Blog Archives

CTP Interview

12/29/2015

Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) is a university of seven undergraduate and graduate colleges in St. Louis, Missouri. With a 13. 7% acceptance rate for the class of 2013, WUSTL is regarded as one of the most competitive universities in the nation and has produced over 2o Nobel Laureates. The university is also home to 11 Greek Chapters and is 12 Accapella groups. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_University_in_St._Louis#Campus_life)

An Interview with Yeshoda Karuturi

Yeshoda, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences with the CTP students. Where were you born and raised?
Hi! I am very excited to be sharing my experiences studying in Hong Kong with CTP students :) I was born and raised in India for 16 years, but I lived in Addis Ababa for two years, and now I’m studying in the U.S.

When did you live in Addis?
I lived in Addis from 2008-2010, during my freshman and sophomore years of high school. I moved there because of my parents’ work and absolutely loved Addis! What I enjoyed the most was meeting people with such diverse and interesting experiences. This was my first time living in another country and I loved learning about the Ethiopian culture. And Addis is such a diverse city that I don’t think I’ve met as many people from so many different backgrounds and cultures anywhere else.

Where do you attend college?
I attend college at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
The reason I chose to study in the US as an international student is not just the strength of the program here, but also the diversity that is available. This is diversity in the form of culture, thoughts and backgrounds. This is what I love the most about studying away from home, because everyday I get to meet people that are similar to me in a few ways, but also very different so I’m always learning new things. This was amplified when I went to Hong Kong. My university had 500 students in our grade that came for the study abroad programs and then about a 1000 students who were local and it was very interesting to compare and contrast all our different experiences from across the world. I became close friends with people from Italy, France, Korea, Japan and so many other amazing places!

What does it mean to “study abroad”?
A lot of universities have programs where you can opt to study in a different country for a certain amount of time. This usually varies from a summer program to a semester program to even a year abroad. Students get to pick which country they want to study in based on their preferences and area of study. Universities tend to have partnerships with specific universities overseas, which is where students can study.
A lot of people love taking advantage of this opportunity since you get to explore a new country while still being able to study and fulfilling your requirements. There are also programs that you can do in another languages. For instance, my friend is a Spanish major so she went to Madrid for a semester and took all her classes in Spanish! Another friend is studying Marine Biology so she went South Africa and was able to do field research as part of her program!

Where did you travel to study abroad? Do you have to know the language to live abroad?
I studied abroad in Hong Kong. I wanted to go to a place where English was prevalent so I didn’t have to learn Cantonese to go to Hong Kong. But while being there, I was able to learn a few words so I could converse better with local people. I had an amazing experience in Hong Kong! This was my first time in China and I was able to meet so many cool people and visit such great places. Hong Kong is also very well situated in Asia so I was able to travel to nearby countries such as, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. My favorite part of studying in Hong Kong was the food! Needless to say, I ate a lot of dimsum! I also tried to eat some exotic, local foods that are not easily available in other places, such as chicken feet! I didn’t like it too much, but I’m glad I got to try it!

What did you learn from studying abroad?
Studying abroad definitely taught me to be more open to new experiences and to not be afraid of unknown things. While abroad and travelling, there were many times where I had to converse with people that didn’t speak English, or was in a completely new place with no idea where to go. But I learned to relax and enjoy every experience and this is what made my time abroad so special. I tried new things that I never saw myself doing in the past, and even though I was only in Hong Kong for six months, I felt like I had grown a lot as a person.

0 Comments

CTP Interview

12/11/2015

0 Comments

New York University Stern School of Business (NYU Stern) is one of the world's best business schools, located in New York, New York. The school is composed of an undergraduate and graduate program. NYU Stern is known for its study abroad program that allows third years to explore international business companies. Using a holistic basis, 19.5% of the applicants for the 2012-2013 school year were accepted. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_University_Stern_School_of_Business)

An Interview with Rodas Zemui

(http://www.mbamission.com/blog/2015/06/22/new-york-university-stern-essay-analysis-2015-2016/)
Business School

1. Tell us a little bit about what factors made you decide to attend a school specifically tailored for business studies instead of a liberal arts college. If you could also explain the difference between a liberal arts school and a business school.
I’ve always known I wanted to study business. I’m not an artsy person and have never been into science or anything else so my mind was pretty much set on business school for as long as I can remember. When the time came for me to seriously start looking at potential schools, I started by researching the universities with the best undergraduate business programs and went on from there. I never considered liberal arts colleges so I don’t know enough to tell you what the difference between that and business school is.
2. What is your official major? What kind of classes have you taken so far? Which ones have fascinated you?
My official major is Finance with a minor in French. I have two sets of requirements I have to fulfill. I took my core requirements (calculus, science, writing classes…), common amongst all NYU students, my freshman year. Then, I have Stern requirements, which are not necessarily related to my major, such as Marketing, Operations, Management, Statistics and Accounting. My favorite class so far, which I’m currently taking, is called Economics of Global Business (EGB). The name practically explains what the class is about; we discuss major macroeconomic issues around the world. It’s one of those classes where you truly feel is useful even outside the classroom. When I watched the republican debate, had I not been taking that class, I would not have been able to understand most if not any of the concepts the candidates were talking about.

