USA UNIVERSITY

Texas A & M

Introduction:

Texas A&M University, often called A&M or TAMU, is a coeducational public research University located in College Station, the University is centrally located, approximately equidistant from three of the 10 largest cities in the United States (Houston, Dallas and San Antonio) and the state capitol (Austin).

It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. It opened on October 4, 1876 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, the first public institution of higher education in the state. In 1963, the Texas Legislature renamed the school to Texas A&M University to reflect the institution's expanded roles and academic offerings. The letters "A&M" no longer have any explicit meaning, but are retained as a link to the university's past. Bustling 5,000-acre campus with 46,000-plus students and a nationally recognized faculty. Texas A&M has two branch campuses, one in Galveston, Texas, and one in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. There's access to world-class research programs and award-winning faculty.

Academics:
With more than 120 undergraduate degree programs for students to choose from, Texas A&M University has one of the ten largest student bodies in the nation — and the largest outside a major metropolitan area. Texas A&M offers a comprehensive selection of 240 master's and Ph.D. degree programs and the only Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) in Texas. Numerous programs have earned top rankings by U.S. News and World Report and other organizations. The university's academic and social support networks are focused on helping students succeed. Texas A&M's ability to produce effective leaders with extraordinary character, integrity, and a "can-do" attitude, truly sets it apart from other universities. At Texas A&M, students have a wealth of opportunity to pursue their lifelong career goals. Many of Texas A&M's degree programs are ranked in the top 10 nationally.
The ten colleges making up Texas A&M University are as follows:

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
College of Architecture.
College of Education and Human Development.
College of Geosciences.
College of Liberal Arts.
College of Science.
College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dwight Look College of Engineering.
George Bush School of Government and Public Service.
Mays Business School.


Admissions:
To apply to the university the student needs to submit a completed application form, along with the required test scores like SAT / GRE / GMAT TOEFL depending on the course requirement, transcripts, recommendation letters, statement of purpose and all other required documents as per the University. Once all the documents are received they will be reviewed by the university and the decision will be informed to the students.

Scholarships and Financial Aid:
The Regents Scholarship is offered to assist students in achieving their educational goals at Texas A&M University. International students are not eligible for this scholarship. Generally it is difficult to get scholarships for international students. Generally students applying for Doctoral programs are preferred for any type of assistanceship or scholarships.


Costs:
General expense for international students is approximately ranging between $26,000 – 30,000. Depending upon the course or department the fees may vary the fees is subject to change without notice. Students are expected to meet all financial obligations to the University by designated due dates. Failure to pay amounts owed may result in cancellation of the student's registration and their being barred from future enrollment and receiving official transcripts.
Library:
The University Library system includes the Sterling C. Evans Library, the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, the West Campus Library, the Policy Sciences and Economics Library, and the Medical Sciences Library.
The general academic library is the Sterling C. Evans Library. The bulk of the library collections and services are located in or near the Evans facility. Among these collections and services are the Humanities and Social Sciences Reference division, the Map Library, and the Administrative Offices.
Adjacent to it is the Evans Annex, a six-floor library addition that houses United States and Texas State documents, the Dwight Look Science and Engineering Reference Services section, the Educational and Media Services library, a student computing center, and an eight-level parking garage.
The Cushing Memorial Library and Archives is located on the west side of the Evans building. Constructed in 1930, it was the first freestanding library facility on campus and is now home to special collections, rare books, and the University Archives.
The West Campus Library houses collections and services supporting teaching and research in business as well as the agricultural and life sciences.
The Medical Sciences Library, also located on the West campus, supports teaching and research in human and veterinary medicine. It is located adjacent to the Reynolds Medical Building.



Housing:
There are two types of housing at Texas A&M, on-campus and off-campus. Both types each have their strong points, but it's up to students to decide which the suitable option for them is.

