Counseling and Advising for International Students

Arranging to See a Counselor  The Counseling and Advising office is in CB 215. We are usually open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM, Wednesday 8:30 – 2:30 and 5:00 – 7:00, and Friday 8:30 – 5:00.  For basic questions you can just walk in – you usually don’t need an appointment.  However, the last two hours of each day may be appointments only.  For longer or more complicated questions it is recommended that you make an appointment. K. Silver 2013

Making an Appointment To make an appointment if you have questions or need general advice about your major, classes, or other topics that are not connected to your status: Go to “Counseling and Advising” from the MC website, then click on “Rockville.” Look for “Individual appointments.” Follow the instructions. For Counselor, select “No preference.” If you want to see a certain counselor, you can put his or her name in “additional information.” edu/secondary1.aspx?urlid=4

What Services do Counselors Provide? Students should come in for academic advising. Counselors can help students choose classes for their major. We can also help with transfer and career questions. K. Silver 2013

What Services do Counselors Provide? Counselors can also help students with personal issues. For example: students who have not been in the US for a long time sometimes experience culture shock and have trouble adjusting. You are very welcome to come talk to us about adjustment and ways to feel more comfortable in this country. You can also talk with us about any other issues of concern. K. Silver 2013

What Services do Counselors Provide?  All conversations with counselors are confidential.  Unlike the International Student Coordinators, we are NOT required to report anything about students to the government.  Therefore, students can talk to us about almost anything. K. Silver 2013

International Student Coordinators and Counselors  The International Student Coordinators (SV 115) can help you with visa and status issues, questions about sponsors, etc.  The Counselors (CB 215) can write letters for you to the Coordinators in case you need to extend your I-20, drop a class, or have other issues that require a letter. K. Silver 2013

Making an Appointment for an F-1 Letter All full-time counselors may write the letters. In certain situations, you may be referred to see a particular counselor who has more experience working with international students. Normally you make the appointment online from the Rockville Counseling website: /plain.aspx?id=7134 You must make an appointment to see one of us to get a letter for the International Student Coordinators. K. Silver 2013

Making an Appointment for an F-1 Letter plain.aspx?id=14474 The appointment must be when the counselor is not on walk-in duty, and cannot be the same day. Please do NOT wait until the deadline (for example, to drop a class) to request a letter! It may be too late! K. Silver 2013 You can also make an appointment from the International Student Office page:

Counselor Specialties Some counselors work with different departments and majors. Most counselors have psychological training. Some counselors are trained to help students with career searches. All counselors can help students with transfer to a four-year college or university. K. Silver 2013

Counselor Specialties Some counselors speak another language. Professors Hilda Smith and Linda Robinson are native Spanish speakers. Professor DJ McCullough speaks Portuguese fluently. Part-time counselor Professor Chia-May Dougherty is a native Chinese speaker. K. Silver 2013

Academic Advisors Students should also work with the advisors in their departments. Department advisors can help students make sure they are taking the correct courses for graduation in their major. Major courses may need to be taken in a certain sequence. Department advisors can guide students through this. Advisors can also provide advice about non- course career planning (volunteering or internships) and connections students need. K. Silver 2013

Recommended Class for New International Students DS 104, Seminar for International Students, is strongly recommended for new international students, during your first (or second) semester. It’s especially important for students who have never attended college or university. In this class we present a lot of important information in about rules and regulations at MC, education in the US, cultural adjustment, study skills, test preparation, transfer, and career information. K. Silver 2013

Other Classes to Remember Speech: If you are required to take SP 102, you must complete it before you can take EL 104! Remember that EL 104 requires RD 103 and EL 110 (the 2 nd Speaking class). It is recommended that students who need SP 102 take it during their first semester. Math: Many students say “I hate math. I’m not good at it. So I’ll wait until my last semester to take it”. If you have a low math score, you may need three to four semesters of math to graduate! K. Silver 2013