3. Throughout your experience at Stern, was there ever a time when you questioned whether a business major was good for you?
I never questioned whether I wanted to be a business student or not. However, during the spring semester of my sophomore year, I took my first marketing class and I was very much inclined to switch my major from finance to marketing. I spoke to a lot of family members about it and ultimately it came down to which degree would be more useful when it was time to find a job, which is undoubtedly finance. Marketing is more theoretical, whereas in finance you learn skills. It would be easier for me to work in marketing with a finance degree then to work in finance with a marketing degree, so I went with finance.

4. What sorts of internships have you had so far? How did you go about acquiring them?
I’ve only done two internships so far. The first one I got out of pure luck. My school was holding a women empowerment event and I met an executive there who offered me an internship. She was VP of Operations at Blue Flame, a marketing agency owned by P Diddy. So as you can imagine I was very exciting. I was technically supposed to be a finance intern but ended up being sort of an assistant to her and a couple other executives. My tasks included making check request forms and filing them to the finance department, doing expenses for some of the people and also doing a lot of a research. They were currently working on the unveiling of the new ad for Ciroc, which took place in Times Square, so I got a glimpse of what goes into making an ad campaign.
My second internship was over the summer of 2015 and it was at Ernst & Young (Ethiopia). I got it through a connection of my parents. I was a marketing intern with the market research group. Essentially we conducted various feasibility studies for potential investors in Ethiopian industries. My projects included the hotel, construction and high tech industry. I want to say that I learned more in those two months of summer than I ever did in any class.

5. How would you say your college’s location in New York City has helped develop your business education?
I think being at NYU has given me access to professionals that I otherwise would not have access to, specially thanks to the numerous speakers we have on a daily basis. And being in NYC in general has given me more opportunities, as I would not have gotten my first internship had I been in another school. In terms of education I personally don’t think location matters, I could have gone to any number of good schools and received a good education. However, in terms job/internship opportunities and networking I don’t think there is a better place than the financial capital of the country if not the world.

0 Comments

CTP Interview

12/4/2015

0 Comments

Georgetown University is a private Catholic university in Washington D.C. The university offers 5 undergraduate colleges, Georgetown College, the School of Nursing and Health Studies, the Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business, the Walsh School of Foreign Service, and the School of Continuing Studies. Due to its location and reputation, many politicians have graduated from Georgetown such as former U.S. President Bill Clinton; in fact, many of its faculty members are former politicians or social activists. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown_University)

An Interview with Edom Tesfa
Below is a picture of Healy Hall of Georgetown University in Washington D,C., USA.

1. What are your academic interests and why did you decide to pursue them?
I am interested in the social foundations of immigrant and refugee education–in particular, I am interested in integration, discrimination, linguistic/cultural rights, and equal access to educational opportunities. My parents are both immigrants from Ethiopia, and we struggled a lot because they did not have many people that they could rely on. Children who immigrate (or whose parents immigrated) to the U.S. face difficulties in school due to a lack of resources and support systems available for them, as well as discriminatory policies and practices. I want to do something, whether as a guidance counselor or researcher, that will improve the experiences of immigrant and refugee students in primary and secondary schools.

2. Does your school’s curriculum allow you to explore topics unrelated to your major?
Yes–and this is both good and bad. All students in the School of Foreign Service (SFS) must take four economics courses: microeconomics, macroeconomics, international trade, and international finance. This is relevant to most majors…except for mine. I think micro- and macroeconomics are useful, but I don’t care for the other two requirements. I would much rather spend that time taking social science or regional studies courses. All Georgetown students are also required to take two theology and two philosophy courses, regardless of major. The SFS core is rigorous and extensive, but because I took a lot of Advanced Placement (AP) classes in high school, a few of my requirements were waived. I have even more space in my schedule to take elective courses, but I haven’t taken any yet and am not sure what I will choose.

3. How would you rate your university’s course selection? Are there classes that you wish to see that aren’t currently offered?
Georgetown has many, many interesting courses to choose from across a wide variety of disciplines and topics. So far, I have not struggled to find a class that is at least slightly interesting. However, I wish the Education, Inquiry, and Justice (EDIJ) program were bigger and open to students in all schools, not just Georgetown College. I am allowed to take classes in the program, but I cannot earn a minor because I am in the SFS.

4. Does your university encourage undergraduate students to collaborate with professors on research? If so, how often do students take advantage of the opportunity?
Georgetown does encourage undergraduates to do research with professors, but I do not personally know that many people who take advantage of the opportunity. Since February, I have been working as a research assistant for professor Douglas Reed (Department of Government/EDIJ). We are developing a study on D.C.-area high school students who have recently immigrated to the U.S. and have limited proficiency in English. I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoy my job. I learn so much every day, whether through conducting literature reviews or observing classrooms. It is encouraging to know that I am contributing to something that can change students’ lives. Besides, Professor Reed and I get along really well. I highly recommend working as a research assistant, even if you are not sure if you want to go to graduate school.
As its name states, the Georgetown Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (GUROP) supports undergraduates who wish to conduct independent research or work as research assistants. In 2015, I received a $4,000 grant from GUROP to continue working over the summer. The program also adds a notation onto students’ transcripts, which signals to graduate programs that GUROP participants are qualified for further study. Other universities have similar programs, so when researching universities, be sure to check out their undergraduate research programs.

5. Is the university supportive of students who work jobs or internships?
The university definitely supports students who take on internships. Since Georgetown is in D.C., a lot of students will work in the federal government or at international organizations or law firms. Our career center hosts job and internship fairs, information sessions, and workshops regularly. That being said, almost all of these opportunities are unpaid, and Georgetown does not offer many scholarships to students who cannot afford to perform free labor (such as myself).

0 Comments