When did you go to the US and to which state and university?

I attend Arizona Christian University which is in Phoenix (Arizona). It is my first year of studying in the US so I am a freshman. And I arrived on the 17^th of August.

How is the current state situation?

When I arrived, I had to quarantine for 14 days because there was a law that forced international students from countries such as Germany to quarantine. Meanwhile, this law is not existing anymore, so when you arrive in Arizona these days, you are not forced to quarantine any more.

How was the whole trip?

Due to the rule that there are only a few airports in the US that you are allowed to fly to directly, I had to make a stop in Los Angeles. This made the journey a little more strenuous and time-consuming.

What was your arrival at the airport like, especially the immigration process?

It was striking that the airports were very empty and less busy. This even had the positive effect that the immigration process and every single process at the airport in general required less time than usual.

Were the Visa and I-20 easily accepted?

Yes, already one week after my interview appointment in Frankfurt they sent my passport including the accepted Visa back to my home address. And I already got my I-20 a few months before my Visa interview appointment, because your University is the institution that handles this document out to you.

Did you notice any major differences in the US to Germany?

Personally, for me, the biggest difference that I noticed first is that people are more social and in general more extroverted. This especially becomes apparent in situations, in which you come into contact with people you do not even know, because for example when you walk past foreign people, they often start a conversation with you and ask personal questions and do all this in a very interested and friendly way. This happens in Germany usually only when you already know the other person.

Your quarantine must have been hard, sitting alone for 14 days in your room. How did you cope with that? Did anybody help and support you?

It was of course very boring. And indeed, there are not many things that make the 14 days much more bearable. That is why I spent most of the time watching Netflix and having phone calls with friends and my family. Furthermore, although I could have never believed it, you actually get used to the situation after a few days, so with time, you learn to handle this unusual situation.

How is the quarantine organized at your university? How did the university handle your situation?

Unfortunately, there was not the possibility to replace the quarantine with a negative corona test result. Besides, the quarantine took place on campus in the University’s visitors’ hotel. Every day someone knocked at my door and brought me my meal at certain times.

Were they supportive?

When I needed anything special, I just had to tell my assistant tennis coach.

How was it like to come out of quarantine? Did you have to do any check-ups or did you go straight back into “normality”?

I actually went straight back into normality, which was a great feeling. It was also not a problem that I missed the first week of classes due to my quarantine.

Any signs of a “new normal” at your university and in the US in general

The situation is pretty much the same as in Germany. This means that you just have to wear a mask in closed buildings and during class etc. So I would not say that the corona measures and the situation, in general, are worse than in Germany.

Did you feel unsafe at any point?

I have never felt unsafe in Germany, that is why I have never felt unsafe in the US either since I do not notice big differences between Germany and the US regarding corona.

What would you tell people who are still undecided about whether they should go to the US, especially in Spring 2021?

From my point of view, I would not take corona as a reason for not traveling to the US, since I would not say that it is more dangerous or something like this here. On top of that, the current situation is not nice for any of us, so when you want to study in your home country you also have to expect difficulties.

You might have seen some of these recruiting videos already, especially on YouTube. It is quite obvious, that showing off your abilities is a great way to show the college coaches – well your ability. Many coaches actually want to see a video first before actually thinking about offering you any kind of scholarship. This doesn’t apply to every sport and every coach, but having one can’t hurt in any way.  A good recruiting video could boost your chances for a higher scholarship, a bad one however could also lower them.

But what do you include in your video? Just simple clips of you for example kicking the ball hard or hitting it hard with a tennis racket? No! You need to present yourself, give the video your personal touch.

You start off with a personal presentation. We won’t tell you what to say exactly, but topics like your name and age, country and city, and your sports background like your passion for that sport or the years of playing it should not be missing. You can include more personal stuff so the coach gets to know you even better. Note that this shouldn’t take more than 1-2 minutes. Some people show clips of themselves while giving a personal presentation.

