Professional education consultant initated by the Putera Sampoerna Foundation. E-mail access@sampoernafoundation.org for more info.

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5 months ago   

U.S. News: Best Value Colleges and Universities in America

Which colleges and universities offer students the best value? The calculation used here takes into account a school’s academic quality, as indicated by its 2012 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, and the 2010-2011 net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included, because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically.

Source: U.S. News

SAT Boot Camp with Mr. Ben - Dec 17-18

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The next SAT test is scheduled for the 28th of January. For those of you applying to colleges/universities in the U.S., are you ready to take the test?

Sign up now for the SAT Boot Camp Dec 17-18, 11 am - 2 PM. Come see Mr. Ben who will teach you all the strategies you need to know to boost your SAT test success - all in six hours. Seats are limited, so reserve your spot today at access@sampoernafoundation.org.

See you there!

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Get to know our SAT instructor - Ben! Ben is an American who performed extremely well on the SAT, scoring above the 99th percentile on all current question types, as well as earning a perfect score on the SAT II Math Subject Test. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in mechanical engineering simultaneously through an accelerated five year program at the University of Southern California, a top-10 engineering research university. After graduation, he taught English in Lombok for a year as a Fulbright grantee – the organization that has produced more Nobel laureates than any other award program. He has been with ACCESS since August 2011.  

Get to know our SAT instructor - Ben!

Ben is an American who performed extremely well on the SAT, scoring above the 99th percentile on all current question types, as well as earning a perfect score on the SAT II Math Subject Test. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in mechanical engineering simultaneously through an accelerated five year program at the University of Southern California, a top-10 engineering research university. After graduation, he taught English in Lombok for a year as a Fulbright grantee – the organization that has produced more Nobel laureates than any other award program. He has been with ACCESS since August 2011.  

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5 months ago   

U.S. Urges Creativity by Colleges to Gain Diversity

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White House states ACCESS Education as Partner in Promoting Cooperation Between U.S. & Indonesian Universities The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release November 18, 2011 Fact Sheet: U.S.-Indonesia Education Partnership Close cooperation in education is a fundamental element of the Comprehensive Partnership.  In June 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a Higher Education Partnership in which the United States and Indonesia will commit to help build capacity to provide world-class university educations and to help double the number of American and Indonesian students who study in each other’s country.  A key element of the strategic approach is a whole of government effort to facilitate self-sustaining partnerships among U.S. and Indonesian institutions, foundations, corporations, universities, and individuals.  Recognizing that science and technology are engines of future growth and prosperity, special emphasis is being given to bilateral cooperation in these areas. Higher Education The United States will commit more than $165 million over five years to support the Higher Education Partnership.  To help jointly achieve the shared goals in higher education: • The Department of State is expanding support for the binational Fulbright Program, making it one of the largest in the world.  The Fulbright Indonesia Research, Science and Technology program (FIRST), a five-year, $15 million initiative provides scholarships for Indonesians to study and conduct research in the United States in priority science and technology fields and for Americans to study, teach and conduct research in Indonesia in similar areas.  The Department of State’s Community College Initiative provides $2.5 million per year for scholarships for approximately 50 Indonesian students per year to study in the in one-year certificate programs and to bring approximately 18 faculty and educational administrators for professional development at U.S. community colleges. • The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is creating partnerships, developing capacity, and expanding education opportunities.  The creation of University Partnerships between U.S. and Indonesian institutions improves research and lecturing, while also promoting faculty and student exchanges.  The Higher Education Leadership, Management and Policy (HELM) Program supports Indonesian universities by building their capacity in organizational management, budget and financing, quality assurance and local outreach.  The scholarship program PRESTASI sends Indonesian professionals to degree programs and training in Indonesia, the United States or third countries.  The Development Credit Authority guarantees student loans for Indonesian students to attend universities in the United States and Indonesia. • U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hosted Minister of Education and Culture Mohammad Nuh and more than 100 higher education leaders from both counties on October 31, 2011 in Washington, D.C. for the first U.S.-Indonesia Higher Education Summit. • Our two governments will celebrate 2012 as the Year of Fulbright 60/20 celebrating the 60th anniversary of Fulbright in Indonesia and the 20th anniversary of the American-Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF), the binational commission that administers the Fulbright Program in Indonesia.  Study in the U.S. • The United States’ top priority in Indonesia is encouraging Indonesian students to study in the United States.  The Department of State has increased funding to $4.5 million annually for English-language training, student advising services, and other exchanges.   • The United States Mission in Indonesia welcomes student visa applications.  In FY 2011, student visas applications increased to their highest figure within 10 years, and ninety-five percent of student visa applicants were approved.  • The United States is increasing the profile of U.S. higher education institutions through education outreach to Indonesians.  Under Secretary Francisco J. Sanchez led the U.S. Department of Commerce’s largest-ever education mission to Indonesia in 2011, in partnership with the Putera Sampoerna Foundation.  Fifty-six U.S. higher education institutions participated in the mission, attracting thousands of prospective Indonesian students and their families.  The Fulbright Commission’s EducationUSA Fair brought an additional 45 universities to Indonesia to recruit students.  The two education fairs attracted more than 20,000 people. • The U.S. Department of Commerce is developing partnerships to encourage more Indonesians to study in the United States.  Assistant Secretary of Commerce Suresh Kumar signed a memorandum with Putera Sampoerna Foundation’s ACCESS Education Beyond to promote cooperation between U.S. and Indonesian universities, and to connect U.S. higher education institutions with Indonesian students and education institutions.  Basic Education • USAID seeks to improve the quality of school management, governance, and teacher professional development within the Indonesian public school system.  By providing support in the areas of school budgeting and planning; creation of materials and tools to facilitate learning in reading, math and science; and dissemination of student-centered teaching methodologies, USAID will have an impact on the overall quality of secular and Islamic primary schools in selected provinces and districts.  The ultimate goal is to improve student performance and outcomes.  Activities are also underway to increase access to quality education for students with disabilities. Library Partnerships and Collaboration • The Library of Congress is developing the American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS) with a consortium of universities, including Cornell, Yale, Princeton, Hawaii, Michigan, Wisconsin, UC Berkeley, and UCLA, to further develop Indonesian studies and links between Indonesian and U.S. scholars.  The Library of Congress is also assisting the House Democracy Partnership with Indonesian parliament staff improvement. Link of source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/18/fact-sheet-us-indonesia-education-partnership