ON-CAMPUS HOUSING
Living on campus is a wonderful opportunity to learn how to live in a community of individuals with different interests, cultures, lifestyles and attributes. The residence hall staff helps the students adjust to a living and learning community that will enhance their academic, personal and educational successes. Accepting the responsibility for making good decisions, practicing good citizenship and developing a tolerance for the values of others will help ensure success at Texas A&M.
OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING
Living off-campus can be just as enriching as on-campus. You will have more freedom in where and who you live with, but you will also have more responsibilities involved with living off-campus.
Other Facilities:
Texas A&M University has more than 800 student organizations on campus, so there is truly something for everyone. The University put a great emphasis on sports. The University sports include Archery, Baseball ,Cross Country ,Diving ,Equestrian ,Football Men's Basketball, Men's Golf ,Men's Swimming ,Men's Tennis ,Soccer ,Softball ,Track and Field, Volleyball ,Women's Basketball ,Women's Golf ,Women's Swimming and Women's Tennis.

Texas A&M University is dedicated to the discovery, development, communication, and application of knowledge in a wide range of academic and professional fields. Its mission of providing the highest quality undergraduate and graduate programs is inseparable from its mission of developing new understandings through research and creativity. It prepares students to assume roles of leadership, responsibility, and service to society.

USA UNIVERSITY

Stanford University

Introduction:
The Leland Stanford Junior University commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States. The university was founded in 1885 by former California governor and Senator Leland Stanford and his wife. The Stanfords used their farm lands in Palo Alto to establish the university hoping to create a large institution of higher education in California. Bordering Palo Alto and Silicon Valley, Stanford is less than one hour from San Francisco, redwood forests and the beaches along the Pacific Ocean. The sprawling campus, which at 8,180 acres is among the biggest in the United States, also provides its own unique beauty.


Stanford is deeply committed to enrolling a student body that includes students from around the world. Stanford University enrolls many international students every year. The university is divided into a number of schools such as the Stanford Business School, Stanford Law School, Stanford School of Medicine, and Stanford School of Engineering. Stanford is recognized as one of the world’s leading universities. Their renowned professors offer students a remarkable range of academic courses that are paired with an extraordinary breadth of extracurricular activities and opportunities for research, independent study and public service.

International students have been always an integral part of the university from its inception.. The interactions among students with different backgrounds and experiences create a dynamic environment in which to learn and live. The admission process at Stanford is thorough and carefully considers the backgrounds of each applicants and how they may impact and contribute to the University campus.

Academics:
Schools
Three of Stanford's seven schools offer undergraduate and graduate programs: Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Humanities & Sciences. The other four offer graduate programs: Business, Education, Law and Medicine. Graduate degrees are offered in more than 60 departments and programs in seven schools.





Admission Requirements:
Undergraduate Admissions:
Most undergraduate students enroll at Stanford as freshmen (first-year students) upon completing twelve years of elementary and secondary schooling. Those who have not attended another university must apply as freshmen, even if they have had 13 years of schooling. An applicant applies to Stanford through the Office of Undergraduate Admission, not to a particular school or department within the University. Stanford does not give preference to any major. All students, freshmen and those transferring from another university may enter only in the Fall Semester.

The SAT I or the ACT is required of all undergraduate applicants. University does not accept substitutions, and applications without scores from one of these tests will not be considered. It is recommended that students make arrangements to take the required tests well in advance of application deadlines. It is unlikely that scores from tests taken after deadlines will arrive in the office in time for review process. If English is not the student’s primary language, students should take the (TOEFL) Test of English as a Foreign Language test, the results of the test helps the University to further gauge the ability of the student to write and understand English.

Graduate Admissions:

Graduate students applying for any masters needs to fulfill the prerequisites of each department along with that they need to prepare for the following list of documents these are generic requirements some departments may also want some specific documents which students needs to provide.
· Statement of Purpose.
· Letters of Recommendation.
· Transcripts.
· All attested Mark sheets.
· Test Scores as applicable for e.g. Masters Students needs to give GRE & TOEFL.

University will not admit a student unless they are certain either that the student is self-funded or that they are able to provide financial aid. Unfortunately, some applicants are not offered admission simply because no funds are available even though they are otherwise well qualified.






Costs:
The estimated cost of attending Stanford University for one academic year of three quarters (September to June) for undergraduates is approximately ranging between 23,000 $ to 36,000 $ for a student. And for graduate is approximately ranging between 30,000 $ to 38,000 $ for a student.


Scholarships and Financial Aid:

Stanford University has limited financial aid resources for international students. Stanford can offer admission with financial aid to only about 40 applicants a year. Thus they admit only a small percentage of the hundreds of applicants who need financial aid, and the amount of aid needed will be a factor in the admission decision.

