The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) is one of the world's leading and prestigious business and management schools. IMD is loacted in Lausanne, Switzerland, a mecca for Eurpoean multinational headquarters. IMD's program of international MBA lasts for 11 month and aims to develop young managers into global leaders with a solid business experience.
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EDULIX - FAQ
ABOUT EDULIX
- What is Edulix?
- What is "CollegeFinder" and how do I use it?
- How did Edulix compile the different items, facts and statistics?
- How big is the Edulix database?
- Who are the people behind Edulix?
- Who supports Edulix financially?
- What is the meaning of "Edulix"? Does the word have any meaning?
ALL ABOUT COLLEGES
- Which college is best for me?
- If you got acceptance from more than one college, which one should you choose?
- What are my job options after graduation?
- Can I change my major/specialization after starting school?
- I found a web site guarantees financial aid but charges some amount of money. Are they real?
- What kind of financial aids are available? (link to Money Matters Advice page)
What is Edulix?
Edulix is an Internet site that provides services and products to international students who plan to attend institution of higher education.
What are Edulix.com's unique features and how can I use them?
Edulix provides a unique internet portal for international students like you with services
a) that walk you through the university selection process. This is done through our proprietary Internet database program, WorldCollegeFinder.
b) that help you identify and secure financial aid like teaching and research assistantship in the departments of your university of choice.
c) that help you interact and form community with other international students all over the world through message boards in different categories.
d) that help you deal with immigration issues and many more.
Edulix wants to form a long-term relationship with its community members starting from the university selection process, to application, admission, matriculation, graduation and job-search.
What is "CollegeFinder" and how do I use it?
The CollegeFinder is a database program that forms one of the core services of Edulix.com. CollegeFinder enables registered Edulix community members search for 2 year and 4 year colleges, universities, vocational schools and language schools around the world. Users will be able to search under different criteria currently grouped under four groups. The General Questions group consists of criteria for location of school, type of school, language of instruction, major of study and the level of reputation of school required. The second group focuses on cost of application process, tuition cost and the setting of the college. Group three consists of the size of international students body, international faculty (percentage-wise) and financial aid availability. The last group deals with exam requirements for colleges around the world. Note that information on "A-level" exams required by most UK and Austalian universities is also included in this section.
How did Edulix compile the different items, facts and statistics?
The majority of the information contained in our database was collected from publicly available sources like the web-sites of the universities and brochures. Teaching and Research Assistantship information is also obtained from public sources. We have tried to reproduce these public information as accurately as possible. We have also relied on alumni and former international students to compile information on the international reputation of the institution, availability of financial aid to international students, etc. We have attached a good amount of importance to testimonies from alumni because we strongly feel that it is students themselves who know their exact needs and expectations and whether they were met or not.
Edulix updates its database regularly to reflect changes.
How big is the Edulix database?
The database currently stands at around 600 unique institutions of higher learning in the US, Canada, England, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa and other countries in the Middle East and Africa. We are currently adding 100-150 institutions every month with a target of reaching 2000 institutions by the end of 2001.
Who are the people behind Edulix?
Edulix is founded by a group of international students who had studied in Europe, Asia and the USA. The founders of Edulix felt strongly that it is only former international students who really understand the needs and challenges of other aspiring international students. The world we live is continuously changing and also getting smaller everyday. The concern of International students is also changing everyday. Most now stay over in the country where they studied and contribute very significantly to economic expansions, job creations and social and demographic changes.
It is the aim of Edulix.com to provide a free web-based technology and services to guide this highly mobile global citizenry through university education and career.
Who supports Edulix financially?
Edulix entertains advertisement from universities, multi-national companies, banks, international organizations and the like.
What is the meaning of "Edulix"? Does the word have any meaning?
Not actually! Edulix may have something that sounds like education, but taken as a whole, it doesn't have any meaning. The founders would like to think of Edulix as a reminder of the ancient port of Adulis on the Red Sea Coast that used to be a major port for trade and business between the Far, Near and Middle East in the tenth and eleventh century. Along the same lines, Edulix.com wants to be a portal where students from many corners of the world find cutting-edge technology to help them pursue their dreams of a world-class education and career.
ALL ABOUT COLLEGES
Which college is best for me?
Although everybody wants to attend to top colleges, they may not the "best" for every individual. There are many things to be considered including both academic performance and personal preferences before application and after if you'll get more than one acceptance. There is only one person to make that decision: YOU ! Your acceptance depends on the qualifications of all other applicants too. A TOEFL score of 250 may be sufficient for one year when the average TOEFL score of all other applicants are lower than 250, but the following year even 275 may not be sufficient even being considered if all other applicants have very high scores. Academic performance includes but not limited to:
- The colleges' acceptance ratio: if this ratio is low, it is very competitive to get accepted at the first place. Such colleges usually have high first year retention ratio since they accept limited number of students and give the best for those,
- First year retainment ratio: if a college accept most of the applicants, e.g. 90-95%, it is most likely that some will drop at the end of first or second year to maintain their academic quality. Such colleges pose lots of competition pressure on students.