White House states ACCESS Education as Partner in Promoting Cooperation Between U.S. & Indonesian Universities

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
November 18, 2011
Fact Sheet: U.S.-Indonesia Education Partnership

Close cooperation in education is a fundamental element of the Comprehensive Partnership.  In June 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a Higher Education Partnership in which the United States and Indonesia will commit to help build capacity to provide world-class university educations and to help double the number of American and Indonesian students who study in each other’s country.  A key element of the strategic approach is a whole of government effort to facilitate self-sustaining partnerships among U.S. and Indonesian institutions, foundations, corporations, universities, and individuals.  Recognizing that science and technology are engines of future growth and prosperity, special emphasis is being given to bilateral cooperation in these areas.

Higher Education

The United States will commit more than $165 million over five years to support the Higher Education Partnership.  To help jointly achieve the shared goals in higher education:

• The Department of State is expanding support for the binational Fulbright Program, making it one of the largest in the world.  The Fulbright Indonesia Research, Science and Technology program (FIRST), a five-year, $15 million initiative provides scholarships for Indonesians to study and conduct research in the United States in priority science and technology fields and for Americans to study, teach and conduct research in Indonesia in similar areas.  The Department of State’s Community College Initiative provides $2.5 million per year for scholarships for approximately 50 Indonesian students per year to study in the in one-year certificate programs and to bring approximately 18 faculty and educational administrators for professional development at U.S. community colleges.

• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is creating partnerships, developing capacity, and expanding education opportunities.  The creation of University Partnerships between U.S. and Indonesian institutions improves research and lecturing, while also promoting faculty and student exchanges.  The Higher Education Leadership, Management and Policy (HELM) Program supports Indonesian universities by building their capacity in organizational management, budget and financing, quality assurance and local outreach.  The scholarship program PRESTASI sends Indonesian professionals to degree programs and training in Indonesia, the United States or third countries.  The Development Credit Authority guarantees student loans for Indonesian students to attend universities in the United States and Indonesia.

• U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hosted Minister of Education and Culture Mohammad Nuh and more than 100 higher education leaders from both counties on October 31, 2011 in Washington, D.C. for the first U.S.-Indonesia Higher Education Summit.

• Our two governments will celebrate 2012 as the Year of Fulbright 60/20 celebrating the 60th anniversary of Fulbright in Indonesia and the 20th anniversary of the American-Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF), the binational commission that administers the Fulbright Program in Indonesia. 

