When I was searching for an undergraduate college to attend, I was very particular about my selection. I was a Florida resident and I knew I wanted to stay within my state. Also as preferences, I wanted a big school, I wanted to live in a big city, and I wanted a school with a significant Caribbean population. My choices after these filters were Florida International University (FIU) and University of South Florida (USF). I ultimately matriculated to USF because I wanted the experience of living on my own rather than staying at my mom’s house, which was closer to FIU than USF.
I used https://www.collegeboard.org in my search for an undergraduate college, it accumulates information on almost all colleges in the United States; their webpage states that they have 3,899 colleges to choose from! I strongly recommend making an account and referring to this website during your college search.
Once you create an account and are logged in, you will see the image below on the top left of your webpage. Click “college search”.
After clicking “college search” you will arrive at a webpage with different filters you can choose from. Collegeboard.org will then give you a list of colleges that fall within the filters that you configured.
From that point you can click on the different colleges to see a synopsis on them including: the deadlines for submitting test scores (SAT and/or ACT), the percentages of majors offered at the college, the campus life and information about applying and paying for the school. A special tab that I think all Dominican students should click on is “For International Students”; it is listed under the tabs for the school you choose.
In addition to using collegeboard.org, I recommend students going to the actual webpage for the schools they are researching.
On these webpages you may see a message from the dean, you can take a virtual tour of the campus, and most importantly for Dominican students, you can discover the school’s policies and procedures regarding international students.
I’ve noticed that tuition is always more expensive for international students, but don’t get discouraged; I will make a post on scholarships and financial aid. Financing school is usually the biggest concern for students and parents and I will try my best to ease the worry.
I encourage students to take the time and explore the school webpage to discover points of interest such as specific majors offered, extra-curricular activities, or scholarships offered by the school.
Thank you trestriothree for suggesting that I address this topic, I appreciate all the feedback I receive for these posts =-)!
Gilda Rae-Grell is a Dominican who lived in the US for 10 years. She has decided to write this column “to encourage the young people of Dominica to pursue higher education.” You can put your comments and questions on the article in the comments section or email Ms. Grell at gilda-rae [email protected].
Ms. Grell, I am sorry but you cannot relate to the resident Dominican who is trying to get into college. It was a lovely initiative but you apparently only know about American schools from your experience. Furthermore, all the information you have given anyone can find online with just one search. We do know how to use google.
Dominica News Online what would be useful would be a column where there are lists of scholarships offered to Dominican students, the conditions, courses offered and testimonials from past scholarship awardees.
In addition, the rates for the University of the West Indies, University of Southern and Northern Caribbean, University of Technology and St. George’s University to name a few Caribbean universities that offer Caribbean citizens discounted tuition and cheaper living expenses in comparison to the United States.
Even more helpful would be a breakdown of how to apply for student loans and rates in Dominica from the various banks and Dominica Social…
I strong believe that this column is useless! The writer happens to have been more fortunate than many who are at the point where they are seeking to further their studies in the U.S. Like Ms. Grell, I was fortunate to have family in the U.S who assisted me in undergrad and grad school, however, for the majority who do not, this site is as useless as can be. A picture is being painted of the basic process and honestly, your column articles are misleading. Please do not give the wrong ideas or put inaccurate information in the minds of others. Not every Dominican seeking to study abroad is a U.S resident or has family ties in the U.S who can assist them with everything. You were fortunate to have ‘mommy’ nearby but many do not and will not. They need accurate guidance not someone tainted and already living int he U.S.
DNO- Please find someone who is more qualified and knowledgeable on the facts of the academic process and studying in the U.S or abroad.
Wow that girl in the pic is looking FINE, Damn
. Beauty and Brains, me like.
Dominicans who are in a position to attend university abroad may not want to focus exclusively on schools in the U.S. There are severe restrictions on foreign students working in the U.S.; it’s easier for foreign students in Canada, the UK, and most other countries to be able to work legally while studying. Similarly, for students who want long term foreign work experience after graduation, unless there are special circumstances the U.S. doesn’t allow graduates to work there longer than one year. In other countries it’s easier to remain and work for a longer period, even indefinitely.
