va conf09 proposal

VietAbroader Conference 2009Passing of The Torch

Ho Chi Minh City – Friday, 17.07.2009

Hanoi – Saturday, 18.07.2009

“If Vietnam wins the education race, you will win the economy race. And Vietnam will win!”

Lee Kuan YewSenior Minister, SingaporeHanoi, VietnamApril 17, 2009

“I was aware of the importance of educational exchanges between the United States and Vietnam, and in my Confirmation Hearing in July 2007, I called for the number of Vietnamese students at American institutions to double during my tenure…I just received confirmation that there are now more than twice as many Vietnamese students in the U.S. as there were before I arrived in Hanoi a year and a half ago.”

Michael MichalakUS Ambassador to VietnamHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam

April 24, 2009

“The reasons we invest $600M in an ATM factory here in Vietnam are evident to all of those who look around a very vibrant population, a very young population, and increasingly strengthened education system.”

Craig BarrettChairman, Intel CorporationHo Chi Minh City, VietnamMarch 1, 2006

Confidential – Do not copy or distribute3

About VietAbroader

Our mission: The mission of VietAbroader is to empower Vietnamese youth to contribute to Vietnam’s

sustainable development. We organize educational and professional programs to equip Vietnamese youth with knowledge, network and support for their academic and personal achievements.

Our people: VietAbroader is run by qualified, committed students from a wide range of worldwide

institutions. Given the opportunity, with a large network of oversea students, abundant experiences and resources, VietAbroader serves as a bridge connecting local youth with global youth and the local economy with the global economy.


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VietAbroader – Facts & Figures

Empower Vietnamese youthMantra

Facts & Figures

• Founded in March 2004; approved by U.S. Department of Education in 2007 and granted not-for-profit status by the State of New York in February 2008

• 18,000 registered members• 300 members online on a daily basis• 50 colleges and universities in the U.S., U.K., Singapore and Canada• 30 high schools across Vietnam• 7 projects


VietAbroader – Leadership

Advisors: Mark A. Ashwill, Director, Institute of International Education Vietnam Henry B. Nguyen, Managing General Partner, IDG Ventures Vietnam

Board of Directors

• Khoa Pham (B.A., Bates College; Watson Fellow) – Co-founder, Chair of VA Conference 2005 & 2006 • Trang Nguyen (B.A., Bates College; Research Associate at NERA) – Co-founder• Viet Huynh (B.A., M.S., Stanford University; Analyst at Morgan Stanley)

Executive Team

• Anh Le (Dartmouth College ‘2010) – Executive Director• Phuong Le (St. Lawrence University ‘2010) – PR & Communications • Thai Dang (NUS ‘2010), Son Nguyen (Brown ‘2010), Viet Anh Nguyen (MIT ‘2010), Technology Officers

To best serve the organization, VietAbroader maintains a flat structure of a small leadership team and a tight-knit network of students and alumni around the world.


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Partial School List of VietAbroader members

Amherst CollegeBates CollegeBowdoin CollegeBrown UniversityCambridge University (UK)Carleton CollegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityColby CollegeColgate UniversityConnecticut CollegeCornell UniversityDartmouth CollegeDrexel UniversityDickinson CollegeDuke UniversityGeorge Washington UniversityGrinnell CollegeHarvard UniversityLafayette CollegeLawrence UniversityLondon School of Economics (UK)Middlebury CollegeMITMount Holyoke College

Nanyang Technological University (SG)National University of Singapore (SG)Occidental CollegeOhio Wesleyan UniversityOxford University (UK)Princeton UniversitySmith CollegeStanford UniversitySt. Lawrence UniversitySwarthmore CollegeTexas Christian UniversityTrinity UniversityUCLAUniversity of British Columbia (Canada)University of RichmondUniversity of San FranciscoUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Waterloo (Canada) Vassar CollegeWashington & Lee UniversityWellesley CollegeWesleyan UniversityWilliams CollegeYale University


VietAbroader Activities

• VietAbroader Conference: Our flagship program where Vietnamese students at U.S. colleges organize presentations and workshops on admission, scholarship, essay and standardized tests to provide high school students information and networks needed to get into the U.S. education institutes.