Study in the U.S.

• The United States’ top priority in Indonesia is encouraging Indonesian students to study in the United States.  The Department of State has increased funding to $4.5 million annually for English-language training, student advising services, and other exchanges.  

• The United States Mission in Indonesia welcomes student visa applications.  In FY 2011, student visas applications increased to their highest figure within 10 years, and ninety-five percent of student visa applicants were approved. 

• The United States is increasing the profile of U.S. higher education institutions through education outreach to Indonesians.  Under Secretary Francisco J. Sanchez led the U.S. Department of Commerce’s largest-ever education mission to Indonesia in 2011, in partnership with the Putera Sampoerna Foundation.  Fifty-six U.S. higher education institutions participated in the mission, attracting thousands of prospective Indonesian students and their families.  The Fulbright Commission’s EducationUSA Fair brought an additional 45 universities to Indonesia to recruit students.  The two education fairs attracted more than 20,000 people.

• The U.S. Department of Commerce is developing partnerships to encourage more Indonesians to study in the United States.  Assistant Secretary of Commerce Suresh Kumar signed a memorandum with Putera Sampoerna Foundation’s ACCESS Education Beyond to promote cooperation between U.S. and Indonesian universities, and to connect U.S. higher education institutions with Indonesian students and education institutions. 

Basic Education

• USAID seeks to improve the quality of school management, governance, and teacher professional development within the Indonesian public school system.  By providing support in the areas of school budgeting and planning; creation of materials and tools to facilitate learning in reading, math and science; and dissemination of student-centered teaching methodologies, USAID will have an impact on the overall quality of secular and Islamic primary schools in selected provinces and districts.  The ultimate goal is to improve student performance and outcomes.  Activities are also underway to increase access to quality education for students with disabilities.

Library Partnerships and Collaboration

• The Library of Congress is developing the American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS) with a consortium of universities, including Cornell, Yale, Princeton, Hawaii, Michigan, Wisconsin, UC Berkeley, and UCLA, to further develop Indonesian studies and links between Indonesian and U.S. scholars.  The Library of Congress is also assisting the House Democracy Partnership with Indonesian parliament staff improvement.

Link of source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/18/fact-sheet-us-indonesia-education-partnership

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6 months ago   

Would-Be Engineers Hit Books the Hardest, a Study Finds

Advice on Whittling Your Admissions Essay

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tipsheet logo

By Alan Gelb, author of “Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps.”

Matt Flegenheimer’s interesting piece in The Times on Saturday on the legitimacy of exceeding 500 words on the college admissions essay got me thinking about how often such excess is actually warranted.

Most first drafts I see are several hundred words beyond that mark. That is to be expected, but by the second and third drafts, they are very close to the 500 word count. I almost never encounter essays that justify exceeding that limit. The extra verbiage usually reflects problematic writing choices, so I would like to offer a few tips on how to keep your essay concise with no sacrifice of meaning or impact:

Know where to start. This is the most important factor in keeping your  essay within bounds. Your first decision is where to pick up the narrative. Keeping in mind that a 500-word essay is a limited piece of real estate, don’t start your story about building houses in Haiti in your bedroom in Philadelphia, packing your bags. Skip the plane ride. Just plunge right into the action that matters most. That said, the work of telling a good story is understanding what matters most.

Try a trusty literary device. The one I am referring to is called in media res (Latin for “in the middle of things”). You might surprise the reader by opening your essay with a line of dialogue. “Watch out! We’re falling!” Or The line went dead. Or The door slammed. Such openings grab a reader’s attention and save precious time.

Avoid adjectives, adverbs, qualifiers. A lot of excess word count may be traced back to an overuse of word forms that often muck things up. We went hiking on a lovely spring day doesn’t tell me much more than We went hiking on a spring day. (Unless it’s raining, I’ll assume the spring day is lovely). Adverbial excesses like He reacted emphatically can best be dealt with by dropping the adverb altogether or finding a good verb that says more in less words (flinched, grimaced—whatever makes sense in terms of that emphatic reaction you were trying to capture). And all those qualifiers like very, most, especially are usually expendable.

Pay close attention to sentence structure. Getting lost in your sentence structure will take up words (and exasperate readers). A good rule of thumb is to start your sentences with a subject and a verb. Here’s a sentence that uses more words to say less: Brainstorming on what we could do, we came to the solution that we could sell our origami to neighbors that lived on the same block. (25 words) Now the alternative: We brainstormed and came up with a solution: to sell our origami to neighbors. (14 words—and you notice that the word “neighbors” didn’t need that extra definition).