The second part should be the clips that best show your abilities. These clips depend on the sport you play. For example, the tennis clips have a certain structure that should be followed, while soccer has completely different guidelines, sometimes including whole matches. You can get the tennis and soccer guidelines in detail by contacting us!

You can show some small mistakes to make it seem realistic but you don’t have to show your worst mistakes, so don’t worry!

If you would like to get a video that is as professional as possible, you can also contact us! (If you do not have extensive cutting and video editing skills) – We offer to cut the video for a price of 199€. This will make sure to showcase your abilities the best way!

Who are you?

Name: Nina Reiter

Nationality: German

Currently living in: Köln

uniexperts

Role at uniexperts: Administration and Accounting

When will clients get in touch with you the most: When they call uniexperts and when they receive invoices

Start at uniexperts: 11th of May 2011

How and why did you get to uniexperts: They had a job description online and I was looking for a new experience

What do you miss the most at work during these times: Meet the team in the office

Best uniexperts moment: Every single Showcase since 2014

What was the most important thing you learned from working at uniexperts: Follow your dreams

Which colleague do you work with the most: Roger, Harrison, and Fostino

Favorites

Favorite sport: Soccer

Favorite college: I like them all

Favorite team: SC Freiburg

Favorite player: Nils Petersen

Best sports moment: When Germany won the World Cup 2014

Favorite quote: After the game is before the game (Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel, Sepp Herberger 1954)

Other

What sport do you play or have you played in your life: Tennis, Nordic Walking, Fitness

If any, what was your biggest sports achievement:

Why should every young person experience other countries/cultures: to become an independent, courageous, and socially competent adult and to learn English perfectly

Where do you see yourself in two years: Hopefully back in the office again without Mask

Something interesting about yourself: Every Saturday I am listening to the German Bundesliga on the Radio
Favorite Hobby: Knitting

International students that plan to go to the United States will go through a lengthy admissions process. One important step is two separate tests, that the students will have to pass – the SAT and TOEFL. Both of these tests are mostly required, with exceptions. While you might think, you have done enough with finishing school in your country, the SAT and TOEFL are needed for universities to check certain skills. And the number of points you achieve might be important for your college selection. Don’t worry though, you can retake them.

But what are the differences and what are they for?

The TOEFL Test is hosted by ETS (Educational Testing Service) and it checks your English skills as a non-native English speaker. According to their web page, it is accepted by more than 11,000 universities in over 150 countries. It is offered in test centers everywhere and, nowadays, also online. What about its content? The TOEFL can be divided into 4 sections: reading, listening, speaking, and writing, which will take about 3 hours in total and is totally computer-based. Your scores will be given in a range from 0-30 in each section with 4 to 5 proficiencies showing your skill level in that area. Added up, you can get a maximum of 120 points.

The SAT Test is hosted by The College Board. It is not focused on non-native speakers only, as students in the US have to also complete it. While it also has writing, reading, and language sections, it also checks your maths skills. In the end, you will also have to hand in an essay. Each of the subjects is an hour long and will be written by hand, also in test centers or online. The score can be a total of 2400 points, with 800 in each subject.

In comparison to the TOEFL, the SAT focuses more on thinking for yourself and not understanding, which is why most colleges require both tests for the admission. While the TOEFL shows your English level as a non-native speaker, the SAT is an entrance exam in the US that determines and/or admits academic scholarships.

Here is a quick overview, on how both test are structured: (taken from PrepScholar: https://blog.prepscholar.com/sat-and-toefl)

TOEFL:

SAT:

On the website of the SAT and TOEFL, you can find practice questions for each of the sections. To give you a brief overview, we have taken an example from each section, to demonstrate what could be waiting for you. Check the linked websites for more information.

TOEFL

Reading:

You get a text and you have to answer questions about it. For example, the practice questions had a text about the city of Teotihuacán. One of the questions was as followed:

In paragraph 1, each of the following is mentioned as a feature of the city of Teotihuacán between A.D. 150 and 700 EXCEPT:

Now you get 4 different answers:

1. regularly arranged streets
2. several administrative centers spread across the city
3. many manufacturing workshops
4. apartment complexes

Listening:

Similarly to reading, you will listen to a conversation, in this example of two students, and, again pick one of four answers.

