Jamshedpur: Want to head to the US for higher studies but don't know how?
On Friday, US Consulate acting public affairs officer Jay Treloar, based in Calcutta, would speak to students in Jamshedpur on Friday on how to prepare smartly to study in their dream US varsity.
Heading a five-member team, Treolar will host a session on 'US Universities Alumni: India Connect Program' at the Centre for Excellence to enlighten around 80 school and college students about the opportunities of higher studies in the US.
The session, jointly organised by the US Consulate in Calcutta and Indo-American Center, Washington DC, will see Treolar holding forth on universities and subjects offered, scholarship programmes, funding available for students and the admission process.
The visa process is not in this schedule, but the team would leave contact numbers to help students.
The session would also host a Q&A on student doubts. Also, past beneficiaries of international and students exchange programmes will address the students on how to avail those exciting opportunities.
On why clarity on these subjects was crucial, Treolar said the clamour for higher studies in the US was always high in India, but the right information at the right time was crucial to plan academic careers.
According to estimates there were 1.86 lakh Indian students in the US. "India happens to be the largest sender of students to the US after China. In fact, one in every six international students in the US is an Indian," Treloar added.
A Jamshedpur youth, Shubham Kuman, now 21 and a BIT-Mesra (Patna campus) student, who had been to the US as a 14-year-old boy through an exchange programme, told this paper he would address students at the Friday session.
"I was a St Mary's Bistupur kid when I went to Danville Community High School in Indiana as a part of the YES (Youth Exchange and Study) Programs for the whole of 2014. I completed my ninth grade there. Besides Indiana, I also went to Florida and Ohio as a part of YES. For me, the exposure to a new culture at age 14 was really exciting, it was a metamorphosis," he said.
A similar session will also be held in Ranchi on August 25.
The US Consulate along with Jharkhand youth and sports affairs department will also host a field hockey mentorship for 100 girls from the state. The girls will be trained by seven women mentors of Middlebury College, Vermont, at Birsa Munda Stadium in Ranchi in November-December.
As per the 2017 Open Doors report, of the million plus international students in the US in 2016-17, 68 per cent are from Asia (50 per cent from China and India), 8.6 per cent are from Europe, 7.4 per cent are from Latin America, 9.3 per cent are from Middle East and North Africa. Only 3.5 per cent are from Sub-Saharan Africa.