Can a better admissions experience increase international student enrollment?
Choosing to study in the U.S. is an exciting step for international applicants and prospective students. The admissions process, however, can be confusing and overwhelming. From researching schools and programs to completing applications to understanding financing and visa – international students often navigate this with limited or disjointed information.
Recovering from the pandemic, U.S. universities are seeing an uptick in international enrollment. However, the numbers have been declining over the past few years. More than ever, it’s crucial to reevaluate how institutions are attracting, engaging, and supporting international students.
Interstride surveyed international students to learn about the challenges they faced during the admissions process. Higher-ed and admissions leaders can use these insights to improve the experience for international applicants and prospective students.
Highlights from the report include:
- The top challenges that international students experience during the admissions process
- The top resources and websites international students rely on.
- Key topics of information international students want to know
- Student sentiment across the entire admissions process.
- Recommendations for higher-ed and admissions leaders to improve the admissions journey.
partners
from around the world
students to succeed
Nitin Agrawal
Nitin grew up in Nepal and immigrated to the U.S. to pursue his education. He graduated from the University of Miami in Florida with a BBA and earned his MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. He has worked for numerous financial institutions, including a fintech group of Western Union, a Norwegian investment fund, and the Corporate & Investment Banking division of Citigroup. He has been in the U.S. on many different immigration statuses, including F-1, OPT, H-1B, L-1, and the Green card.
After 15 years of experience as an international student and professional, he wanted to make life easier for the next generation of international students. Interstride is the result of his conviction that technology can empower these students to chase their dreams with confidence.
Gunther Cronenberg
Gunther currently leads technology development for Interstride. Before joining Interstride, Gunther completed his education from the Vienna University of Technology in Austria. He obtained his master’s in Quantum Information and his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics while working on experiments in Grenoble, France. In the last few years, he has focused extensively on mobile technologies and programming languages. He specializes in data security and privacy, especially in the context of cloud computing technologies. He has spent a considerable amount of time as an international professional in Vienna, London, and Brussels. He is passionate about assisting international students and professionals through better technology.
Sergiu Badan
Haseeb Khan
Haseeb leads the technology development process for Interstride. He is experienced in both back- and front-end technologies. Prior to Interstride, he worked on several healthcare and social media applications. Haseeb prioritizes security and data protection in all his projects. He loves to keep his technical knowledge up to date through tech blogs and industry conferences. Haseeb graduated from Lancaster University in the U.K. with a degree in Computer Science.
Judy Chen
Judy studied anthropology at Tufts University as an international student from Taiwan. Prior to joining Interstride she was in a sales related role at a startup based out of San Francisco . At Interstride, Judy is responsible for building new partnerships with universities and employers.
Tania Rayes
Tania leads the design and brand experience for Interstride. She has over 5 years of experience working in graphic design as well as a BFA in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. She’s passionate about education and using technology and design to create memorable experiences.
Visa Mohan
Shay Ho
Kendall Perez
Stella Mantechou
Stella is an international higher education professional with a specialization in career and executive coaching, and a solid 18 years’ experience gained fr om the UK, Middle East, Asia, EU and US markets. She has coached countless diverse candidates on their professional development goals from undergraduate to executive level and has helped many with international career transitions. After setting up and growing successfully for the past 5 years the Executive Career Development office at INSEAD, across France, Abu Dhabi and Singapore, she founded “Inspiration Ride”, an education and career consulting partner for individuals and corporations. In the past she also supported the career journey of INSEAD’s MBA students in the Middle East and in Singapore, from wh ere she gained local market knowledge. She has continually brought her knowledge from global markets and employer recruitment practices into developing future leaders who achieve successful personal transitions. Stella advises also ed-tech founders, due to her renowned knowledge of the global higher education sector and her passion for disrupting education. She serves at the advisory board of GeniusMesh, Aluminary Network, Streeme.io, to name a few exciting education startups. She also currently serves as the Director of Communications at the executive board of the MBA Career Services for Working Professionals Alliance, in the USA. Stella was the initiator and curator of a regional “think tank” in 2012, the Middle East Career Development Conference, that run for 4 consecutive years and she was among the 50 top career thought leaders that were invited to the Career Summit organized by Google in 2013. In 2020 she won the INSEAD Innovator Award for launching a community of global experts at an INSEAD-wide peer to peer network and today she continues coaching the school’s alumni and executive MBA participants.