Dropping a Class  It is important to keep your full-time status.  There are some situations in which a professor may drop a student from a class, or recommend that a student drop.  Sometimes a student may wish to drop a class.  If a student misses too many classes, the professor may drop or fail the student. See the course syllabus for the professor’s policies on this. K. Silver 2013

Dropping a Class  If a student is doing poorly in a class, a professor may recommend that the student drop.  The professor may not know that you need to be full-time.  Do not drop a class without discussing the consequences with the International Student Coordinators or Counselors! If dropping a class will put you below full time, you must be approved for this and get a notation on your I-20 first! K. Silver 2013

Semester versus Credit Hours All courses have semester hours, but not all have credit hours. Semester Hours or Billing Hours  Number of hours you will be in class each week during the regular semester tuition costs (billing)  How MC determines tuition costs (billing)  Most of the AELP courses = 5 semester hours full-time  Count towards full-time status EL and RD and SP 102 courses = 5 semester hours Credit Hours  Value of class toward meeting degree requirements  Transfer Value  Count towards Grade Point Average  Listed in catalog EL and RD and SP 102 courses = 0 credit hours K. Silver 2013

Full-time or Part-Time Full-time = 12 semester hours, or billing hours Not necessarily 12 credits. For example, if a student is taking: EL 102 = 5 billing hours RD 102 = 5 billing hours DS 104 = 2 credits/billing hours  This student has 12 billing hours and is full-time. K. Silver 2013

Transfer Credit If you have taken university courses in your country, a counselor can help you find out how to get credit for these courses here, or in a university after you finish your degree here. If you have a university degree, you may be able to transfer to a university, or even apply for a higher degree. Typically, you will need to complete English through EN 102. K. Silver 2013

Transfer Credit Bring a list of the courses you have taken in your country, or a transcript, so the counselor can help you decide if it is worth having your transcript evaluated. We have a list of Credentialing Agencies that evaluate international transcripts. K. Silver 2013

Transferring to a University You can begin your studies here and complete a degree at a four-year college or university. You can get help from counselors to find out the requirements for transfer. It’s a good idea to start looking at requirements early, so you can plan your classes. K. Silver 2013

Workshops Offered by Counseling  Every semester the Counseling Office has many workshops about transfer and career.  These workshops can help you make good choices for classes.  There is a Transfer Day every semester when representatives of many institutions come to MC. We will have posters and flyers available with the date for this semester, and the information will be on the Counseling website. K. Silver 2013

Tutoring  Free tutoring is available if you are having difficulties with your class work.  The Writing and Reading Tutoring Center (HU 02), and the Writing, Computer, and Language Center (MT 20) for help with writing.  The Math and Science Center provides tutoring (MT 02) K. Silver 2013

Activities on Campus In addition to classes, there are a number of activities on campus. In the US, colleges, universities, and employers place high value on participation in activities outside of classes. These activities help students improve English, get leadership and other skills, and make connections with other students. There are many clubs. You can find out about them in the Office of Student Life in the basement of Campus Center. There is also an “Involvement Fest” every semester when you can meet club representatives. K. Silver 2013

Activities on Campus  Every semester the Counseling office sponsors cultural events called “The Gathering”.  Usually we feature the culture of a certain country.  If you are interested in presenting your country, please let Professor Smith or Professor Robinson know! K. Silver 2013

Review  When to see a counselor:  To make sure you are registering for the correct classes for your major  If you are having trouble with classes  If you need a letter to the International Student Coordinators about your status  If you want to transfer credits to MC from your country  To get help with transfer to a university  To get information about the career search  If you need to talk about personal issues K. Silver 2013

Review  When to see a counselor:  For simple questions you can come in during normal hours with no appointment.  You can see any counselor on a walk-in basis, or you can make an appointment to see a specific counselor.  If you need a letter to the International Student Coordinators, you must make an appointment with a full-time counselor. K. Silver 2013