• VietAbroader Business Conference: A premier venue of networking, learning and exchanging ideas about doing business in Vietnam for students with business leaders

• VietAbroader Club: A weekly event which engages students in a number of academic and extracurricular activities including writing, debate and presentation.

• VApedia (http://vapedia.vietabroader.org): A collaborative, high-quality wikipedia of information, advice and guidance on overseas education covering admission, financial aid, life abroad and visas.


Why VietAbroader Conference?

The thirst for overseas education in Vietnam

Vietnam’s rapid entrée into global economy combined with its relatively limited scope of international education has created a severe shortage of highly qualified leaders. Overseas education is recognized as the key to developing Vietnamese young leaders.

However, few affordable and personalized information sources exist to prepare students for the admission process. The expensive fees of private consultancy services deny access to many qualified students. Lacking guidance and access to the right tools, Vietnamese youth often face difficulty in the international recruitment process despite their aspiration and academic qualifications. This situation fosters a waste of human talent, perpetuates inequalities and threatens Vietnam’s sustainable development capacity.

VietAbroader strives to meet the urgent need of high quality education through its annual Conference on studying abroad.

• 380% increase in number of Vietnamese students in US since 1998/99• Vietnam rank 4th among international students at US community colleges• 2/3 of all Vietnamese students in the US are self-financing and undergraduateSource: Institute of International Education


Target audience

VietAbroader Conference aims to assist local Vietnamese students (Age Group: 15-22) who:

• Lack right directions and right tools to be competitive in the admission process to international educational institutions.

• Lack insider knowledge and understanding with regards to admission issues facing Vietnamese students.

• Lack excellent, free, personalized information resources to choose the right educational institution and program.


Achievement of VietAbroader Conference 2008 Impact statement of VietAbroader Conference 2008:

Impact is defined as the quantifiable differences that VietAbroader (VA) Conference 2008 makes in creating awareness and providing admission guidance to VA2008 participants. We measure this impact through direct survey with all VA2008 participants at both the end of the event and one year after it ended.

Statistical figures collected from impact survey done at the end of the event:

• 70% of participants find our presentation style engaging• 75% of participants are satisfied with the information given in our morning session• 85% of participants find the school representatives in our College fair helpful• 95% of participants feel that VA Conference meets or goes beyond their expectations• 85% of participants plan to apply to US colleges and high schools after attending VA Conference 2008• 71% of participants say they will apply for future VA Conferences• 90% of participants say they will encourage their friends to apply for future VA Conferences


Achievement of VietAbroader Conference 2008

Statistical figures collected from impact survey done one year after the event:

• 78% of participants say they have applied or will apply to U.S. colleges and high schools• 76% of participants say VA Conference 2008 experience was helpful for their application process• 65% of VA Conference 2008’s 2013 candidates got accepted into one of their top three choices schools

• Partial list of schools that admitted VietAbroader Conference 2008’s candidates for Class of 2013: Agnes Scott College, Arkansas University, Bates College, Bryn Mawr College, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Carroll College, Colby College, Colgate University, Cornell College, Cornell University, De Anza College, DePauw University, Drexel University, Duke University, Franklin & Marshall College, Grinnell College, Foxcrost Academy, Hebron Academy, John Hopkins University, Lafayette College, LeTourneau University, Linfield College, Luther College, Lycoming College, McDaniel College, Manhattanville College, Mercyhurst College, Mount Holyoke College, New York University, Notre Dame High School, Old Dominion University, Portland Community College, Portland State University, Quinnipac University, Reed College, Seattle Central Community College, Saint Anselm College, Smith College, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, Trinity College, Trinity University, Troy University, University of British Columbia, University of Chicago, University of Minnesota, University of Nevada, University of New Orleans, University of Texas, University of Pennsylvania, University of Richmond, University of Wisconsin, Villanova University, Washington & Lee University, Wesleyan College, Wesleyan University.