Unless you attend a god university in the the States, I would recommend a school in either Canada or the UK. There are some really good schools in the States, but there are some universities where I would not even send my cat. They are just degree mills providing poor quality education.
I hope your article has been helpful for the students considering their options. The cost of further education is a major concern particularly for overseas students. I would like to wish you good luck in your future endeavours.
Ms grell u are playing smart but not being clever. People don’t need you to tell them how to go to school. Why don’t you tell them all the misery people seeing in america. You make it seem so easy. Will you house them, will you deed them, will you pay their tuition. Its not everyone who is fortunate. I was because of my family and thank god. But i feel for these people cause i know students who have to make a choice whether to go to school or keep a roof over their heads. And what is the sense they come up here see all that misery and then come home with no work. My advice to you is find something constructive to do with your time.
Meant feed them. Typo error..
You don’t have to take her advice. But for those who are so inclined, she I’d providing good advice.
Why don’t you find something positive to do with your time instead of coming on here.
Any college that has a marketing department (and advertises on tv!) stay as far away from it as possible! Employers are getting wise to these for-profit school graduates.
Right now the question isn’t about if you have a degree, it’s about where you got it from.
miss grell,
you have the golden spoon already placed in your mouth, you are a u.s resident.. unfortunately for us who have no such status, schools in America most likely will cost us an average of 200000.00 dollars unless some of us want to BEND DOWN LOW for a scholarship to china, Venezuela, morocco or Cuba.
I guess that information wont do the poor with now where to turn any good
Student i agree with u.I already tell that girl find something else to do with her time. Honey if u need to write an article choose another column. U don’t need to tell people what to do to get in college. Really? Must be that u went to study for. First of all, the first time you came out with that it was a no no.
I am working on a post to address the financial struggle of attending school in the states. I understand my situation is different, I am just trying to help
Ms. Grell,
I commend you for offering the experience you’ve gained from studying in the US to the benefit of prospective Dominican students. Others who have relevant experience can offer alternative perspectives on US higher education or on studying at UWI or colleges in Canada, the UK, Cuba, etc. Unfortunately, but invariably, some people will anonymously post unwarranted, destructive criticism of anything you say while offering no constructive commentary. Please do not feel obliged to respond to such negative posts.
I don’t see no reason for bashing the article. She is only trying to help!!! Some individuals only focus on the negative side of things which is disappointing. No one is forcing any one to go an study, if you can’t afford to go right now then take your time but if you can then the article is extremely helpful. Instead of bashing you all should be commending her for taking the time off to help some of the individuals who have plans of going to study at some point. Then again I should expect that cause people hate on everything nowadays….smfh
Ms.Grell lets take your discussion one step further and point to the issue of accreditation of these higher learning institutions. A key component a prospective university student should look at is whether the school and the programs being offered are accredited. Education is becoming a big business and there are alot of fraudulent colleges and universites even in the US. Its becoming a problem whereby students are receiving diplomas and degrees that is not even worth the paper its printed on. Hence before a student can make that decision to invest in their education they have to do their research, ask questions to former students even contact the institution and pose these hard questions to the admissions office. Most importantly they need to have the ministry of education accreditation department investigate the credibility of these institutions.
Dear Trestripthree, I don’t think students need to go as a far as getting the ministry of education involved to check on the accreditation of U.S schools. Simply searching on http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx students can find out if the school they are interested in is accredited.
This is a quote from the website – “…the Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the Secretary determines to be reliable authorities as to the quality of education or training provided by the institutions of higher education and the higher education programs they accredit.”
I hope this helps
Miss Grell you obviously do not know what you are talking about. Trestripthree is more accurate and knowledgeable than you are. For a Dominican student to get a student loan from the bank they need to have a letter from the Ministry of Education of Dominica vouching that the school they are applying for is accredited.
You do not seem to know the process of ‘Going to College’ from a Dominican perspective, so how can you advise us students?
This column may be more useful to Amercian students or those with affiliations in the United States.
What about the reputation and performance of the College?
Are you asking in regards to graduation rates of students? Or whether the school is considered a “party school?” For the former, that information can be found on the school in particular’s website, and for the latter, that is an opinion and can be found on many college blog sites such as http://www.collegeatlas.org, http://www.huffingtonpost.com, etc.
I hope this helps