Question about the Application Process? READ!!

[miami_coordinator]

I have a bit of a dilemma regarding my proof of study abroad, and I thought I'd just ask here instead of making a whole new post.

So, a while ago I went to my university's study abroad office and requested a proof of study abroad- I gave the desk all my information, and the office worker said they would e-mail me when it was ready. It seemed to be taking them a while, so I recently went back to the office to inquire about it, and was told to email the person in charge. I emailed him, and he said he never got my information, and that I shouldn't need a proof of study abroad because my university puts everything needed on the official transcript- when/where I studied abroad, the credits, and the grades. However, the course title is just "JAPANESE 3RD YEAR-ABROAD", and I was told I should get a letter that said what the actual course titles were, so I asked him if I could get something more concrete. He said that he was really busy and it would take him a long time to find the course titles and such, so if I really wanted it he could maybe have something for me in 10 business days.

So now I'm worried it won't get to me in time- if it takes too long and I have to mail off my application with out it, would that significantly hurt my chances? Or would having the location, date, grades, and credits of my study abroad on my transcript be enough that my application will still be acceptable?

If I understand correctly, all of your courses were simply written as "Japanese 3rd year - abroad?" If that is the case, then you will need to push for a letter noting what each course title really was.

[miami_coordinator]

I have a question about the "Prior Experience" section of the application:

1. I will be teaching a course at a university from January - May 2011 (my contract says Jan 16 - May 6). Should I put that under both "Teaching Experience" and "Employment History", only under "Employment History", or neither? If it can't be listed in either section (being in the future), what should I do to make reviewers aware of it?

EDIT

I thought of some more questions on the drive home...

2. In the "Intercultural/International" section, the application asks for "Country and City" and there's a note under "Purpose" that says, "Please also state where experience took place." How should that be answered, considering the country and city have already been given?

3. Similar to above, should I limit my response in the "Purpose" part to the keywords given (i.e. "study abroad", "tourist trip", etc) or elaborate as much as possible?

4. I have some very close Japanese friends who live in the city I requested on the application form. In fact, I consider them to be like family (and even check the box for "visiting family" on the landing card whenever I do visit them). How would it affect my application, if at all, if I listed one of those friends as my second emergency contact?

1. I'm not certain, but I believe you can put that information under both categories.
2. For things like "where experience took place," we're looking for things like universities and the like. You don't need to reiterate the city and country you went to, although if you have more specific information on your travels you can put it there (for example, you could write "Kinki region, Japan" and then specify the cities visited "Osaka, Kyoto, Nara").
3. I would recommend against lengthy elaboration. You will want to explain yourself sufficiently that any reviewer can quickly determination where, what, why, and when without needing to go through a paragraph of unnecessary details to glean that information out. Remember, they're going through a lot of applications, so the more succinct (without sacrificing clarity or breadth), the easier it will be for them.
4. Emergency contacts aren't a determining factor for acceptance.

[farstrider]

SNIP!

4. Emergency contacts aren't a determining factor for acceptance.

I didn't think they would be. I guess I'm actually more worried about it leading to awkward questions should I be invited to interview. I've read tales of some pretty rough grilling when applicants mention they have an acquaintance [of the opposite sex] in the area where they requested placement. Add to that the fact that my four most recent visits to Japan (three this year, one late last year (which actually spanned four months)) were all in the area where my friends live -- which I mentioned in the application -- and it seems like I might be opening myself up to a fair amount of suspicion. Or am I just being paranoid?

[bloo123]

Hi! I have a question about how to prove my study abroad experience (if I should prove it at all), and I was wondering if some of you guys could help me out. So in my junior year of high school, I got a chance to study abroad in Japan, but I don't have any official transcripts since it didn't count for my U.S. school, and I wasn't exactly a "real" student when I was over there either.

However, I do have like documents from my organization with all the details of my exchange, so should I send those in? Or should I not even bother about it, since it was back in high school and not during college? I'm asking because I want to incorporate my experiences over there into my paper, but I don't know if I need to prove that I was over there or not, and if I do, then how can I go about proving it? Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide!

[inochigake]

I have a question about if I need to print just 3 or six copies of things
So I will graduate this May and therefore I have to submit my transcript and my transcript also has my prrof of study abroad. So do I just submit 3 copies stating that it is for both or 6?
This is the same with my proof of graduation and TESL certificate.
So 3 or 6?

[burroh]

If I understand correctly, all of your courses were simply written as "Japanese 3rd year - abroad?" If that is the case, then you will need to push for a letter noting what each course title really was.