Admitted students demonstrating need according to the Financial Aid Office's uniform method of analysis will first receive a combination of student loans and eligibility for an on-campus job. If there is additional need beyond the self-help expectation, Stanford will offer a scholarship or grant to meet the remaining need. Financial aid recipients are expected to take substantial responsibility for financing their own education.


Housing:
A number of campus housing options are available to students: dormitory rooms, apartments, and cooperative houses. Single students and students who are attending Stanford without their spouse, partner, or children are eligible for assignment to Single Student Housing.

Library:
Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (SUL/AIR) develop and implements resources and services within the University libraries and academic technology units that support research and instruction. Faculty, staff, and registered students at the University may use the resources and services of the libraries. Information about library resources and services is available at all library service points in the University.

Other Activities:
The arts community thrives at Stanford with academic divisions in music, drama, art and dance offering classes, lectures, performances and exhibits. Numerous student groups also help the creative arts flourish on campus.
Stanford students work hard, and they play with equal energy and enthusiasm. From public service to performing arts, from intramural sports to student government, students take part in dozens of activities beyond the classroom.

Hotel Management

Hotels are easily the most favourite hangouts people now-a-days. Not only in day today affair but they even form a very part of peoples regular traveling. They are one of the most important aspects of a country's infrastructure.
With increasing globalisation, career opportunities in hotel industry are not only limited and increasing within the country but are also providing scopes of a career internationally as well. With the growth of hotel industry propelled by foreign and domestic tourism and business travel, the demand for well trained quality personnel too has grown impressively. Thus this industry has a bright future.

Hotel industry involves combination of various skills. A hotel consists of departments such as:
v General Operations which co ordinates and is responsible for staff management, financial control, provision of services, quality control and customer care.
v Front Office which takes care of receiving the guests, making room reservations, handling correspondence and preparing bills and keeping accounts of the guest services.
v House Keeping which is responsible for the work of keeping the hotel, the rooms, the bars, the restaurants etc. clean and making it presentable to the guests and ensuring facilities and comfort to them.
v Food and Beverages Department is responsible for all the food that is prepared and served in the hotel. The main functions performed by the department are- presentation, preparation and service of food and beverages involving kitchen, bar and baker.
v Accounting Department deals with all the financial transactions like purchase of materials, offering of services to the guests etc. This department also compiles information required for budgeting, pricing of food and services and so on.
v Sales & Marketing is responsible to maintain contacts with travel agents and tour operators as well as other potential corporate clients in order to sell hotel facilities. Advertising and Public Relations is also normally handled by this department.
v Engineering / Maintenance Department take care of the maintenance of the building and various machines involved in the premises.
v Security department which provides security to the guest and their belongings and employs security Officers/ guards for this purpose.

Lots of lucrative and interesting openings are there for hotel management graduates in various fields like:
v Hotel & Restaurant management
v Airline Catering and Cabin Services
v Club management
v Cruise Ship Hotel Management
v Hospital administration and catering
v Hotel and Tourism Associations
v Forest Lodges
v Guest Houses
v Institutional Management (supervising canteens in college, schools, in factories, company guest houses etc.)
v Catering departments of railways, banks, armed forces, shipping companies etc.
v Hotel and catering institutes
v Self employment

Some of the universities offering different types of courses in Hotel Management abroad are:
Australia:
Griffith University
Southern Cross University
University of Canberra
Victoria University of Technology
RMIT
UTS
University of Western Sydney
Willim Angliss
Switzerland:
School of Hotel and IT Management Neuch, tel Hotel and IT Management, Switzerland
Les Roches School of Hotel Management, Switzerland
Swiss Hotel Management School, Switzerland
UK:
Halifax University
West London College
Cavendish College
Canterbury Christ Church University College
Hertfordshire Institute of Technology and Management
University of Wales Institute Cardiff

