Welcome--Usage of the College Forum

[tokenadult]

Hello, everyone,

I'm volunteering to moderate this College Forum on this Art of Problem Solving - MathLinks site so that all the young participants here who have college ambitions can exchange information and encouragement during the competitive college search process. Topics that the board management and I strongly encourage include tips for making a strong college application, information about colleges and universities with satisfying programs for math-loving young people, and advice for getting a well-rounded education DESPITE having to fit certain commonly applied admission requirements. Participation from anyone who participates on this AoPS board is very welcome, young or old, college alumnus or nonattendee of college.

By way of self-introduction, I'll mention that I was in University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts class of 1980, with an undergraduate degree in Chinese language. I worked for some years in Taiwan and here in the United States in various aspects of interpreting, translating, editing, or language teaching. I also have a law degree (J.D. magna cum laude, University of Minnesota Law School, '90) but have not been actively practicing law in recent years. Most of my best friends from the days of my youth are electrical engineers or computer software engineers, nearly all of them also with degrees from the University of Minnesota.

In my travels as a Chinese-English interpreter, I sometimes interpreted for official visitors from Chinese-speaking countries interested in the United States higher education system, so I have been to all of the famous college campuses in the United States, some multiple times. I have even attended professional meetings of college admission officers, as well as a number of public college fairs. The system of higher education admissions in the United States has long been more diverse, and thus more complicated, than in most other countries. Because many of the participants here are first-generation immigrants to the United States whose parents may have encountered a much different system in their native countries, I will try to draw attention to features of the United States system that are particularly unique. On my own part, I would LOVE for each of my four children (the oldest of whom is eleven years old this year) to have the experience of being a student overseas, an experience I had in Taiwan, and thus I encourage discussion of universities anywhere in the world that admit foreign students.

My best wishes go to each of you as you pursue higher education.