The two programs serve essentially the same purpose. The biggest difference between the AMCAS and AACOMAS is that the AMCAS is for students interested in applying for a Doctor of Medicine degree, while the AACOMAS is for students interested in applying for a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine degree.

In order to use the programs you will first need to create a username and password for your account with them. This will allow you to keep your information secure as well as save and come back to the application at a later time if you do not finish it all at once.

After you make the username, you will begin filling out the actual application, which is pretty straight forward. The AMCAS and AACOMAS ask for your legal name, your education history, your full college transcript, any extracurricular work you have done, a personal comments essay (or essays) and any letters of recommendation you might have. Then, to complete the process, you will be asked to include your MCAT scores.

Once this is all done, you will be able to simply choose which schools you would like to apply to and the service will send out your application and letters for you. All that is left after this is anxiously checking the website to see the status of your application, and hoping you are accepted into your first pick school! Good luck international students!

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Regardless of the major and whether a Sports Ethics class is required, taking the class would be a good idea for anyone vying for a career in sports broadcasting. Don’t skip out on Sports Ethics just because it’s lecture-hall style and not a flashier, hands-on sports gig! The theoretical knowledge gained in such a class makes you appear as a much more informed candidate to potential employers – always a good thing, especially given the stiff competition for sports broadcasting jobs. This can also help you with your work in the field, especially for those in influential positions such as producer, management, or on-air talent. For these individuals, having a detailed understanding of the moral issues surrounding athletics is vital to their mission of delivering relevant and interesting information to sports fans.

With sports in the public eye more than ever before and technology and medicine developing faster than society’s moral sensibilities can keep up with, the Sports Ethics class has plenty of intriguing material to cover. Classwork will consist mostly of reading articles and writing essays on a variety of current and past sports issues such as performance-enhancing drugs; gender, race, and class inequality; and the balance of sports and academics in college athletics. Class time itself will often consist of large-group discussion of assigned reading and lecture-hall style teaching of new material.

Though it’s not required in many sports broadcasting college tracks, the Sports Ethics class is a valuable one for any aspiring sports broadcaster to add to his or her resume. Covering a wide variety of relevant sports issues, the class can be both useful and fun.

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The largest perceived benefit, as expressed by 81% of respondents, is business exposure. After this come increased traffic or conversion rates for 61% of respondents; new business partnerships for 56% of respondents; rise in search engine rankings for 52%; qualified sales leads for 48%; reduced marketing costs for 45% of respondents; and for 35% of respondents social media networks helped them close business.

Based on the results we can see social media definitely helped these companies gain exposure and make more money! As you study marketing in the US you can expect to learn more about all the social media sites currently being used for marketing purposes. Most sites are based in the USA, giving international students a chance to observe how important social media is in American society and culture. Social media has changed the way we communicate, socialize, and advertise! Here is a list of the number one sites used by the companies who participated in the study:

• Twitter- 86%
• Blogs – 79%
• LinkedIn – 78%
• Facebook – 77%
• YouTube/Video Sites – 41%
• Social bookmarking sites – 38%

As more and more social media sites are being developed, international students who decide to study marketing in the US will need to stay up-to-date on the newest social media trends that develop. Marketing is all about staying ahead of the games, being on trend, and keeping the public interested in your company. Be smart and make sure to use social media sites as you begin your marketing career!
  

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The State University of New York in Brockport offers a great literature concentration through its bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English. The SUNY Brockport application process is fairly easy and has some added measures to make it even better for international students!

Applying to SUNY Brockport as an undergrad starts with one of two common applications: the Common Application, which applies to hundreds of colleges across the United States, or the SUNY Application, which covers admittance to most schools within the SUNY system. In addition to one of these two general application forms, the SUNY Brockport application process requires a secondary school transcript, one letter of recommendation from a teacher or school counselor, and an autobiographical essay discussing your background, school and career aspirations, and so on.

As is often the case, international students applying to SUNY Brockport will also have to demonstrate proficiency in English. The most common way to do so is to meet the minimum score on either the TOEFL or IELTS exam, though SAT scores are also recommended. However, SUNY Brockport may, in certain cases, accept other documentation of English proficiency.

Even beyond this flexibility, the SUNY Brockport application process works to accommodate international students by offering conditional admissions. Conditional admissions means that academically strong international students who don’t meet English proficiency requirements may still be accepted based on the promise that they complete work through ELS Language Centers that brings them up to the expected English proficiency at a later time.

