Q&A with Dr.Glean – Midwestern State University

 

Guest Post by Dr.Randy Glean. Director International Services at Midwestern State University.

Welcome to Midwestern State University!  We are a no longer a well guarded little secret gem.

• International Student  Population – 550 international students from over 60 countries
• Location  – North Texas city of Wichita Falls, just two hours from Dallas,
• Highlights  – Very safe and aesthetically pleasant upscale environment, low cost tuition, affordable housing, and an international office that goes above and beyond to insure that our students are catered to from application to graduation.

We offer Baccalaureate and Master’s degrees and provide opportunities for well qualified students to reduce their tuition costs with various scholarship packages.

Bachelors Degree

Undergraduate applicants are required to submit SAT and TOEFL (minimum score of 79 but ONLY if they are from a country where the language of instruction is not English); Strong A-level exam results can be substituted for SAT scores and IELTS scores can be substituted for TOEFL scores.  Tuition is VERY REASONABLE.

The base tuition is approximately $7800 per semester but can be reduced substantially by various scholarships.  Incoming students are free to apply for such.  I-20 requirement varies from $17,000-$24,000 depending on the scholarship package.

Masters Degree

Graduate applicants would also be very pleased!  We do have a significant number of merit scholarships and assistantships that are competitive but attainable at the point of admission for well qualified applicants.  We are particularly interested in improving our outreach to graduate students.

Our best feature is our efficiency!  We respond to inquiries in most cases within 24 hours. We process applications quickly and efficiently with very little bureaucracy.  We have a simple application form. We respond to queries and concerns within hours and insure that the application process is quick and painless.

Questions and Answers

Estimated number of graduate student population at MWSU?

We currently have about 550 total international students from 59 countries.  This number will likely  be 520 from 55 countries in Fall 2011 and increase in Fall 2012.   Follow http://students.mwsu.edu/international for more information.  We have approximately 100-110 GRADUATE level students and about half of them are from India.

Can you explain the Admission procedure (what happens after schools receives the application package)

We process the initial application and credentials received in our office and then send them to the department for final evaluation. If all documents are in place along with test scores,  transcripts and financial statements, we can turn it around very quickly.

Can you explain the admission process  timeline ?

We like April 15 for Fall and September 15 for Spring.

Tips to get F1 Visa

Be truthful; have a clear academic purpose and some reasonable path to return home that makes logical and economic sense; have strong ties to home country; preferably not have any history with the embassy other than previously granted visas that were not violated.

Our outreach extends worldwide.  I have personally visited over 24 countries in the past three years.  Areas of particular interest are China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and other Asian countries.

The Middle East and North Africa are yet untapped but a keen curiosity.  We have significant populations from West Africa with growing representation in South and East Africa.  Western Europe largely produces exchange students, but Eastern Europeans are highly sought for degree programs.  We have to venture to Latin America in the near future.  The Caribbean islands send us about 40%  of our undergraduate international students.

Finally, we make university and a US transition EASY. We try to meet all our students at the airport, have their housing and logistics ready, have peer counselors available to them for the first two weeks to smooth their transition, and insure that they are placed on the path to success.  We have very little attrition!  Most of our recruits stay till graduation!  We receive more transfer-in students each year than transfer-outs!

Look us up at http://students.mswu.edu/international or email [email protected] for more information.