Julian Huenerfauth
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar is the Assistant Vice Provost and Director of the International Services Office at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, directing a team of sixteen professionals in providing comprehensive support to over four thousand international students and scholars. He has been in the international education field for over twenty-five years having worked in variety of institutions-ranging from small professional institutions to a major research institution. Before coming to the University of Rochester, he served as the Director of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services for 18 years at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. He has served in many leadership positions with NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the largest and the most comprehensive association of professionals committed to advancing international higher education, and most completed his tenuer as the President and Chair of the Board of NAFSA in December, 2020. Ravi spent his formative years in the UK; moved to India to complete his undergraduate degree and graduate degrees in English Literature-specializing in Literature, with particular emphasis on 19th and 20th century British and African literature. He also lived in Kenya for a couple of years before moving to the United States.
Brandon Wong
Brandon Wong has over 15 years of experience in marketing, sales and product strategy in both the consumer and enterprise technology and SaaS space. Brandon’s experience has spanned leading marketing strategies at ed tech start-ups such as Edmodo and BrightBytes, to global companies such as Adobe where he is currently the Principal Product Marketing Manager on the Adobe Education Team. Brandon has a Master’s in Education Policy from Harvard University and a BA in Economics & Communications from Boston College.
Laleh Rongere
Laleh Rongere has more than 15 years of experience as an international student advisor. She started advising at Mission College in Santa Clara, CA and later advised students at Stanford University (DSO & ARO). She has a Master’s Degree in Computer Sciences and a postgraduate in database design and management from the University of Paris. Until recently, Laleh was an Associate Director of International Student Career Programs and Advising at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she helped MBA and MSx (Sloan) international students strategize their job searches and navigate their US careers. She created the premier internship program for MSx International Students. Laleh was a recipient of several awards at Stanford University, where she also worked at the Postdoc office and the Office of Graduate Education to advance diversity and minority representation among Biosciences Ph.D. students. Laleh enjoys every minute of this challenging work and always looks for better solutions to help international students. The joy in her work comes from interacting with people from different countries and cultures. She has participated in numerous NAFSA conferences as a district co-chair, a regional workshop leader, and a presenter.
Gregory Victory
Greg Victory is the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and Fannie Mitchell Executive Director at Duke University's Career Center. Prior to Duke, Greg served as the Executive Director of the Career Center at Tufts University. Greg has experience developing innovative and enduring partnerships between the career team and other campus partners, including Alumni Affairs, the First-Generation Center, International Center, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and Athletics. In his 25-year career, Greg served as Executive Director of Continuing Education at Rhode Island School of Design, where he was previously Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Director of the RISD Career Center. During nearly a decade at Syracuse University, Greg taught in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, led the highly regarded First-Year and Transfer Programs office, and served as a leader with employer engagement in the Syracuse Career Center. Greg has also held positions at Colgate University and Ithaca College and taught junior high school social studies. He serves on the Board of Regents at his alma mater, Le Moyne College.
Aaron Blumberg
Aaron Blumberg is a Partner at Fragomen’s Miami office, where he provides U.S. immigration guidance to a diverse client base of investors and entrepreneurs, colleges and universities, and multinational companies.
Aaron has deep experience advising on the distinctive immigration requirements of colleges and universities. He works on behalf of professors and researchers to secure EB-1 Outstanding Professor/Researcher Visas and, when appropriate, National Interest Waivers. He also assists large state universities seeking to become designated as J-1 sponsor schools, and he works with colleges and universities that have established J-1 programs to ensure that they remain compliant. Aaron also advises international students on their visa options upon graduation. Additionally, Aaron represents and assists a growing number of small businesses, start-ups, investors and entrepreneurs working to expand their business footprint in the United States. In this capacity, he prepares and submits E-2 and EB-5 visa applications on behalf of clients.
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