Graduate admissions to SUNY Brockport’s literature program are a little more stringent, since students have to apply directly into the English M.A. In addition to normal graduate admissions requirements like transcripts, proof of English proficiency, and multiple letters of recommendation, those applying to graduate study of literature at SUNY Brockport must submit a 8-10 page nonfiction writing sample that demonstrates their ability to write logical expository prose.

Studying literature at SUNY Brockport is a great option for literature enthusiasts. Check out their profile to learn more and apply to SUNY Brockport!

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When considering where you would like to study this subject think about the top tourist destinations in the U.S. Obviously New York City is on the top of the list for many tourists. New York is home to attractions like Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Broadway, and more, but it is also home to schools like New York University. NYU offers a Master’s Degree or certificate in tourism management. Attending a school near a tourist destination like New York City gives international students the chance to study tourism management in a place where they can observe the tourism industry first hand.
There are many job and internship opportunities within the city and most of them revolve around this industry.

Another good location to take tourism management courses is Orlando, Florida. With millions of visitors every year Orlando is one of Florida’s main tourist destinations. The city is home to attractions like Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld and many other famous amusement parks. Schools like Schiller International University offer an Associate’s Degree in International Hospitality and Tourism Management from its campus is Largo, Florida. Students are able participate in internships at locations such as the Walt Disney World Resort, regional tourism promotional agencies, chamber of commerce (tourism development), etc. University of Central Florida, located in Orlando, also offers degrees in hospitality and tourism management.

Clearly there are many great options for international students who want to study tourism management in the U.S.; these are just two of the hundreds of tourist destinations that also have universities specializing in tourism management courses.

* Hotel Concierge Photo Courtesy of Shutterstock

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Becoming a military pilot requires much planning. You must be commissioned as an officer into any of the branches of the military which includes the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Army, and Marine Corps. There are two ways to do this: you can either attend a military academy or go to officer training school.

Each branch of the military has its own academy, which is similar to a college or university. These academies are the United States Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, West point, Coast Guard Academy, and Merchant Marine Academy. When you graduate from an academy, you automatically become commissioned as an officer.

The second option is to go to a college or university and earn a degree in an aviation related field which will prepare you for one of many careers in aviation. As an international student, your chances of acceptance at a civilian college or university are greater than at an Academy. From there you can talk with a recruiter from the specific branch of the military you want to join about the steps it takes to apply to Officer Training School. The military will select you according to its needs. Officer Training School lasts 90 days. After graduation you become commissioned as an officer.

After you are commissioned as an officer you then begin earning your wings. Each branch may have different protocol you follow to do this. Most likely you will be taking classes in a ground school as well as getting flight time. You will also learn the specific aircraft you will be flying when on active duty. Once all this is completed, you will begin your career in aviation as a military pilot.

International students who join the military as an officer can be trained for one of many careers in aviation through hard work, discipline and responsibility.

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Sociology graduate school funding can come in several forms. Sociology departments tend to support their graduate students as teaching assistants or research assistants. A teaching assistant is usually assigned to a particular professor or class and is responsible for grading undergraduate students’ assignments, assisting the instructor with classroom duties (e.g. keeping track of attendance) and teaching lectures or discussion sections. Make sure that you check the departments that you are applying to as they may have different names for these assistantships. For example, some universities will make a distinction between graduate assistantships and graduate teaching assistantships or between teaching assistants and teaching associates. This difference usually indicates whether or not the international student is responsible for teaching their own class or assigned to assist a professor with instructional activities. Teaching assistants are chosen by the department, so make sure to check application deadlines carefully, as applications are due earlier when you wish to be considered for sociology graduate school funding.

Research assistants are assigned to particular faculty members to help with their research projects. The details of the research assistantship will depend on the type of project or the professor with whom you are working. Research assistants are usually chosen by the professor who is conducting the research. So, if you are interested in working as a research assistant, get to know the faculty in your department and the research that they are involved in.

Many assistantships include tuition remission along with a salary for your work, but some do not. Additionally, many assistantships do not cover your university fees. However, some universities offer fee fellowships to cover this additional cost. Make sure that when you are applying for or receiving an assistantship from your department that you ask about these issues. This is especially important if you have received more than one offer and are trying to decide which university to attend. Prospective international students should also be aware that they can apply for university and department fellowships as well.

Teacher in lab doing presentation on whiteboard photo courtesy of Shutterstock

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1. the length of time completing a program actually takes,
2. the amount of debt most student accrue while pursuing that particular undergraduate degree in video game development, and
3. the ability of the program to place its graduates into viable positions in the industry.

