on campus, enriching the learning experience and giving you access to the same faculty who teach on campus. In the online environment. We offer 15 undergraduate programs and 16 graduate programs.

And I'll discuss your options in more detail later in the presentation.

Now regarding the admissions requirements, the graduate application process is different than our undergraduate. There's a minimum GPA requirement of 2.5 out of a 4.0 scale for full admission. But Please note that some programs have even higher GPA requirements, so be mindful of different program specific requirements as you apply. Some programs have course specific prerequisites and may require writing samples or letters for recommendation. Now the graduate application fee is $75 and there are no waivers provided. We recognize that the application fees and for transcript evaluation fees are expensive, but those are investments in your education and those are required for the application process.

Now, after you apply, that is when we begin to require some of the other specific requirements, for example, the user proficiency requirement. If you are from a country whose language is not English as an official language, there are several different English proficiency exams that students can take, including IELTS, TOEFL, Duolingo, and several others as well. So pay close attention to those options that are available now in terms of transcript evaluations and transcript submissions we must receive.

Official transcripts directly from your college or university. We cannot accept students copies. We must have received the official ones directly from your schools.

Now, as far as transcripts evaluation, those have to be completed as part of the admissions process as well. Now there are two options. If you are applying only to UIS, your better option is probably to use a UIS staff member to evaluate those transcripts, and for that service there is a required $150.00 fee. If, on the other hand, if you're applying to multiple universities, then your better option would be to utilize a Nancy's Member Evaluation service.

They all charge their own individual transcript evaluation fees, and oftentimes they charge per transcript, but then they're able to share that evaluation with multiple universities that you're applying to.

Now here's a little more information about transcript evaluation requirement. So your official transcripts must be sent to the university. As I discussed earlier, there's $150.00 credential fee for a UIS staff member. And then here's information about the Macy's member evaluation and the various options that we have available, such as educational credential evaluations, educational perspectives, internal education.

Educators.

Bantran World Education Services. Those are some of the approved members that we accept transcript evaluations from.

Now, in terms of the English proficiency requirement, we accept TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo, Pte and many others and. But those scores must be sent directly from the testing agency to UIS. So we cannot accept a student's copy of the reports. And on our website we do list the various countries and their official languages. So if you are from a country whose official language is English, then that particular requirement will be waived.

And you will not be required to submit an English proficiency exam result.

Now in terms of funding your education, there are different opportunities for graduate students. For we have graduate assistantships now those are positions that are located on campus and they may be based on research, teaching or some type of pre professional experience. The benefit of those is that it offers a tuition waiver of up to 30 credit hours and we do provide a monthly stipend as well. Now the application deadline for to be eligible for an assistant ship for the fall semester.

March 15th and June 1st for the second round of review for the spring semester, it's N1. There are some limitations of regarding graduate assistantships. If you are working with one of our UIS agencies, recruitment agencies or partners, you're probably not going to be eligible for graduate assistantships. Keep in mind also that assistantships are competitive and they're not guaranteed, in fact only about 20 to 25% of all students.

Receive an assistantship or an internship.

Now, the other option is gradual public service internships, and these are positions within the greater Springfield community with local and state government organizations or nonprofit organizations as well.

They provide a 24 credit hour tuition waiver as well as a $1200 monthly stipend for fall and summer terms. The application deadline for internships is May 1st for the fall semester and November 1st for the spring semester.

And again, within internships, as with the assistantships, these are competitive and they're based on academic background and previous work experience that students have.

Well, that concludes my presentation. I appreciate you all being with us today. I would entertain any questions or comments that you have at this time. Perhaps I'll be able to answer some of those. My colleague Rebecca Johnson is monitoring the chat feature, so feel free to place your questions there and we'll go through those one at a time.

It appears that we have no questions posted in the chat. So again, if you have follow up questions, feel free to e-mail me at internationaldasadmissions@uis.edu. That's the best way to connect with me. Either I or my assistant Camille will reply to your questions and we'll provide guidance as you apply and submit the application requirements. And once again, the QR code here is for the online application, so please take note of that and if we can help you any further.

Please contact me via e-mail. Thank you so much for connecting with us today. We appreciate your time and we look forward to working with you.