Home among the corns
The original version of this post was longer, as people like Paige can attest to LOL, but then I started getting a lot of uncalled for traffic.
I'm not a particularly uptight/fidgety person la, but I am a bit uncomfortable when I get a lot of strangers coming in from search engines. Like, I was talking about colleges, then suddenly I get a lot of people who Googled the colleges' names and was directed here.
Just makes me uncomfortable, dunno. So I'm sticking to the "more facts, less opinion" rule.
(How can I remove my blog from Blogger Search, or any search engine for that matter? You'd only want a lot of traffic if you have Nuffnang ads or Google ads or whatever, which I don't LOL.)
(Do those things really make money?)
* * * * *
Hooo. So I went for my visa interview at the US Embassy today, and my student visa is approved, so I'm ready and raring to go!
You know, when they said "interview", I imagined a private conversation, really thorough questions, just a very intimidating sort of experience on the whole...
...Only it was anything BUT. The interview was conducted over the counter (there were 9 counters altogether) in a tiny room where 50 other people are waiting, with a glass panel between you and the consular, so it called for the need to use a speaker.
So basically people there waiting can hear your conversation la, and I imagine it'd be a bit embarrassing if you were rejected a visa.
Anyway!
The first thing the consular said to me in his very American accent was, "So you're applying for a student visa? To.... *pause* Grin..nell College? I've never heard of that! Where is that?"
Sigh, LOL.
And such is the stigma that comes with going to a small liberal arts college. I went to have my passport renewed a couple of weeks ago, and I had three (!) different officials go, "Eh? Grinnell ah? Tak pernah dengar pun?"
LOL I remember when I asked my SAM lecturers to write my teachers' recommendations, I contemplated adding big-name sort of schools, like University of Michigan, even if I weren't applying, just so they wouldn't think I'm applying to ciplak schools that are easy to get into, and not bother trying to write solid recommendation. But I didn't la of course.
So anyway. Yeah, I'm going to Grinnell College (in Iowa)!
I was asked why I never mention the name of my college on my blog, like I'm trying to be elusive about it, but no la! I just figured since no one would've heard of it anyway.
It's super cool, actually. One of the colleges that accepted me sent me a DVD, and in it their president said that when you go to the college "you don't just check into a room, you check into a community".
Which is true for most liberal arts colleges, because almost all LACs have enrollments of less than 3,000 (versus 10,000 in larger universities), so I imagine it results in a very close-knit community.
I remember during the agonizing wait for college decisions, I received an SMS at 11 a.m. one Sunday morning (I was still sleeping, paiseh) from a fellow Grinnell applicant, and she was like, "Grinnell's decisions are out! Check PioneerWeb! Good luck!"
Wah I rushed to the computer, logged in, saw "Congratulations!" in big bold lettering, and was like, "SCORE!" I knew I was definitely going there!
Apparently it's only well-respected in the academia, less so amongst non-college-going people, even in the US. I know a lot of American Grinnellians say that when they're asked which college they're going to, people often give them blank looks, or mistake "Grinnell" for "Cornell" ("Oh, you're going to Cornell! Congrats!" "No, it's Grinnell." *Blank look*), or they'd just go, "Where is that?" "In Iowa." "Why the heck would you go there?"
(Grinnell has this t-shirt that on the front is printed "Where the hell is Grinnell?", and on the back, "Who the hell cares?" I'm definitely getting that!)
Anyway.
The U.S.A. For Students will be held on June 14th, which is this Saturday la.
If you're thinking of studying in the States, or if you've not made up your mind and are still trying to decide, I recommend this enthusiastically!
I remember going to Midvalley last year for this, and I didn't visit a single booth. I basically just arrived in time for the seminars I was interested in, finished listening and left. All because I had a Maths Common Test the next day and still had no idea what was what!
(LOL reminds me of the days when I'd go in to the exam room not knowing much at all. One time we were asked to explain solar sail in the essay(!!) portion of Physics Common Test, and I left it blank because I have never even heard of solar sail before!) (I failed la, obviously.)
Anyway. It's a tad unfortunate they didn't have a seminar on Liberal Arts Colleges like they did last year, I mean, it was one of the things that convinced me LACs are the way to go (nevermind that you will never get your friends/relatives to go "Wah, not bad ah!" when they ask what university you're heading for).
All I can say is, I fully endorse an American education lor, whether one in a national university or a liberal arts college, expecially if you don't want to be pigeon-holed and you want the freedom to explore.
Anyway! I saw a cute guy today.
Actually no la, I just don't know how to end this post. Bye!