First, many institutions establish a timeline for video game development majors so that an undergraduate degree in video game development is attainable within 18-36 months. However, upon investigation of a number of institution’s student statistics, it may become apparent that very few, if any, video game development majors complete the particular program in that timeframe.

Next, video game development majors often have a much harder time securing funding and tuition assistance from scholarship and grant programs than students focusing on traditional academic disciplines. This fact leads many video game development majors to acquire student loans (often from private lenders) in order to pursue their undergraduate degree in video game development. Both the total and relative number of students that graduate a program with loan debt will serve as an excellent indicator to an international student of the likelihood of receiving funding assistance, and what economic burdens to expect to be saddled with upon graduation.

The ability to offset the near-guarantee of student loan debt upon receipt of an undergraduate degree in video game development through successful job placement within the industry is the most common means a game development program has of reassuring its students of the soundness of their investment. The statistics for job placement rates, industry affiliations and graduates who have gone on to impact the industry are all numbers that video game development programs love to brag about. A glaring absence of these figures is often not a good sign, as programs cannot wait to boast impressive job placement rates and industry connections.

Pursuing an undergraduate degree in video game development is a dream come true for many gamers and international students. However, like any other discipline, planning a course of study that will fit your particular interests and limitations is of paramount importance. Examining the aforementioned figures is a prudent move for international students interested in a video game development major.

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Required Skills

The music producer has many responsibilities, including helping to select songs, contracting with session players, selecting the studio and engineers, booking studio time and overseeing the recording budget. Becoming a music producer requires musical skills and performance experience, as well as a thorough knowledge of musical genres, and music and sound production in a recording studio. A future music producer may start out with a love of music and a skill in some kind of musical performance, but he or she will need to develop other skills in order to make it as a music producer. A music producer must understand songwriting, how music and sound production works, how to set up and operate audio equipment, and the roles of the engineers and others who work to produce recordings. Music producers may also need to help the audio engineers in the mixing, mastering and recording process. Becoming a music producer requires an understanding of how the recording industry works, including the legal and business aspects. Music producers must also be familiar with the current digital equipment and computer software used in the creation of music.

Required Education

Becoming a music producer requires education, training, and experience working in the recording industry. In addition to a degree in music production, music business, or recording engineering, students interested in becoming a music producer should consider studying any of the following subjects:

• Musical history and theory
• Composition
• Songwriting
• Ear training
• Copyright law
• Artist and product management
• Music publishing and distribution
• Marketing and advertising
• Finance and accounting
• Entrepreneurship

How to Begin

Often, music producers start their careers as sound engineers. Sound engineering doesn’t require a college degree, but courses in subjects such as sound and music production as well as the use of recording equipment are useful in this field. In order to move up in the business, hard work, skill, and a certain amount of luck are required. Making connections with as many people in the business as possible is always a good idea. Consider branching out; many music producers make a career producing for movies, television shows, music videos, advertising, or video games. Be flexible and willing to perform many duties until you’ve established yourself as a music producer.

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1. The first graduate school tip is to take a lot of math as an undergraduate. Many undergraduate economics programs do not require that you take much math to graduate. This is fine for understanding lower level classes but does not really prepare you for grad school. Another reason to take these classes is that you will be competing with people who have all sorts of bachelor’s degrees, including math, so the more classes you have under your belt the more competitive you will be.

2. Apply to universities whose research interests you. This graduate school tip might seem like a no-brainer, but it still bears mentioning. Just because one college is more renowned than another, it may not be right for you. Research the professors, and read some of their work. You will get a lot more out of attending a university that allows you to pursue your interests than you will from one that does not, even if it is higher ranked. For example, there are “freshwater” and “saltwater” schools of economics. These schools are named partially for their location (east and west coast), but also for their differing approach to macroeconomics. If the views held by the University stand opposed to your own, you may want to reconsider applying.

3. Help your professor write your recommendation letters. By this, I do not mean to tell them what to write. Instead, when you approach a professor asking for a recommendation letter, remind him or her who you are, let him or her know where you plan on applying to, and allow the professor to give you any input about your decision. Well known professors are always a plus, but make sure they know you well enough to give a personalized letter.

4. Apply to fellowships. There are a lot of opportunities for international students in need of financial assistance. The programs cost nothing to apply to, and only require that you write an essay. It would be in your best interest, therefore, to apply to as many as you can.

5. Study for the GRE, especially the quantitative section. Because economics is so math focused in graduate school, this will signal to your prospective universities how well you deal with logical problems. You can take the GRE more than once, but remember that universities can see all of the scores.

There are many more than 5 graduate school tips than this, but hopefully this blog gave you an idea of where to start!

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