#intlacac2018

[internationaladmissum]

International ACAC Conference 2018

In July UM International Admissions took part in the annual meeting of International Association of College Admissions Counselors (International ACAC) held at Tulane and Loyola Universities in New Orleans. The International ACAC is an affiliate of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) and is one of the main US-based professional associations dedicated to international admissions counseling and recruitment.   Attended this year by over 1400 international high school counselors, independent educational counselors, and university admissions staff, the conference brought together professionals from over 82 countries for three days of presentations, professional development opportunities and networking events. Highlights included the college and high school fairs where both universities and international high schools had a chance to show off their schools and to share information with colleagues “across the desk”.

This year’s conference included a range of sessions on international recruitment, admissions trends, and evaluation best practices.  Presentations included, among many others, sessions on recruitment strategies for doing outreach on a limited budget, understanding the British A level system and IB Diploma Programme, the case for text flexibility for international students, engaging with students via social media, and international student mobility trends in the current US political climate.  

Given the importance of relationship-building to international admissions and recruitment, the conference was an excellent occasion for UM to connect with professionals who are talking directly with prospective international students and “third-culture kids”, students with dual citizenship or US residents abroad. Cultivating relationships with counselors overseas will help UM promote its brand in places where it cannot, due to budgetary or other constraints, actively recruit or have a physical presence. These same high school professionals also have a wealth of knowledge of different national school curricula and credentialing bodies. By connecting with them at conferences like the one put on by International ACAC, UM International Admissions will grow its resource pool, thereby strengthening its ability to evaluate student academic records accurately.  Because of its global reach, the conference also provided an opportunity for UM to hear more about student mobility trends in parts of the world where it is not actively recruiting and to learn about recruitment best practices from other US institutions of higher education.  

UM International Admissions plans to build on the work done at the conference through follow-up with new counselor contacts and by implementing a number of strategies and programming ideas learned at the conference.  Stay tuned!