• Total amount of scholarship and financial aid awarded to VA 2013 candidates: $ 7.620.000


About VietAbroader Conference 2009

Objectives:• Motivate, educate and train Vietnamese students, especially economically disadvantaged

ones, to become competitive for admission and scholarship at U.S. education institutions• Strengthen long-term ties between local and overseas students, all of whom will be future

leaders of Vietnam in academia, business, and public affairs• Increase knowledge and understanding on international education issues facing Vietnamese

students• Prepare recently accepted students to obtain a U.S. visa and to succeed academically and

socially at U.S. schools

Project Setting and Target Population: VietAbroader Conference 2009: Passing Of the Torch is a collaborative effort among local

students, overseas Vietnamese students and educational experts. The conference is coordinated by the student-run, non-profit organization VietAbroader. Our target audience is the youth market (15-22), which represents Vietnam’s future leaders across all fields.


About VietAbroader Conference 2009

Approaches: This year’s conference is tentatively scheduled to take place in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday, July

17, 2009 and in Hanoi on Saturday, July 18, 2009. Conference facilities at large hotels and university campuses have been identified as potential locations for the event since they have purposely-built meeting rooms. This would enable effective presentations and workshops, and facilitate a smooth transition among breakout sessions.

Our Staff: The organizers of this project comprise a diverse group of distinguished Vietnamese students

from top schools abroad and in Vietnam and prominent professionals, all of whom are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about international education and helping Vietnamese youth.


Strategies

• Sharing session with experienced and knowledgeable students from finest U.S. colleges to gear participants on the right track toward college acceptance.

• Workshop topics including exploring scholarship and financial aid, excelling standardized tests, writing a unique essay and boosting leadership development to give participants a leg up in the competition.

• Panel discussions and speeches from distinguished speakers to address issues facing Vietnamese youth, such as brain drain and adapting life abroad.


Tentative Agenda

• 08:40-09:20 Opening Ceremony • 09:25-09:40 Overview of U.S. education • 09:45-10:00 Mini talk show about college life • 10:05-10:45 Scholarship opportunities and school selection • 10:50-11:15 Q&A • 11:20-11:35 How to write powerful essays? • 11:40-12:10 Acing SAT I, SAT II & TOEFL • 12:15-13:00 Insights on High school admission &

scholarship opportunities 1

• 13:00-14:00 Lunch break • 14:00-17:00 College Fair • 17:00-18:00 Networking

1 This section is designed for students who are planning to pursue a U.S. High school education. Those who do not wish to attend this session can leave earlier and prepare for the College Fair in the afternoon.


Media Coverage

VNExpress - Vietnam’s leading online news portals, in a headline entitled, “Overseas Vietnamese students

take initiative to organize conference”

“VietAbroader, founded by a group of Vietnamese students in the United States, successfully motivated students from a wide range of American colleges to pioneer a program dedicated to supporting local Vietnamese students seeking to go abroad,”

Thanh Nien (“The Youth”) - one of the most respected newspapers in Vietnam, in a one-page article featuring

VietAbroader and its conference.

“Knowledge about admissions and real-life experience enabled them [VietAbroader presenters] to offer practical advice and helpful insight from an insider’s perspective,”


Partners & Sponsors

Corporations:

Government agencies and organizations• Asia Society• Hanoi University of Education• Institute of International Education Vietnam• University of Economics HCMC• Southeast Asian Leadership Network (SEALnet)• University of Social Sciences and Humanities HCMC• U.S. Embassy in Hanoi • U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City• U.S.-Indochina Educational Foundation

Universities and Colleges:Bates College Bucknell UniversityCarleton CollegeConnecticut CollegeCoe CollegeGustavus Adolphus CollegeHendrix CollegeLawrence UniversityRandolph – Macon College


Contact Us

Hanoi

Linh Vu

Head of U.S. Fundraising team

Phone: (+1) 617 640 4798

Email: [email protected]

Trang Tran

Conference Co-Director

Phone: (+84) 125 841 2582


Lan Chi Le

Conference Director

Phone: (+84) 125 551 1801


Ho Chi Minh City

U.S.

va conf09 proposal

Documents

stanford university

viet abroaderserves

viet abroadermaintains

viet abroader conference

viet abroader leadership

mission of viet abroaderis

viet anh nguyen mit

viet abroader facts