Well, it was just one short summer course that was 3rd year level Japanese language. It had some little seminar-like things called "email in Japanese" and such, but they all went into the main "Japanese" class's credits/grade because they were all just about Japanese language. I think that's why the study abroad advisor doesn't think I need a letter of proof, but I was confused whether or not that title would be okay, or if I need the advisor to write all the names of the little seminars.

[miami_coordinator]

If I understand correctly, all of your courses were simply written as "Japanese 3rd year - abroad?" If that is the case, then you will need to push for a letter noting what each course title really was.

Well, it was just one short summer course that was 3rd year level Japanese language. It had some little seminar-like things called "email in Japanese" and such, but they all went into the main "Japanese" class's credits/grade because they were all just about Japanese language. I think that's why the study abroad advisor doesn't think I need a letter of proof, but I was confused whether or not that title would be okay, or if I need the advisor to write all the names of the little seminars.

I'm not sure what the proper course of action is in that case, then. You'll want to contact the D.C. coordinators to see if you need the additional letter or not. Your application wouldn't be disqualified, but if what you had was considered insufficient then you wouldn't get credit for the study abroad.

[miami_coordinator]

I have a question about if I need to print just 3 or six copies of things
So I will graduate this May and therefore I have to submit my transcript and my transcript also has my prrof of study abroad. So do I just submit 3 copies stating that it is for both or 6?
This is the same with my proof of graduation and TESL certificate.
So 3 or 6?

You can just submit the 1 original and 2 photocopies of your transcript. It will fulfill both the requirements for submitting the transcript and for providing proof of study abroad.

For your proof of graduation and TESL certificate, those should be separate documents and, again, you should submit 1 original and 2 photocopies of each. Even if they are on the same document you don't have to submit 3 additional copies.

[miami_coordinator]

SNIP!

4. Emergency contacts aren't a determining factor for acceptance.

I didn't think they would be. I guess I'm actually more worried about it leading to awkward questions should I be invited to interview. I've read tales of some pretty rough grilling when applicants mention they have an acquaintance [of the opposite sex] in the area where they requested placement. Add to that the fact that my four most recent visits to Japan (three this year, one late last year (which actually spanned four months)) were all in the area where my friends live -- which I mentioned in the application -- and it seems like I might be opening myself up to a fair amount of suspicion. Or am I just being paranoid?

Just say you were visiting friends.

[FinalFan3]

Hello, quick query from a UK applicant. So each of the 4 application sets we need to submit needs to include a Statement of Physician, but it doesn't specify more than that. So do we include the original in set 1 as with everything else and then photocopies in the other 3 sets? Surely I don't have to ask the GP to write it out 4 times?

[king]

Hello, quick query from a UK applicant. So each of the 4 application sets we need to submit needs to include a Statement of Physician, but it doesn't specify more than that. So do we include the original in set 1 as with everything else and then photocopies in the other 3 sets? Surely I don't have to ask the GP to write it out 4 times?

Aye, set 1 gets the real one the others get photocopies

[redwolf]

First off, thanks to everyone answering questions and giving advice here. I wish I'd paid more attention to forums like this instead of trying to do everything on my own. It looks like I disqualified myself already over a few classes that didn't even count towards my degree.

A question for next year, I suppose: do I also need transcripts for things like CLEP and AP tests?

Also, the instructions said to staple when applicable, but I believe I saw posts from earlier years saying "no staples" for US applications. Is that something that changed?

---
Edit: YEAH! In less than two hours, I was able to acquire transcripts for the classes I took way back during high school (the second one required some "begging"). Unfortunately, one of the transcripts raises a concerning and personal question for me... I'm wondering how many posts or how long I would need to be a member before I can send someone like miami_coordinator a private message? Although I'm sure it is probably too late to expect a response...

At least I know most of the mistakes I need to correct for next time around. Most especially, the 'finding things I need to do at the last minute' part...and the last minute part in general.

[ChickyHearn]

I have a question about transcripts...I submitted transcripts for two different colleges, when I mailed it off, I did not staple them together because I figured that they were two seperate documents. Was I correct in doing so? And if not, will that led to disqualification? Thank you.

[miami_coordinator]

I have a question about transcripts...I submitted transcripts for two different colleges, when I mailed it off, I did not staple them together because I figured that they were two seperate documents. Was I correct in doing so? And if not, will that led to disqualification? Thank you.

We would have preferred them stapled together, but it won't disqualify you if they weren't.

[mourishin]

oh! i have like 6 transcripts and none of them are stapled!

are we still going with the "not going to be disqualified" response?? =o