Gearing up for Graduate Study
The American University in Cairo's (AUC) Career Center organized the 2019 International Graduate Study Fair on September, 28, where it exposed 840 participants, to a wide assortment of graduate opportunities from 23 global universities and organizations. Participants varied from AUC graduates and undergraduates to guests from Zagazig and Cairo universities. The fair hosted a diverse set of universities from around the globe to abide by the AUC’s focus on internationalization and to let students metaphorically travel the world in one day. The event started with a session given by Leidya Boutro, who works at the Career Center, and helped students to make the most out of the event, mentioning, “Come prepared with questions to ask university representatives to keep the day really productive.”
Universities and organizations from Germany, the UK, the United States and more, participated at the fair. The UK had a strong presence in the event, with the University of Manchester, Glasgow, and Greenwich being some of the participating members of the day that bringing about a bustling vibe around their roundtables. Other universities, like the University of Sussex, shined in their introductory sessions. Natalia Slutskaya, Director of Admissions and Recruitment for the Sussex Business School, highlighted how important it was to choose the right Master’s program and specified three major points to consider “Interdisciplinarity is necessary because of how intertwined everything is nowadays, and it helps you stay relevant in tomorrow’s world. Understanding your degree’s mobility allows you to understand how it’s affected by location and culture. Most importantly, your degree should reflect the person that you are and the values that you stand for.” She ended her talk by mentioning how the University of Sussex is proud of being the first in the world when it comes to the field of Development Studies.
Moreover, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), which has been consistently present in AUC’s previous Graduate Study fairs, joined this year. Heba Afify, the university’s representative in Egypt, mentioned how important it was for students to have a proper background about the universities that they are interested in so that they have a better picture of what is expected from them. Ahmed Ibrahim, a Petroleum Engineering graduate from Suez University, was among the students who were interested in TUM and said, “I’m trying to find an opportunity to study abroad, and I was looking for information and guidance. I feel better after coming today, and I have a better sense of direction.”
In addition, the fair also hosted Spain-based Instituto de Empresa (IE) University, which attracted the attention of a lot of participants because of the option that it offers of pursuing a degree in iconic Spanish cities like Madrid and Segovia. Maneli Shojaei, Associate Director of International Business Development for the Middle East and Africa at IE Business School, discussed how choosing a suitable university was just as important as deciding on a topic to focus on for the Master’s degree, Bassant Samhot, Senior Political Sciences and Multimedia Journalism student at AUC was one of the attendees and felt that the session was one of the things that helped in calming down her graduation anxiety.
Nevertheless, many organizations shared their scholarships and funding opportunities with the attendees. One of the regular participants at the fair is AMIDEAST. representatives highlighted how important it was for them that students who will apply should have a strong sense of community. They emphasized that students who do extracurricular activities that involve giving back to the community tend to do exceptionally well when they go to universities abroad and interact with other intercultural communities.
At the end of the day, a highly anticipated session discussing Personal Statment was held, with students lining up fifteen minutes before the actual session. Dalia Awad, Director of the Career Advising and Campus Engagement, reiterated that Personal Statements are a major part of any graduate program and that they can decide whether a student is admitted into a university or not. She emphasized, “ A personal statement is your voice, your chance to be yourself and let the university know what you stand for.” She also covered the kind of questions that students might face when first deciding what kind of graduate program to pursue and offered them a focused approach to reach their future target.
The fair effectively exposed students to diversified options for their graduate study and answered many lingering questions that they had, comforting them and preparing them for the next chapter of their lives.