EducationUSA Competitive College Club (CCC) Macedonia

CONSULTATION HOURS During the month of September, senior EducationUSA adviser Biljana worked individually with members of Competitive College Club Bitola on their personal college applications. Essay and resume reviews, useful tips on filling out the common application as well as building a solid college list were the main aspect of these consultations for most of the students preparing to apply early by November 1st. 

WEBINAR WITH SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY On September 18th at 19:00, CCC Bitola hosted a Skype session with Ms. Lisa Raney, Associate Director of International admissions at Syracuse University. Ms. Raney talked about two college admission topics: Essay Writing and College Search. Students engaging questions turned this webinar into a lively discussion and allowed students to ask this admission officer many other important aspects of the U.S. college admission process.

VSFS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM The Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) is the largest virtual internship program in the world! VSFS offers unique mentoring and exposure to job opportunities within the U.S. government. For the second time in a row, Competitive College Club Bitola applied for an e-Intern and in August selected two amazing U.S. college students: Rebecca Duras and Rachel Dame.  Rebecaa Duras, a senior at Middlebury College, studies political science and history and this year she'll be interning with the Competitive College Club Macedonia assisting bring Macedonian high school students with essay and resume writing as well as leading engaging Book Club discussions and general presentations about the U.S. high er education.  Rachel Dame will organize and lead series of webinars on Graduate studies in the U.S.   e-Interns should expect to spend ten hours a week on their project from September through May. This is unpaid, volunteer work, but e-Inter...

THE OPPORTUNITY FUNDS PROGRAM The Opportunity Funds Program is supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is designed to increase access to U.S. higher education institutions for highly qualified international students of limited means. To be eligible for the Opportunity Funds Program in Macedonia, a student must be a member of Competitive College Clubs Macedonia be a citizen of, or officially recognized refugee in Macedonia apply to degree programs at accredited higher education institutions in the United States and for sufficient financial aid to meet the student's need in Fall 2018 demonstrate that they and their family are not able to pay for the application process. During this OF application cycle, 5 Competitive College Club students from Bitola and Tetovo were selected as finalists in phase 1 of this amazing EducationUSA scholarship opportunity. 

COLLEGE APPLICATION WEBINARS In August, EducationUSA adviser Biljana Kuzmanovska Tasetovikj filmed four webinars  for the Competitive College Club Bitola :  "U.S.Campus visits - the adviser experience - explaining the college search" "High School Profiles and Transcripts" "The Common Application - step by step" "Writing an excellent college application resume"  The webinars helped students with filling out all necessary documents in order to apply to their desired colleges and universities in the U.S. 

DUOLINGO TESTING If you are applying to a university in the United States or Canada, you will likely be required to take a test that assesses your English ability. You may be familiar with common tests of English skill, like the TOEFL and IELTS. The Duolingo English Test is a new test, designed to assess real-world language ability by measuring reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Each test taker's proficiency is reported as a holistic score on a scale from 0 – 100, and this August, 7 Competitive College Club Bitola members took it with excellent results all above 80. What Is the Duolingo English Test? The Duolingo English Test presents an entirely different approach to testing because you can take it at home from your own computer. There are no test centers and no appointments. The cost is $49 USD and you can take the test online, anytime. It takes about 45 minutes, and you receive results within two days. You can then send your results to an unlimited...

IACAC CONFERENCE EducationUSA adviser Biljana Kuzmanovska Tasetovikj attended the 25th edition of the International Association for College Admissions Counseling from July 10 to July 12, 2018 hosted by Tulane University and Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference brought together 1,400 participants, including admission counselors from American universities, high school counselors from around the world and EducationUSA Advisers and REACs from 14 countries. After the conference, 12 advisers including Biljana left for Alabama where they visited University of Alabama; Tuscaloosa, Birmingham Southern College and Samford University. In three days, they toured the campuses and attended information sessions that covered admission requirements, extracurricular activities available and student support services while enjoying the exquisite cuisine offered by the city of Birmingham. All three colleges offer some merit scholarship and expressed willingness to work with ...