(Oh, the USA for students thing is over, but whatever la.)
I'm not a particularly uptight/fidgety person la, but I am a bit uncomfortable when I get a lot of strangers coming in from search engines. Like, I was talking about colleges, then suddenly I get a lot of people who Googled the colleges' names and was directed here.
Just makes me uncomfortable, dunno. So I'm sticking to the "more facts, less opinion" rule.
(How can I remove my blog from Blogger Search, or any search engine for that matter? You'd only want a lot of traffic if you have Nuffnang ads or Google ads or whatever, which I don't LOL.)
(Do those things really make money?)
* * * * *
Hooo. So I went for my visa interview at the US Embassy today, and my student visa is approved, so I'm ready and raring to go!
You know, when they said "interview", I imagined a private conversation, really thorough questions, just a very intimidating sort of experience on the whole...
...Only it was anything BUT. The interview was conducted over the counter (there were 9 counters altogether) in a tiny room where 50 other people are waiting, with a glass panel between you and the consular, so it called for the need to use a speaker.
So basically people there waiting can hear your conversation la, and I imagine it'd be a bit embarrassing if you were rejected a visa.
Anyway!
The first thing the consular said to me in his very American accent was, "So you're applying for a student visa? To.... *pause* Grin..nell College? I've never heard of that! Where is that?"
Sigh, LOL.
And such is the stigma that comes with going to a small liberal arts college. I went to have my passport renewed a couple of weeks ago, and I had three (!) different officials go, "Eh? Grinnell ah? Tak pernah dengar pun?"
LOL I remember when I asked my SAM lecturers to write my teachers' recommendations, I contemplated adding big-name sort of schools, like University of Michigan, even if I weren't applying, just so they wouldn't think I'm applying to ciplak schools that are easy to get into, and not bother trying to write solid recommendation. But I didn't la of course.
So anyway. Yeah, I'm going to Grinnell College (in Iowa)!
I was asked why I never mention the name of my college on my blog, like I'm trying to be elusive about it, but no la! I just figured since no one would've heard of it anyway.
It's super cool, actually. One of the colleges that accepted me sent me a DVD, and in it their president said that when you go to the college "you don't just check into a room, you check into a community".
Which is true for most liberal arts colleges, because almost all LACs have enrollments of less than 3,000 (versus 10,000 in larger universities), so I imagine it results in a very close-knit community.
I remember during the agonizing wait for college decisions, I received an SMS at 11 a.m. one Sunday morning (I was still sleeping, paiseh) from a fellow Grinnell applicant, and she was like, "Grinnell's decisions are out! Check PioneerWeb! Good luck!"
Wah I rushed to the computer, logged in, saw "Congratulations!" in big bold lettering, and was like, "SCORE!" I knew I was definitely going there!
Apparently it's only well-respected in the academia, less so amongst non-college-going people, even in the US. I know a lot of American Grinnellians say that when they're asked which college they're going to, people often give them blank looks, or mistake "Grinnell" for "Cornell" ("Oh, you're going to Cornell! Congrats!" "No, it's Grinnell." *Blank look*), or they'd just go, "Where is that?" "In Iowa." "Why the heck would you go there?"
(Grinnell has this t-shirt that on the front is printed "Where the hell is Grinnell?", and on the back, "Who the hell cares?" I'm definitely getting that!)
Anyway.
The U.S.A. For Students will be held on June 14th, which is this Saturday la.
If you're thinking of studying in the States, or if you've not made up your mind and are still trying to decide, I recommend this enthusiastically!
I remember going to Midvalley last year for this, and I didn't visit a single booth. I basically just arrived in time for the seminars I was interested in, finished listening and left. All because I had a Maths Common Test the next day and still had no idea what was what!
(LOL reminds me of the days when I'd go in to the exam room not knowing much at all. One time we were asked to explain solar sail in the essay(!!) portion of Physics Common Test, and I left it blank because I have never even heard of solar sail before!) (I failed la, obviously.)
Anyway. It's a tad unfortunate they didn't have a seminar on Liberal Arts Colleges like they did last year, I mean, it was one of the things that convinced me LACs are the way to go (nevermind that you will never get your friends/relatives to go "Wah, not bad ah!" when they ask what university you're heading for).
All I can say is, I fully endorse an American education lor, whether one in a national university or a liberal arts college, expecially if you don't want to be pigeon-holed and you want the freedom to explore.
Anyway! I saw a cute guy today.
Actually no la, I just don't know how to end this post. Bye!
(Oh, the USA for students thing is over, but whatever la.)
isthisme exuded garlic breath at 5:43 AM
