International Student Blog

As an international student, making sense and trying to keep up-to-date with all the information that is available to you can be hard - you may have to visit 10 sites to get information, help and advice on a number of topics and then when that information changes, you want to be on top of it and the first to know.

Luckily, there is a way that you can manage this information quickly and easily through the power of RSS (or Really Simple Syndication). International Student and our entire network of sites now uses RSS feeds to allow you to collate all the information we provide into one central spot. Plus, it allows you to get the latest news and information the minute we post it!

But what is an RSS feed?
An RSS feed is basically a way to share information through an online web feed, that you can then read in your own RSS reader, which can either be an online RSS reader, or a local piece of software you download to your computer. To learn more about RSS feeds, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)

How do I get an RSS reader?
There are two main types of RSS reader, either online web based readers, or offline local readers that you download to your computer. They are all free, so you do not need to pay for a reader and the most popular ones to use are:

Online RSS Reader - http://www.google.com/reader/
Mac Download RSS Reader - http://www.vienna-rss.org/vienna2.php
PC Download RSS Reader - http://www.feedreader.com/

These are just a few examples of readers you can use, so please let us know if you use another reader which you find useful.

How do I subscribe to feeds?
If you have downloaded one of the software applications to your computer, you generally just need to click on the feed and most applications will automatically recognize its an RSS feed and load it up. For online readers, or for software readers that do not automatically add RSS feeds, you will need to look for the “Add” button or in the Google reader this is a large button which says “+ Add Subscription”

Where can I get feeds?
RSS feeds are all over the web - most of the time you just need to look for the words RSS or for the image that we have posted with this blog entry. This signifies there is an RSS feed there which you can subscribe to. At International Student, our main RSS feeds are:

Main Blog (this blog) - http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalStudentBlog
Study in the UK Blog - http://feeds.feedburner.com/study-in-the-uk
Study Abroad Blog - http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalStudent-StudyAbroadBlog
International Financial Aid Blog - http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalFinancialAidBlog
Calling Cards/ Sim Cards Blog - http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalCallingCard
Student Insurance Blog - http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalStudentHealthInsurance
Message Board Postings - http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalStudentMessageBoard/

And you can of course, track this all online at:
http://www.internationalstudent.com/blogs-forums/

If you have any questions about RSS feeds and how you can use them, or you currently use an RSS reader you like or subscribe to an international student RSS feed that you think we should all see - please post a comment!

May is always a crazy month here at InternationalStudent.com as students start to gear up for the summer months and start to make their final preparations for the new semester in August/ September.

Its also a busy month as we head off to the NAFSA Annual Conference which is to be held this year in Washington DC. The event will be big this year with thousands of international educators from all around the world, and most likely your international advisor at your school will be attending too.

We have also been contacted by a company in the UK working for the BBC - they are looking for a British student who is studying in the USA. You can find out more about this on our message boards:
http://www.internationalstudentforum.com/

We hope you have a great summer, and please check out the “Summer is almost here” section on the homepage of InternationalStudent.com for some great information about what to do this summer.

I have just been checking out our international student Facebook group and was surprised to see that our member numbers have rocketed to over 460 members. If you are not familiar with Facebook, its a great online tool to meet new friends and stay in touch with old friends.

The InternationalStudent.com Group that we have started is a way for students to network with each other, share experiences and generally learn from each other. We also have our international student forum that offers students a sounding board to air their thoughts and opinions.

With both of these options it gives students a great opportunity to meet others, and learn from each other!

All the team at InternationalStudent.com would like to wish all our Chinese members a very happy chinese new year!

Gong Hei Fat Choi!

We have put together a Christmas Video Card for all international students around the world that visit our site. We hope you have a great holiday period and an even better 2008 - enjoy the video:

With the new year only weeks away, a new semester will start for many students - some will be returning back to school and for others it will be a start at their new school. To help you with this, we have provided a checklist of things you need make sure are in place for the new semester:

1. Check/ Book Flights
Check and reconfirm your flights for your trip over. If you have not booked a flight yet it is not too late and it could actually save you money as Airlines tend to put sales on after Christmas.