What does the student imply about the interlibrary loan service at his last school?

1. He never used it.
2. He came to appreciate it.
3. It was inconvenient.
4. It was expensive.

Speaking:

You will be asked to give your opinion about a topic that should be familiar to you. You get about 15 seconds to prepare and then you record yourself for 45 seconds.

Some people enjoy taking risks and trying new things. Others are not adventurous; they are cautious and prefer to avoid danger. Which behavior do you think is better? Explain why.

Writing:

You will read a text and give yourself about 20 minutes to plan and write your response. They focus on the writing and how well you convey the message and the relation to the text. The text should be around 150 to 225 words.

Question: Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they cast doubt on specific points made in the reading passage.

SAT

Essay:

You will read a text passage and answer a question about it in an essay. For example: consider how the author uses evidence, such as facts or examples, to support the claim.

Here’s an example of a question from the practice page: Write an essay in which you explain how Paul Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved. In your essay, analyze how Bogard uses one or more of the features in the directions that precede the passage (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.

Maths:

With the Maths sections, you have questions that permit calculators and some that don’t.

Not Permitted: If     and        what is the value of 

Calculator Permitted: A company’s manager estimated that the cost C, in dollars, of producing n items is C equals 7 n plus 350. The company sells each item for $12. The company makes a profit when total income from selling a number of items is greater than the total cost of producing that quantity of items. Which of the following inequalities gives all possible values of n for which the manager estimates that the company will make a profit?

Select answers:

1. n < 70
2. n < 84
3. n > 70
4. n > 84

Reading:

You will also get a text passage and a question like: The passage most strongly suggests that … share which assumption? Again, you will get 4 different answers, that you have to choose from.

Writing & Language:

Again, you will get a text passage. Some areas of the text might have numbers in front of them. You will need to find the best option for that specific word or phrase since it might be wrong. Here’s an example:

A 1954 documentary about renowned watercolor painter Dong Kingman shows the artist sitting on a stool on Mott Street in New York City’s Chinatown. A crowd of admiring spectators 12 watched as Kingman squeezes dollops of paint from several tubes into a tin watercolor 13 box, from just a few primary colors, Kingman creates dozens of beautiful hues as he layers the translucent paint onto the paper on his easel.

For 12: No change, had watched, would watch, watches

That is all the information we can give you, for now, to make the tests seem a little more understandable and that you can differentiate between the two.

If this seems like a lot for you, why don’t you check out our website, as we offer test preparation courses with special tutors. Just follow this link.

Due to the current situation in the US, a lot of international students might be faced with different sorts of offerings by the respective universities – Hybrid, Online, and On-Campus Classes. But what exactly are the differences?

On-campus should be obvious, right? All your classes will be happening on the respective campus, in classes of however many people, all with regards to the hygiene guidelines.

Should your university only offer online classes for the next semester (Fall 2020), that means that you will not be allowed to travel to the US and you will not be eligible for a Visa. This comes, after the original decision to keep out every international student with online classes, was overturned. You might still be able to take part in distance education and have online classes from home (your home country), but you should talk to your university about that. For such online classes, you will meet on course websites or university websites, never in person. All contacts take place online.

Should your university offer hybrid classes, you are fine to get your Visa and start the US adventure. Hybrid classes will be split into online and on-campus. The way it is split will be different from college to college. Some might only offer a few face to face classes and focus on online (especially if COVID 19 doesn’t calm down too much), others might offer mostly face to face and shift only a few areas to online classes. This will always depend on where you will study and how it fits a certain class but rest assured that it will be communicated early enough.

Here’s an example of how Minnesota State Technical and Community College will try to split the semester:

Credit: Minnesota State Technical and Community College, Wadena Pioneer Journal

Hopefully, this brief overview was able to explain, what could wait for you depending on the classes your university is going to offer next semester. If you have any questions, let us know!

uniexperts alumnus Kim Moosbacher has achieved two honors to end her college career at the Oklahoma Baptist University. She was awarded the ITA Player of the Year award, and the GAC Athlete of the Year, which was the for any tennis player, men’s and women’s – WOW!

