Admissions Counsellors

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by President, Jun 26, 2010.

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  1. President

    President New Member

    I've applied to many American and Canadian universities and colleges and words cannot express how annoying I find their admissions counsellors.

    • They don't know what A levels are. If anyone in North America should know what A levels are, it's admissions counsellors. Sometimes, instead of finding out, they'll completely ignore the issue and just ask if I have a GED. No, I'm a Briton living in Pakistan, where would I get a sodding GED? Even the schools that brag about their international student body on their front page are like this.
    • They're too friendly. I send them a very polite "Dear Sir/Madam, blah blah, Yours Sincerely" email and they send back a "Hi first name! My name is something ridiculous like Krystall. blah blah Have a great day! Krystall Jones". I don't think they realise the awkward position this puts me in. I either have to use that dreaded invented honorific "Ms." or use their first name and be just like them. That makes me uncomfortable. It's not good business to make potential customers uncomfortable.
    • General ignorance of geography. One said that West Africa is a country and another said that citizens of Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales don't have to submit a TOEFL score. Note that England isn't included in that. So English people have to take a TOEFL exam to go to that college, but Canadians don't. This looks bad to those of us who have ever left the town of our birth.

    Now that my rant is over, feel free to poke holes in it.
     
  2. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    I think your problem is you're mistaking admissions counselors for people who want to genuinely help you make the best choice of school, and ensure a good fit between student and school.

    Today's admissions counselors, at most of the schools that market themselves, are little more than car salesmen. Many work on commission (or some form of commission, since directly paying for enrollment is illegal, I'm told.) So it doesn't surprise me that they are neither aware of the issues, nor understand some of the most basic issues in academia.

    And I am increasingly convinced that even among some of the oldest and best-known schools that some of the same issues are starting to occur.
     
  3. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    US colleges do sometimes accept A levels as lower division college courses. But you may have to go through a service such as Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) to get them evaluated. http://www.ece.org/

    The GED signifies that you graduated from high school in the USA. Since I attended a UK high school there was no such designation but I attended a UK technical college and earned certificates which were later accepted by a US university for admission and credit (after review by ECE).




    This is a common way that business is conducted in the USA. I work with clients in the EU and take care to be more formal in my business communications. If you ever lived in the UK then I'm sure you had to adapt to the Pakistan culture. Likewise you have to adapt to the USA culture when communicating with colleges there.


    Also: I do not think you will have an insurmountable problem with English. Your English writing is excellent (better some UK and USA people I know).
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 26, 2010
  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Prepare to feel silly in 3... 2... 1...
    :D
     
  5. President

    President New Member

    Briton |ˈbritn|
    noun
    1 a citizen or native of Great Britain.
    • a person of British descent.
    2 one of the people of southern Britain before and during Roman times.
    ORIGIN from Old French Breton, from Latin Britto, Britton-, or its Celtic equivalent.
     

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