2. Arrange Accommodation
When you first arrive, make sure you have accommodation during the first few nights.

3. Finances/ Student Loans
Make sure all your finances are in order - if you still are short of funds, you can still apply for an international student loan

4. Student Health Insurance
While some schools will automatically require you to enroll in their insurance plan, other schools will leave this up to you - and most schools will not allow you to register without proof of insurance. Save yourself time and hassle by applying now, so that you have confirmation ready when you arrive to register for classes.

5. Stay in touch
Being in a foreign country can be daunting, so make sure you have a way to either call home or for home to call you with an international calling card or sim card.

6. Ask Questsions
You will most likely have lots of questions, hopefully your international student advisor will have answered them all and they are the best person to talk to. However if you want another perspective try international student forums for information and to talk to other students.

…..and the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy yourself!

Some great news that has just been released from the Annual Open Doors report is that International Student enrollments saw a 3% increase this past year to a new total of 582,984. This increase is the first significant increase in the number of international students since the 2001/ 2002 year - and shows that the USA is moving forward and rebounding after a few troublesome years.

Even better news is the report of a 10% increase in the number of new students that are enrolled compared with last year.

As for where the students are coming from, Asia is still the largest sender of students to the USA with a share of 59% of total enrollment (up 5%), and with an increase of 25% in the last year, the Middle East is one of the fastest growing sectors for sending to the USA.

For US Students Studying Abroad, this has seen an increase also up 8% to 223,534.

For more information about Studying in the USA, or Studying Abroad please see our website and be sure to check out the full details on the Open Doors Website.

Just a short little message this time, but our International Student Facebook Group has just reached 200 members!

If you are an international student, or want to learn more about becoming an international student join Facebook if you are not a member and join our group, post a wall message, upload some pictures and videos - and generally join in the discussion and meet fellow international students!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2254670655

At long last we have flicked the switched and turned on the brand new InternationalStudent.com website!!

It took a while, but we really wanted to make sure everything was working 100% and all the new sections were completed in time. Some of you may have already had a chance to view the website and if you are at this blog you will see the new layout right here. We have also created a great in introduction page which will help explain some of the new features and help you navigate your way around the site.

For the most part, the new site has really been designed to better organize things into the 5 main categories that run across the top, with our Home, Study Centers, Products and Services, Resources and Blogs and Forums.

We have also added some new section, and upgraded all of our content - some of these highlights include:
- Updated Study Centers for Studying in the USA, Studying in the UK, Studying in Australia and Study Abroad
- New International Financial Aid advice center
- New International Communications center
- Updated Immigration and Student Visa center
- and so much more….

The whole team really hopes you enjoy the new site and, as always, let us know if you have any comments.

Google took the steps yesterday to implement a ban on all essay editing services, after claims that advertising such services was threatening the integrity of university degrees. The calls to ban these sites and services from Google have mainly come from Colleges and Universities who see these sites as offering students an opportunity to “cheat” their way through courses.

However there are actually 2 categories of essay service - there are those that provide fully written essays and there are those companies that provide editing services of essays written by you. It is not clear if google will ban both types of adverts, however Google is sending a clear message that from next month - no ads will be accepted for companies that sell essays or dissertations.

This does bring up a few discussion points:
1) Is there a difference between an essay writing service and an essay editing service?
2) Is Google right to ban these companies?

Personally, essay editing and essay writing are two very different things. Essay editing is taking your work and simple improving it, and I am sure at some point we have all done this - for example when you were younger and asked your parents to look over your work - effectively they are editing your work for you! An essay writing service will provide you with a fully written essay on a subject of your choice - no work on your part at all. My thought is Google will ban both of these services and will not distinguish - but I think they should!

Secondly, is Google right to ban these companies? Honestly I have not made up my mind on this. Companies that are offering essay writing services are not breaking the law, and are providing a legitimate service to their clients. However, I think its certainly a good move to limit students exposure to companies like this - a University degree should be something you work for - not pay for!

This is a hot topic at the moment - and would be interested to hear your thoughts….

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