|
LINDEN LETTER
May 11, 2006
1. Report on the Spring Tours
2. Washington Program 2006
3. Fall 2006
4. NAFSA
5. Linden News
Dear Friends:
We hope to see you at NAFSA. Booth 521.
1. Report on the Spring Tours
We completed 5 successful tours this spring and
still have one tour on the road. We would like to share
some of the highlights of the season with you. Full
reports can be found on the site.
India
The tour visited Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi over
a period of 9 days. In that time we hosted three large
university fairs, met with students and key educational
professionals in each city.
At each fair, students could attend individual seminars
on U.S. undergraduate and graduate education, and in
Mumbai the U.S. Consulate was on hand to give a presentation
on student visas. Students were very appreciative of
the presence of the consulate, and all of the presentations
were well attended.
The spring tour also saw the addition of more university
level visits than in the past for those tour-participants
hoping to recruit more graduate students. For the first
time, the Linden Tour visited the campuses of Vidyalankar
Institute of Technology, RV College of Engineering,
the Institute of Management and Technology (Ghaziabad),
and the GGS Indraprastha University.
Southeast Asia
The spring tour to Southeast Asia began in Singapore,
stopped in Kuala Lumpur and ended in Bangkok. We were
delighted to see a continued effort on the part of U.S.
embassies to support our efforts in recruiting. We were
pleased to have the Deputy Chief of Mission for the
U.S. Embassy in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur speak to
the group and thank us for our efforts in recruiting.
In addition, the Consuls for Non-Immigrant Visas made
a point of contributing to the briefings in both Singapore
and Kuala Lumpur. In addition to the embassy support,
we worked with the Department of Commerce and the State
Department Educational Advising Offices.
Tour members were able to have substantive conversations
with both students and parents at each of the fairs
and the strong presence of the parents everywhere is
a good reminder of the seriousness of the students in
Asia.
Northeast Asia
We visited Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo in eight days;
interacted with counselors, educational advisers and
placement agents; had briefings in China and Korea;
participated in two public university fairs, one fair
for the Department of Defense juniors in Tokyo, and
three fairs for secondary school students; visited 17
institutions; and hosted a Networking Event. Additionally,
at each of the Linden University fairs, tour members
gave panel presentations about the admissions process.
Northeast Asia remains a significant market for international
students looking to the United States. China, Japan
and South Korea remain among the top-10 sending countries
and the economic boom in China is a good indication
that the market will remain steady.
Latin America
Thirteen tour members from eleven universities traveled
to five different countries on the Spring 2006 Linden
Tour to Latin America. Three additional universities
joined us at some of the fairs. We saw a number of well-prepared,
academically talented, prospective undergraduate students
as well as some strong graduate candidates. Overall,
the quality of the students was very high and tour members
were able to have some good conversations, especially
in Tegucigalpa, Quito and Lima.
Since this was our first time visiting the Honduras,
we were very pleased to see the high level of interest
that the students and parents demonstrated in studying
in the US. Although financial aid may be a factor here,
the students are dedicated and well prepared. Honduras
definitely merits a return visit.
Mexico
The universities on the Linden Spring Tour to Mexico
traveled to Monterrey and Guadalajara, two of the country’s
major cities, before joining the full Latin America
Tour beginning in Mexico City. During this short week,
we saw slightly over 500 students and interacted with
15 professionals in international education.
As this was Linden’s first one-country-focus tour
in Latin America, our goal was to find out about these
cities, meet local contacts and set up networks and
see as many outstanding students/candidates as we could,
both at the undergraduate and graduate level. The itinerary
provided for exciting professional and cultural events
and the tour members would like us to continue one-country
tours, particularly to Colombia and Brazil.
Art and Design - Latin America
A small group of art and design schools is currently
traveling in Latin America. They have visited Brazil,
Chile and Ecuador and are now in Venezuela. At each
stop they are visiting schools and hosting a public
fair for portfolio reviews. They have found many of
the students in Latin America to be very focused and
talented. The tour has been very successful in Brazil
and Ecuador, but found the response in Chile disappointing.
We will await their return before the final review.
2. Washington Program 2006
The Washington Program facilitates international
recruitment efforts by introducing U.S. universities
to key people and organizations involved in international
education in Washington, DC.
The program, now in its 14th year, offers visits to
embassies and meetings with U.S. government officials
and non-government organizations. This year, we invited
college counselors and educational advisers from Saudi
Arabia and Turkey to join us and share their expertise
on their countries and institutions with us.
Highlights this year included individual appointments
at the Saudi Embassy for all the participants and the
wonderful hospitality displayed by the Turkish Embassy.
3. Fall 2006
The deadline for fall tour applications is approaching.
Early response to the tours has been very strong, and
we are looking forward to great fall recruiting season.
You can visit the web site to read about the tours and
to access the application.
4. NAFSA
We look forward to seeing many of you at NAFSA.
Please stop by our booth - #521- to see us. We are really
pleased the entire staff including JoBeth Brudner and
Greg Walker will be at the conference to talk to you
about the fall tours.
We also want you to know that NAFSA presentations given
by the Linden staff as well as summaries of the surveys
that went out for other presentations will be posted
on the site after the conference.
5. Linden News
It is with a great deal of regret that we have to
inform you that after three years at Linden, Anita Narayan
is leaving us to go to graduate school at George Washington
University. Anita has been a dedicated professional
with a keen eye for detail, and she has managed to keep
all of our publications and advertising on track in
an efficient and seemingly effortless manner.
We will miss her a great deal, but we are very happy
that she is moving forward to pursue her graduate degree
since it is something she has been thinking about for
quite some time. We are also delighted that she can
stay with us through the summer and that she will be
remaining in Washington DC. We know you join us in wishing
her all the best in her next endeavor.
Darryl Calkins & Kathy Harrington
Executive Directors
Linden Educational Services
4201 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 600
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: 202-237-0164; Fax: 202-237-0176
www.lindentours.com
|