Global Education Counsel
www.globaleducationcounsel.org

Studying in Singapore

Singapore comprises of the main island of Singapore and some 63 offshore islands. It is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. There are close to four million Singaporeans of Indian, Chinese, Malay, and Eurasian ethnicity. The main religions practiced are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity and Hinduism. The four official languages in Singapore are Bahasa Malayu, Chinese (Mandarin), Tamil and English. Singapore's climate is warm and humid, with only slight variations between the average maximum of 31 degrees Celsius and minimum of 23 degrees Celsius. This makes it ideal for those who enjoy sunbathing, swimming, sailing and other water sports. But for those who do not enjoy the tropical climate, Singapore is sheltered from the worst effects of the sun with air-conditioning in almost all of its shops, hotels, office buildings and restaurants.
Singapore is considered to be the premier education hub in Asia, offering a diverse and distinctive mix of educational services in a safe, cosmopolitan and comfortable environment. Singapore Education offers a broad-based curriculum and global perspective to equip students with the relevant qualifications and training that serve as a Springboard to a Brighter Future. Singapore offers all the technological excellence of the West. It is less expensive to study in Singapore than in most other major cities of the West. Students who are part of this dynamic growth process would have opportunities in the various Financial, Information Technology and Manufacturing sectors. With political stability and a conducive study environment, Singapore is an ideal place to gain an internationally recognised educational qualification.
Singapore has both local and foreign universities and institutions which offer world recognised courses to students. Higher education is provided by three kinds of institutions, universities, polytechnics, and other centres of public and private training. There are three institutions of university level, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University. They are almost wholly financed by the Government, whose representatives are members of the governing councils. All post-secondary programmes offered by public and non-public institutions must be approved by the Ministry of Education, Higher Education Division.

There are lots of private Universities or institutions which are affiliated to universities in other countries like UK, Australia, and USA having their campuses in Singapore. The advantage of studying at private schools is that one can obtain a world recognised degrees from Universities in countries like USA, UK and Australia at a comparatively lower cost (almost 1/3). Another important aspect is that Singapore is geographically closer to India as compared to other popular study destinations. Singapore also has a large Indian community which makes it is easier for the Indian students to adjust.
Strategically located, Singapore is poised to grow tremendously in the new millennium. The economically less expensive options for various courses and excellent quality of education is now attracting students to Singapore in large numbers. Selection of the right country and the right University is certainly on the minds of the students and their parents and they will certainly not go wrong by selecting Singapore.

Global Education Counsel
www.globaleducationcounsel.org

Opportunities in Mass Media

Changing times have revolutionised prospects in all most every career field one can find today. So many new and exciting career options are lined ahead which makes it difficult to choose one. Mass Media is one such field which offers many interesting career options to all in the field. It covers a wide area, comprising of closely related fields of advertisement, communication and public relations.

Mass Media covers following courses under it:

Journalism
Film & Television
Advertising
Public relations

Book Publishing

Mass Media being widely spread requires a combination of skills and traits. It is not easy to get in and progressing is even difficult. In general, excellent communication skills, being a good team player are important, besides being confident and hardworking. Physical stamina and will power count in favour for jobs in mass communication. Other attributes vary from one another depending upon the area one pursues. Anyone who is creative, dynamic, and enterprising and has flair to project his ideas, thoughts, observation through different mediums of communication can accommodate himself comfortably in this industry.

Opportunities for placement in diverse fields of mass communication are available in publishing houses, radio and television companies, corporate world, entertainment industry, media industry, advertising agencies, public relations agencies, government organisations, teaching etc. As far as remuneration is concerned it varies from one area of mass communication to another. However in every area, it is much dependent on the size of the organisation, its location combined together with the level of responsibility and experience of the candidate.

Many Universities broad offer courses in Mass Media under various majors. One can opt either for a Diploma/Bachelors degree/Masters degree/Post Graduate diploma. The courses available could be journalism, creative writing, advertising and so on. Students need to check the contents of the program before selecting their University as each may have different course content. Some of the Universities are:
UK:
þ Cardiff University
þ Bristol University of West of England
þ Coventry University
þ Leicester University

Australia:
þ Bond University
þ La Trobe University
þ RMIT University
þ University of Melbourne

Singapore:
þ MDIS, Singapore
þ Nanyang Technological University

USA:
þ Georgia State University
þ Texas Tech University
þ University Of Texas At Austin
þ RIT
þ New York University

Note: The Universities are in random order.


Courtesy:
Global Education Counsel (division of Growth Centre (I) Pvt. Ltd.)