Kim, a tennis player from Cologne, Germany, so close to our headquarters, left for the US via uniexperts in 2016 for the fall semester. Her skills led her to the NCAA Division II team of the Oklahoma Baptist University, the Oklahoma Bison. 4 years later, she has an 81-14 record in singles competition (a school record in career wins), two All-American honors and ITA Central Region Player of the Year.  On top of that, she holds the school record of most wins in a season with 49, most singles wins in a season with 24 and most doubles wins in a season with 25. And now, in her senior year, she finishes with two amazing awards that even came as a surprise to her.

That’s not all of her achievements either. Check them out:

                                         Credit: OBU Bison Twitter – @OBU_Tennis

In 2019, she even worked for uniexperts in her off-time, while visiting her family in Cologne. She helped with the planning of our uniexperts Tennis Showcase, in which she took part in before her college career. It came full circle for her.

We also had the time for a short interview with her.

ue: Did you ever think that you would be as successful as you were when your first made the decision to go to the US with a scholarship?

Kim: “I Never thought that I would be that successful. Before coming to the US, I didn’t play that many tournaments and I started to take it a lot more seriously when I played for my university. Throughout the years I became more confident which helped me along the way. I am very proud of my last 4 years in college.”

ue: Did college tennis help you improve a lot?

Kim: “College tennis definitely helped me a lot. I became a better tennis player. Especially mentally I improved a lot over the last 4 years.”

ue: Which of your achievements makes you the proudest?

Kim: “My last two awards (Senior National Player of the Year, GAC Female Athlete of the Year) make me very proud. I never thought I would win anything like that and I am very thankful for it.”

ue: Do you have any advice for young athletes that are still unsure about their college career or are just about to start it?

Kim: “My advice would just be to enjoy the time as much as they can because 4 years are over faster than you think. I had a really good time in college and I would tell everyone who has the chance to study in the US to do it.”

ue: What’s next after such a successful college career? Are you staying in the US?

Kim: “ I am currently doing my Master’s in the States and I will play one more year for Barry University.”

Kim is an inspiration of what you can achieve when you choose the path of college sports. We tip our imaginary hats to her for the awesome college career and wish her all the best for the future!

Once you have settled in, there is more important business waiting for you. The goal of this blog post is to give you an idea of what is coming so that you can prepare appropriately.

General phone information

Obviously, you want to contact people while you are in the US, whether it is friends and teammates, coaches, or your family and friends back home. First of all, you should find out which provider is used by your teammates. There are providers that offer free communication contracts but there are also pre-paid ones. It is common in the US, that calling takes away minutes or balance. Quick note: the word “Handy” is not used or known in the US. They call it “cell” or “mobile phone”. And they do not reply with their name when taking a phone call, usually, it is just “Hello”.

The international area code is +1 (001). For a call from the US to Germany, you select +1149 (01149).

Driving

The European ID card is the equivalent to a driver’s license in the US. If you get the license, you do not need to carry your passport everywhere. To apply for the American driver’s license, you need to go to www.dmvusa.com or you go to a local DMV close to your university. There, you need to pass a theory test and sometimes even a driving test. It could happen, that you have to trade in your German driver’s license for the American one. However, an international license is legal, but only in combination with an international license that you need to apply for at the registration office.

But what about driving rules? Depending on the state, you have a speed limit of 55 to 80 mph (89 and 129 km/h) on Interstate Highways. You can overtake other cars on the left and right, however, the right lane is mostly used for slow cars. On normal highways, you have a speed limit of 55mph (89 km/h), sometimes 65mph (105 km/h).

More important rules: you will find many stop signs in the cities themselves. There is no right over left rules, it is first come first serve. You have to stop at the stop signs, even if you don’t see anybody else. Also, traffic lights jump from red straight to green. There is no yellow or any other color in between.

