Alumni from your chosen school can make a difference in your life as an international student. Here’s what alumni can give you and why you should start building alumni connections.
Having access to a great alumni network can open up many opportunities for you. If you’re looking into studying overseas, building alumni connections can help you tremendously.
Here are five great reasons to start building your alumni network now:
A Valuable Perspective on Your Chosen School
Speaking to an alumnus of your chosen college or university can give you meaningful insights that you won’t usually learn anywhere else.
You may think that you know everything you need to know about your chosen university – the programs, the facilities, the learning resources, their mission, and student services – but talking to alumni may give you information that may even surprise you.
Ask them about their experience and how that experience shaped their academic decisions. Every answer is unique. As long as you ask questions, you can get a good grasp of what it’s like to study and enjoy your time in your chosen university.
Engagement and Continuing Support
Alumni connections between the university and students are a matter of resource exchange. As graduates, alumni tend to have a strong attachment to their university, leading to increased loyalty and support.
If you’re a prospective international student, consider looking through the alumni relations of your chosen school. Most alumni are able to extend their support to the university, mostly in the form of financial aid and access to internship and employment opportunities.
In addition, the ongoing support of alumni to the university can help broaden the scope of skills development, research, and nurturing of academic and non-academic talents.
Future Employment Opportunities
Without a doubt, one of the greatest reasons why you should build alumni connections is to increase your chances of employability.
Having a good alumni network can help you land a rewarding job right after graduation. Even better if the alumni have connections to companies you’re eyeing.
This is the same practice that most educational institutions do to ensure fast employment for their students. They partner with organizations, both public and private, to give future graduates an almost effortless pathway toward their first or next job.
With an alumni network, you can have a head start in your search for that life-changing career. Alumni connections can lay down a bridge so you can cross over from the tough job market.
Financial Support
Alumni who have been very successful later in life are often more generous to their previous institutions. As a symbol of respect, courtesy, and immeasurable gratitude, alumni are a stable source of donations and financial assistance to the community.
Some alumni offer financial assistance or scholarships to students, while others sponsor or host fundraising activities. Either way, alumni find ways to extend their support to their alma mater and its future generations of graduates.
Depending on your chosen university, alumni would often gift the institution with a new facility or even an entire student building (although this is practiced usually in prestigious, Ivy League-type universities). Aside from cash donations and charities, they also provide learning materials and resources including books, computers, and laboratory facilities.
Mentorship and Personal Growth
In your journey toward earning your dream degree, alumni can serve as your mentors.
In addition to providing help with academics, alumni can also help you in problem solving and decision making. An international student’s life is made up of decisions that are both minor and monumental; alumni connections come in handy when it comes to making these decisions as a young person.
Whether you’re deciding how to approach a class presentation or whether you should proceed to a graduate program after earning your bachelor’s, the expertise and wisdom of alumni will help you contemplate your options, giving you a confidence boost or a big-picture perspective of things.
Personal development from alumni relations should not be overlooked. In fact, it is likely to be beneficial and useful for a very long time, especially when dealing with real-life situations.
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