INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC CENTER'S
Online U.S. Undergraduate Admissions Course Spring 2022
Your Official Source on U.S. Higher Education
Dear Students and Families, Thank you very much for expressing interest in joining IAC: EducationUSA Serbia education advisers for our online advising course Future Perfect. In times of such great uncertainty, taking steps to plan for your educational future requires a great deal of motivation and gusto, and we commend you for doing so! As the course progresses, you will learn how much patience and precision is required when applying to U.S. higher education institutions (HEIs), and by the end of the course you will be well equipped to present your sharpest applications to a select list of schools that you really want to go to! This guidebook will show you a breakdown of the course and the various platforms we will use to make sure that you’re well equipped to learn everything you need to know!
International Academic Center Zdravka
Čelara 12/III, Belgrade, Serbia
+381/11 334 9639 office@iacbg.org
COURSE SCHEDULE MARCH 1 - MAY 17 • 2022 Zoom Meeting Tuesdays (@ 8pm) (odd weeks) Week 1: Mar 1, 2022: Introduction to Future Perfect and U.S. Higher Education Week 3: Mar 15, 2022: Financial Aid Week 5: Mar 29, 2022: School Research & Academic Qualifications Week 7: Apr 12, 2022: Deeper School Research & Planning Your Application Week 9: Apr 26, 2022: Application Pt. 1 Week 11: May 10, 2022: Application Pt. 2 AMA Hours Fridays (@6pm - 7pm) (odd weeks) Week 1: Mar 4, 2022 Week 3: Mar 18, 2022 Week 5: Apr 1, 2022 Week 7: Apr 15, 2022 Week 9: Apr 29, 2022 Week 11: May 13, 2022 AMA Hours Tuesdays (@8pm - 9pm) (even weeks*) Week 2: Mar 8, 2020 Week 4: Mar 22, 2020 Week 6: Apr 5, 2020 *Even weeks are work weeks, established Week 8: Apr 19, 2020 for you to have ample time to work with Week 10: May 3, 2020 the resources and keep up to date with the Week 12: May 17, 2020 course. More webinars, online lectures, and online discussions will be scheduled as soon as we determine each course participant’s general availability.
ZOOM: ONLINE VIDEO MEETINGS Every two weeks, we will meet online to discuss the current topic. To do this, we will use the video chat software Zoom. We will also use Zoom for webinars with university representatives or casual chats with past Serbian students who have studied in the United States. Installation is simple, whether you use Zoom on a computer or a mobile device: The easiest way to install Zoom is to visit Google (or your favorite search engine) and type in “download zoom.” This will get you to Zoom’s download page quickly, where you simply follow the prompts to install the platform. Use the App Store or Google Play store on your iPhone or Android phone respectively to find the Zoom app and download it onto your mobile device. After installing Zoom, you will have the option to create an account. You can use an email address, Google account, or Facebook account to create a Zoom account.
SLACK: STAYING IN TOUCH The group’s primary method for communication will be the chat software Slack. Similar to Whatsapp and Viber, Slack offers much more functionality for communication, therefore, we at IAC believe it’s the best tool to use for staying in touch. You can use Slack in your browser (Google Chrome, Safari, Brave, etc.), download the desktop software (recommended), and/or download the Slack app onto your phone (also recommended). Office Hours will be held via Slack. Communication in Slack should be kept in the public channels because your questions may be the same as your fellow students’ questions. Only questions of a very personal nature should be kept to direct messages (personal messages to an EducationUSA adviser).
ASK ME ANYTHING (AMA) For one hour each week, EducationUSA advisers at IAC will hold AMA via Zoom. This will be a time for students’ questions to be answered by advisers. Want to know more about a specific part of the application process? Want to chat about a topic to hear what others think? Come to the AMA!
WEBINARS EducationUSA Serbia will organize webinars with university admissions representatives to discuss important topics that may or may not come up during the Future Perfect course. Webinars will be conducted live and/or recorded for future viewing. Live webinars are preferable because student attendees can answer questions and get answers immediately, but the time zone difference and scheduling conflicts might make this impossible sometimes.
INSTRUCTION VIA VIDEOS Throughout the course, you will be advised to view several videos from the course “Applying to US Universities,” created by University of Pennsylvania and published on the MOOC Coursera. These videos are valuable for acquiring a broad overview of the entire application process, and IAC:EducationUSA Serbia will provide videos we made to cover certain topics in-depth (the topics we’ve found confuse students the most). To view the videos on Coursera, it is necessary for you to create an account on Coursera and then join the course “Applying to US Universities.” You can create an account with your Google account or an email address. Videos from other sources will be provided as well, to complement the Coursera videos and give you more variety of sources.
EducationUSA is a network of hundreds of advising centers in more than 170 countries, supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. EducationUSA Advising Centers actively promote U.S. higher education around the world by offering accurate, comprehensive, and current information about accredited educational institutions in the United States. To find an advising center, visit EducationUSA.state.gov.
For more information please contact International Academic Center Zdravka Čelara 12/III, Belgrade, Serbia +381/11 334 9639 office@iacbg.org