Working and Payment

Going from rags to riches certainly is a lifestyle you think of when talking about the US. That is, however, not a possibility for you in your first year. With your student visa, you are not allowed to work outside of your university’s ground, solely “on-campus” and just 20 hours a week at max.

Mail

If you, at any time during your stay, plan to send stuff via mail, you can find all the costs here:  http://ircalc.usps.gov/. Important note: fill out the green customs form and send it via airmail.

Party

We at uniexperts know, that partying in the US is common practice for most international students. And as many of us studied in the US ourselves, we know how good it can actually be. But we also know, that with the current situation, partying is limited. Still, we would at least like to give you an overview of what to be careful about and what could lead to difficulties.

As most of you know, buying and consuming alcohol is prohibited for people below 21 years of age. If you are older than 21, remember to not drink in public or as a co-driver, since the police are strict when it comes to the punishment, reaching from fines to jail. Public places include streets, parks, public buildings, sports events, and public transportation. In some places, even parking lots, camping sites, and motels are seen as public.

You might have noticed, that in a lot of American movies, they carry liquor in brown bags. That is not because of hiding certain brands, but because it is prohibited by law to carry alcohol in public and showing it. It is also commonly prohibited to have alcohol laying in your car visible for others.

Buying alcohol is only possible in certain stores, called “liquor stores”. These tend to not look too inviting. In some places, you can however find alcohol in supermarkets.

Behave yourself in public! If you act weirdly and conspicuous under the influence of alcohol, you might be punished. Nearly every state has a legal alcohol limit.

Last but not least, be careful with showing off you drinking alcohol on social media. It might not be a big deal for you, but some colleges do not like “senseless” drinking and promoting it.

Other than that, have fun experiencing partying in the US, where possible of course!

Hopefully, Part 1 and 2 of this blog post were able to provide good information for you to start off well and prepared. Feel free to contact us for further questions regarding your start to the US adventure!

With your own US adventure on the horizon or your thoughts circulating about college sports, there might be many questions you have for your first steps in the new country. Of course, it will be different for everyone but we can try and give you an overview of what is waiting for you at the start of your journey and maybe make it a bit easier.

Arrival

Arrival in the US will be different from your normal holiday trip, especially in Europe. Once you arrive you will have to find the queue for “Non-US-Citizens”. Any other queue is not the one for you. At the moment, you might not be faced with long queues, since tourists are not yet allowed in. At least one thing that is good about the current situation!

You should normally be asked about the goal and destination of your journey, to which you should reply that you will study at your specific university in that specific city. That’s a normal procedure so do not worry about these questions. If you do not understand something, feel free to ask politely. On top of the questions, they will want to see your I-20 and two other documents that you will receive on your flight, a blue and white customs form, and the I-94 form, which you will obviously have to answer in English. After that, sort of like in movies, they will scan your fingerprint and take a picture of your eye – intense safety measures you don’t see in every country.

When you made it through, follow the “Baggage Claim” signs to make it to your baggage. With that baggage, you go through customs, normally through “Nothing to declare”. You hand in your customs form from your flight and congratulations – you made it to US soil!

However, if you try to get a connecting flight, there will be someone waiting for you after customs to pick up your baggage, if you haven’t decided to let it be passed on to your final destination immediately.

Stressful Start

Start to life in a different region will always be a bit stressful. You will have several documents to fill out and find your way around, but we can give you some information to make the start a bit easier.

Money

That’s an important one – the finances. You should by now know that you can’t just pay in Euros. But where do you get the money from? There are ATMs to get money from but to withdraw cash without having to pay a withdrawal fee you need a credit card from certain banks in your country that might offer free withdrawals. If you have that sorted out, you can always transfer money to that card and withdraw it in the US. Paying with your own credit card might lead to withdrawal fees.

Opening up an account with an American bank is still a good way. If you withdraw cash, you can transfer some of it to that bank so you do not walk around with too much cash. Do decide, which bank to pick, you should probably discuss with your teammates first and maybe get some input from their experiences.

