Spring Visit to India

Greetings from Roger Williams University! I have recently returned to the U.S. after my spring trip to India. After many months of application reviews, this trip was certainly a welcome change. It was also nice to get away from the winter weather for a bit. The main purpose of my visit to India was to personally congratulate all our accepted students and to welcome them to our community.

We have seen quite an increase in interest from students, from various cities in India, who have applied to RWU this year. We have had applicants from both, international schools and Indian schools. Hence, my trip took me through several cities all across the country. For the most part, I visited the larger metropolitan cities, like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, and a few other comparatively “smaller” cities like Pune.

During my visit, I truly enjoyed getting to know each of our accepted students, and their families, much better. The students were so wonderful to interact with; they were articulate, intelligent, insightful, involved, abreast on current affairs and global events, and extremely well-rounded. I believe this has a lot to do with their schooling and their upbringing.  I can tell that these are students with a purpose and are very driven to succeed. I think their backgrounds and experiences are truly indicative of India’s progressive youth and what the global citizens of the future are going to represent.

In addition, to meeting with the students, I also visited several schools. I visited both the international schools and the national schools; however, a majority of my visits were to the international schools. Many of the national schools were unable to accommodate a visit in February, as their students were on study leave for their final board exams; these exams are critical to a student’s ability to enter a selective university. I also enjoyed spending time getting to know more about the schools, students, Guidance Counselors and Senior Administrators. Some of the common topics that we discussed, related to the global economic downturn and its impact on students planning to study abroad, a sudden surge of “international” schools in India and the factors driving this growth, and Slumdog Millionaire of course!

My trip to India coincided with the Oscars and I was absolutely thrilled to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire put India in the international spotlight. I watched the movie and thought that it was really well made, especially given the fact that it was a foreign director that produced the movie in India. While the theme of the movie did have some common roots with most Bollywood movies, I think that they did a wonderful job capturing the essence and the spirit of the Indian people. Bollywood is said to make more movies than Hollywood each year; I am glad to see that Indian cinema has finally come of its own.

As always, I enjoyed experiencing the warmth of the people, the overly generous hospitality and the delectable array of foods. Every trip to India continually reminds of just how diverse, progressive, talented and vibrant the country is. Being from India, I always feel so rejuvenated when I return to the U.S. after my visit back home. I am really fortunate and thankful to be in a position where my work allows me the opportunity to visit home quite often. I would love to move back to India sometime soon, and who knows it may happen sooner than planned.

With the deposit deadlines soon approaching and spring travel underway; things are really getting busy in Admissions. May 1, is our deposit deadline and April looks to be a very busy month. Several students have already reserved their place in the upcoming class and I look to having a good group of students join us again this year. (P.S. If you have not already done so, please do remember to submit your deposit soon.) In the U.S., April is synonymous with college fairs for high schools juniors. Since, I also counsel students in the U.S.; I will have a couple of busy weeks of travel around the New England region in April. Till the next post, be well!

Saad Sait
Assistant Director of International Admission

Exciting times at RWU!

It’s that time of year again that we released our decisions for Fall 2009 admission. It is an exciting time of year for many students and families! It is also somewhat stressful as several students have to make their admissions decision about where to spend the next four years of their life studying and living.
This year was our largest applicant pool on record!  We have freshman coming next fall from around the world.  They come from Asia, Middle East, Caribbean, South America and Europe!  With over 28 countries represented next year is going to be an exciting year for RWU. 
For those of you accepted to RWU, congratulations! For those of you thinking about applying...you still can.  We are still accepting international applications on a rolling admissions basis. However, we encourage applications as early as possible.
With a notable increase in our international applications, we are excited that RWU was on your list of schools to apply to or will be next year when you apply. We are anticipating our largest incoming international class as well and we hope you are part of it!
For those of you thinking about applying next year or the year after, we encourage you to meet one of our admissions representatives while they are in your country or to email us at intadmit@rwu.edu with your questions. Check out when well be in your country next on our international travel schedule page!
Also, if you have SKYPE were happy to have a digital video conference with you so you can learn more about RWU. Contact us for more details.

International Phonathon Week

Hello from the Office of International Admissions! 

Ring...ring! Our newly accepted international students are getting phone calls this month from our current international students at RWU!  It’s a fun and exciting phone call to get!  Our current students love calling as much as our newly admitted students love getting the phone call.  It’s always a bit tricky calling the “entire” world, but we do it in shifts from early morning to late night so we make sure everyone gets a phone call.  Already, new friendships are being made, questions are being asked, and students are committing to RWU for next fall 2009! 

It’s been a busy time of year working with our newly admitted students, but it’s also my favorite time of year helping students make their final decision on where to go to school.  If you have questions about your admissions decision or RWU in general, feel free to email me at wroy@rwu.edu to ask me questions!  I’m happy to help out!

Wes Roy
Associate Director of International Admissions
wroy@rwu.edu

International Admissions Back from Travel

I just got back from my around-the-world spring recruitment tour!  I was in China for two weeks in March meeting with accepted students, new students, parents, and college counselors!  I started my trip in Shenzhen and worked my way through to Nanjing, Shanghai, and Beijing.  I found the students to be really interested in the United States and especially Roger Williams University.  I’m always amazed when I travel overseas at all the good will and eagerness of students to study in the US.  The students had excellent questions, understood the US admissions process, and wanted to learn more.  I look forward to going back to China next fall to meet with more students. 

I then flew to Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.  We have several students from the Middle East at RWU.  Having recruited in the area for several years now, I consider the Middle East a second home in many ways.  The people are generous and welcoming and are always interested in learning more about the US and admissions. 

Now that we several current students from the region, I have had the pleasure of meeting with their families and siblings many times.  In many ways, it’s building a family legacy at RWU that matters so much.  I also met a lot of students who are just now applying for admission.  At Roger Williams University, we are based on a rolling admissions and are still taking applications.  It’s best to apply as early as possible so we can help you apply for admissions, apply for your visa, and make plans for next Fall 2009. 

If you are still thinking about applying for admissions, feel free to contact me at wroy@rwu.edu to learn how you can apply!

Until next time!

Wesley Roy
Associate Director of International Admissions
wroy@rwu.edu