If you keep these tips in mind, you should be able to whittle your admissions essay to well within the limits.

Source: http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/gelb/#more-34207

University of Chicago’s 2011-2012 Essay Questions

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Essay questions can be straight forward, tricky, or wacky. Here we’ve posted an example of essay question choices from the University of Chicago. Although writing a 300-500 admissions essay might sound simple..its harder than most people think. You’ve got to use your creative writing skills and answer the questions the best possible way you can.

ACCESS Education will be holding an Application Essay Seminar (1.5 horus) on Nov 15, 21 and 26 from 5-6.30 PM. Here you can learn the fundamentals of success for a great admissions essay. For those in need of a first draft, sign up now for our application essay workshop. The workshop is scheduled for November 14&16 and November 28&30 from 4.30 pm - 7 pm.

Seats are limited. Email access@sampoernafoundation.org to reserve your spot today.

“The University of Chicago has long been renowned for its provocative essay questions. We think of them as an opportunity for students to tell us about themselves, their tastes, and their ambitions. They can be approached with utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between.

Each year we email newly admitted and current College students and ask them for essay topics. We receive several hundred responses, many of which are eloquent, intriguing, or downright wacky.

As you can see by the attributions, some of the questions below were inspired by submissions by your peers.

2011-12 essay questions:

Essay Option 1.

“What does Play-Doh™ have to do with Plato?” – The 2011 University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt List

Every May, the University of Chicago hosts the world’s largest scavenger hunt. As part of this year’s hunt, students raced to find the shortest path between two seemingly unrelated things by traveling through Wikipedia articles.

Wikipedia is so passé. Without the help of everyone’s favorite collaborative internet encyclopedia, show us your own unique path from Play-Doh™ to Plato.

Inspired by Ayla Amon, AB’10, Daniel Citron, AB’09, and Benjamin Umans, AB’10

Essay Option 2.

Observation, Hypothesis, Experiment, Analysis, Conclusion; since the 17th century, the scientific method has been the generally accepted way to investigate, explore, and acquire new knowledge. The actual process of intellectual discovery, however, is rarely so simple or objective. The human mind often leaps from observation to conclusion with ease, rushes headlong into hypothesis-less experiments, or dwells on the analysis, refusing to conclude.

Tell us about your non-scientific method. (Diagrams, graphs, and/or visual aids allowed within your essay.)

Inspired by Megen Cowett, AB’11

Essay Option 3.

Spanish poet Antonio Machado wrote, “Between living and dreaming there is a third thing. Guess it.” Give us your guess.

Inspired by Jill Hampshire, AB’08

Essay Option 4.

While working at the Raytheon Company, Percy Spencer noticed that standing in front of a magnetron (used to generate microwave radio signals) caused a chocolate bar in his pocket to melt. He then placed a bowl of corn in front of the device, and soon it was popping all over the room. A couple of years later, Raytheon was selling the first commercial microwave oven.

Write about a time you found something you weren’t looking for.

Inspired by Ashwin Acharya, an entering student from Hunter College High School, NY

Essay Option 5.

In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose a question of your own. If your prompt is original and thoughtful, then you should have little trouble writing a great essay. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun.

Essay Option 6.

Don’t write about reverse psychology.

Inspired by Andy Jordan, AB’13”

Soruce: https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/essays/

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Global Associates Network: Brown University, California State University Long Beach, The George Washington University, Kansas State University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Mississippi, San Diego State University and Syracuse University.

Global Associates Network: Brown University, California State University Long Beach, The George Washington University, Kansas State University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Mississippi, San Diego State University and Syracuse University.

Konsorsium Pendidikan Tinggi AS Jajaki Kerjasama Dengan

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Jakarta, 7 November 2011 – Hari ini, Konsorsium Pendidikan Tinggi Amerika Serkitat (AS) jajaki kerjasama dengan universitas-universitas di Indonesia melalui ACCESS Education Beyond (ACCESS), sebuah program bantuan pendidikan yang independen di bawah naungan Putera Sampoerna Foundation (PSF). Konsorsium ini adalah Global Associates Knowledge Network, sebuah konsorsium yang terdiri dari delegasi senior pendidikan tinggi Amerika Serikat (AS),  seperti wakil presiden, dekan dan direktur dari universitas AS, untuk menggali potensi kerjasama program pendidikan dan riset dengan institusi Indonesia.