Electricity

To ensure, that your devices run smoothly in the US, you could go for a voltage converter. This is only necessary if your devices have issues with exceeding 110 Volt/60hz. Another important aspect is the sockets. In the US, many plugs from different countries do not fit. Make sure to check if your country has that issue and buy the according adapters for the US. You can always buy them in the US itself, but having it sorted before also means less stress in your first weeks.

Language Barrier

For some reason, Americans do not want to use the same measurements as the rest of the world. Instead of moaning about it and using your own measurements, here’s a list of all the different measurements and their “translation”.

1 Inch (in.) = 2, 54 cm; 1 foot (ft.) = 12 inches = 30, 48 cm; 1 yard (yd.) = 3 feet = 91, 44 cm;

1 mile (mi.) = 1,609 km

1 ounce (oz.) = 28,35 g; 1 Pound (lb.) = 16 oz. = 453,60 g; 1 Stone (st.) = 14 lbs. = 6,35 kg;

1 quarter (qt.) = 2st. 12,7 kg

1 mph = 1,609 km/h; 1 sq ft = 0,09 m^2

1 gallon = 3,785 liter

Celsius in Fahrenheit = ((Celsius x 9 )/ 5) + 32; Fahrenheit in Celsius = ( Fahrenheit – 32 ) x5 / 9, e.g.: 10°C = 14°F; 0°C = -32°F; +10°C = +50°F; +20°C = +68°F

This seems like a lot at first but you will get used to it. Maybe take this list with you for the start, so you don’t run into problems while facing these measurements.

Another American thing that not many people seem to understand at first is the sentence “How are you?”. If someone asks you how you are, they don’t necessarily expect you to answer – it is more of a greeting.

More general info

If you go shopping or buy some groceries and calculate the prices before you pay, don’t worry if the end price looks different. That is called “VAT” or value-added tax. Prices are shown without tax because taxes are different in every state. By showing the regular price, comparing prices to other states is easier.

When you go out to eat in a restaurant, tips in the region of 10-15% are obligatory. The tip is part of the salary of waiters. Also, most restaurants have the “wait to be seated” rules.

Refilling of drinks is common in the US – so if you want to save money, get the smallest drink and refill as much as you want!

That’s it for part one of the first steps on your US adventure. Stay tuned for part two and check out our other blog posts in the meantime!

There is a lot of doubt circulating concerning the idea of playing #collegetennis.

We would like to shed light on this debate. Read some of the most common myths about college sports and check how the truth looks like.

Make sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter if you are interested in more news & updates about the college sports world. SIGN UP

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Myth Buster Stories about College Tennis

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Myth#6: Nobody becomes a professional out of college tennis.

Truth: 2% of all college athletes move from college sports to professional. That’s not a big number, but the rate is increasing. John Isner (University of Georgia) and Kevin Anderson (University of Illinois) are just a few current examples where professional tennis players started their careers in college. Check back in one of our next posts to see who turned pro after graduating from college.

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Myth#7: College tennis is all about the individual and not about the team spirit.

Truth: Even though tennis is an individual sport, college tennis in the US is about the team and team spirit. The team wins or loses together which creates great team dynamics and a “family feeling”. Have you ever watched a championship game? No? Go ahead and watch a “clinching point match” to witness pure emotion and team spirit.

Myth#8: College athletes are working for free without getting paid at all.

Truth: Adding up all expenses for professional coaching, strength and fitness training, the assistance of athletic trainers, and medical support, college athletes receiving a full-ride scholarship in a major college league will accumulate money worth of up to $ 125,000 per year.

Myth#9: There is only unhealthy (fast) food in America and no way not to get fat.

Truth: There is always a healthy option in the dining hall like salads. Many coaches even write nutrition schedules for their athletes as they want them to show their best performance. But also, your chance to taste first-hand US candy like peanut butter cookies.

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Myth#10: If you get injured, they will drop you from the team.

Truth: You will get medical assistance, physical therapy, and time to recover while still receiving your scholarship. Also, you will get an extra year of competing in college leagues.