- GPA: This is a standard to measure applicants' academic success. You may think you deserve better GPA then you have and you may not maintain higher GPA for some personal issues. If this is the case, you still have chance to fix this, study hard for GRE/GMAT and get high scores to overcome the weakness of your GPA. Another option may be mentioning the reasons for low GPA briefly in your Statement of Purpose (SOP).
- GRE/GMAT: Do not panic if you get lower scores than you expect, you can always re-take these exams. Do NOT forget that these exams are strategy exams (as well as scoring your academic skills) and you can improve your score by solving lots of sample tests.
- Graduation rank: Many countries have many different grading strategies; some grades students on a scale of 100, some 10, some with letters (scale may vary). Do not put so much emphasis on this. You may explain the grading strategy of your high school or college in one small paragraph in your SOP if you think it needs to be explained. You may also want to mention about your rank in your graduating class like among top 5%, 10% or 20%. Even if your GPA seems low, if you are in top 10 of your graduating class, your achievement is till significant. Edulix suggest you include a copy of your college's grading strategy (from school catalog or web site) and a letter from your department or college stating your rank in the graduating class.
- Achievements: If you have any outstanding achievement, do NOT forget to mention this in your application and/or SOP. Such achievements may include but not limited to regional, national or international competitions or exams, graduation/senior year projects, etc. It shows your ambition, leadership skills and determination.
You may not think many of these as an issue but personal preferences may affect your success and make a difference. These became important when you get acceptance from more than one college which rank VERY close and include but not limited to:
- Setting of the college: Rural, suburban, metropolitan, etc. If you grow up in a major city, a rural college town may not really be for you. Or vice versa, if you are a farm boy/girl, getting used to a big city is a big deal by itself in addition to new culture and college environment.
- Climate: Similar to setting of the college, you may struggle with cold or hot climate.
- Cost of living: This is very important to apply and accept admission. The cost of living through out the United States varies about 40%. What does this mean to you? Your $1,000 scholarship in one state is equivalent to $600 in another state. Your grocery shopping, your car cost, your rent will all be affected. If you are financing your own education, it may cost you 40% more in an expensive state like California.
Edulix expert panel strongly suggests to apply couple of back-up college with lower standards just in case.
If you got acceptance from more than one college, which one should you choose?
During application period, probably everybody wishes to have such a problem; which offer to accept. Life is not that perfect. Not all but most of applicants gets acceptance from more than one college, then dilemma begins. Well first of all, you cannot make a horrible decision. Probably you applied you similarly ranked colleges and those do NOT differ like life and death issue. One may be a little cheaper, other looks expensive, one offers full other offers half scholarship, rest with none. At this point everybody has their own unique formulation, like Ax+By+2D+ 3Mz=Score, to make decision. All the formulae are different so are the results and choices. Such a formula must have financial concerns and quality of education as dominant parameters. If you are financing your own, then financial aid looses it's weigh, quality (ranking) gets higher weight, you have relatives in Maryland, you want to be close then geographical location will have more weight compared to other applicants. So create your own formula, then weight all parameters then calculate, the highest result bearing college wins.
What are my job options after graduation?
YOU are the key issue in the answer of this question. Graduating from best college does NOT guarantee you the best job. Your "networking and people skills" play major role on this issue. There is difference between barely graduating from top college and being in the top 5 of graduating class from an unknown college. Plus job market changes year to year. Job market may be very good when you get acceptance but within two years when you are graduating, there may be recession that risks your employment. Edulix expert panel strongly suggests to make connections during your education, publish as many papers as you can and attend conferences and do summer internships even if it's not required. Most of the interns are hired by the same company after graduation, and even part time employment may be obtained during your education.
Can I change my major/specialization after starting school?
There goes a bold YES !!! Nobody chains you to the program you are accepted. In fact after one year if not one semester, you'll be more comfortable with the system. You'll have all the answers to your question. It's more likely that you'll be happy with your decision. If not, it's not too late. In fact first semester almost all students within the same department (regardless of their specialization) take the similar, if not the same courses so changing specialization after the first semester will have almost no affect on anything. You can change your specialization, department and even college. The first two are easier, the last requires some paper work. Probably 10-15% of graduate students change their specialization, department or college within a year.
I found a web site guarantees financial aid but charges some amount of money. Are they real?
A big NO NO NO!!! No one can guarantee financial aid. There are too many variables for getting a financial aid. Most of those require you to follow certain procedures that you may not even suitable for or you are willing to take. Plus such "guaranteed" lists consist of scholarships requiring very specific qualifications like being a citizen of a specific country (mostly US), coming from a family having certain credentials (like Irish immigrant, military recognize etc.). They say money back guarantee if you cannot get a scholarship, however we never see this is a valid offer. One of Edulix expert panel member's tried this years ago, it was a bogus, cannot even get his money back although it was advertised as money back guarantee.
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