Kerjasama ini sesuai dengan tujuan dari Kemitraan Komprehensif di bidang pendidikan tinggi yang diumumkan oleh Presiden Republik Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono dan Presiden Amerika Serikat Barack Obama tahun lalu pada bulan November, yang bertujuan untuk memanfaatkan kinerja sector non-pemerintah, publik dan sektor publik dikedua negara untuk mendukung perluasan program bilateral di bidang pendidikan tinggi, termasuk membantu membangun kemampuan Indonesia untuk menyediakan pendidikan unversitas kelas dunia.

“Setahun setelah penandatanganan Kemitraan Komprehensif AS – Indonesia pada bulan November 2010, ACCESS Education terus berusaha untuk  mencapai tujuan pendidikannya dengan bekerjasama dengan universitas AS dan memfasilitasi universitas tersebut untuk dapat memiliki akses atau menyebarluaskan keahliannya di Indonesia. Kerjasama kami dengan jaringan Global Associates merupakan usaha ACCESS Education yang terkini untuk memajukan kerjasama universitas sebagai bagian dari Kemitraan Komprehensif,” kata Brook W. Ross, Direktur ACCESS Education Beyond.

Global Associates adalah sebuah jaringan pendidikan dari University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) yang berdedikasi untuk mengidentifikasi pendidikan tinggi global dan kebutuhan pelatihan, mendorong kerjasama, berbagi praktik terbaik dan memastikan setiap anggotanya mengikuti perkembangan pendidikan internasional. Para wakil universitas AS ini terdiri dari Brown University, California State University Long Beach, The George Washington University, Kansas State University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Mississippi, San Diego State University and Syracuse University. Kunjungan ke Indonesia ini adalah serangkaian dari perjalanan eksplorasi ke luar yang dilakukan stiap tahuannya oleh anggota Global Associates.

 

Jaringan Global Associates berusaha untuk mendirikan program pertukaran pelajar dan fakultas, program belajar di luar negeri, program kerjasama penelitian dan program gelar ganda dengan universitas-universitas di Indonesia. Selain itu, delegasi AS pendidikan tinggi ini juga tertarik untuk membahas program pengembangan eksekutif, program jangka pendek untuk sertifikasi teknis, dan program pelatihan yang dirancang untuk sektor publik dan swasta di Indonesia. Termasuk juga program online S1 dan program English as a Second Language (ESL) untuk siswa Indonesia. Melalui kerjasama universitas AS – Indonesia, dampaknya akan membantu membangun kemampuan Indonesia untuk menyediakan pendidikan universitas kelas dunia dan dengan demikian memberikan manfaat kepada mahasiswa dan perekonomian Indonesia secara keseluruhan.

 

“Global Associates telah mengindentifikasi Indonesia sebagai negara kunci untuk kemitraan akademik di antara universitas kedua negara. Indonesia semakin fokus mendukung perkembangan pendidikan dengan mengalokasi hampir 20 persen dari anggaran negara, ini merupakan waktu yang tepat untuk memikirkan program akademik antara universtas di AS dan Indonesia,” kata Dr. Jeet Joshee, Ketua Global Associates, sekaligus Associate Vice President International Education California State University, Long Beach.

 

Delegasi Global Associates ke Indonesia akan bertemu dan melakukan diskusi kerjasama dengan 13 universitas Indonesia di Jakarta, Bandung, Solo dan Yogyakarta, seperti Universitas Atma Jaya, Institute Teknologi Bandung, Universitas Parahyangan, Universitas Padjajaran, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Bina Nusanatara University, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Universitas Muhamadiyah Solo, Universitas Islam Yogyakarta, Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta, Universitas Gadjah Mada dan Universitas Sanata Dharma.

 

ACCESS Education Beyond merupakan salah satu bagian integral strategi besar PSF “Pathway to Leadership” untuk menciptakan 1,000 calon pemimpin masa depan setiap tahunnya sebagai persiapan Indonesia menghadapi tantangan persaingan global. ACCESS Education berkomitmen untuk memajukan Kemitraan Komprehensif melalui bantuan strategis untuk calon pelamar universitas dan perguruan tinggi Amerika, dan perguruan tinggi dan universitas Amerika yang ingin masuk atau memperluas kehadirannya dan kerjasama dengan Indonesia.