Why the University of Cincinnati is a top attraction for Sri Lankan students

By Gowribalan “Ana” Vamadeva

An American education provides students a well rounded academic preparation with primary focus in their discipline of choice and secondary exposure in many other fields.

The General Education Curriculum requirement that every student pursuing a baccalaureate degree is exposed to helps achieve a wealth of knowledge in subjects that they have little or no prior knowledge.

These subjects provide students with the necessary critical thinking, analysing, and communication abilities. It also helps students reason and justify in a logical and a rational sense, seek and share knowledge independently and collaboratively with others and an appreciation for cultural diversity that helps students adopt to the world we live in today.

The method of constant evaluating of one’s progress with periodic testing and other assessments keeps students on track and focused at all times. It would also be less punitive if a student had a bad day or two during an exam, a quiz or a presentation. This system of education has proven to instil more confidence in youth and also help develop their study and time management habits.

The United States by far attracts the very best students of the world to its campuses, and still is the number one destination for higher education in the world. It has an impressive list of institutions and has the most amount of any country of the top 300 institutions in the world.

The US produces year in and year out high calibre scientists, engineers, doctors, architects, accountants, financial and business analysts. It is still the number one place for innovation and is still the country by which standard for greatness is measured against. It continues to produce iconic figures of the world.

Sri Lankans have finally realised the benefits of a US education that gives a versatile college education and enables students to receive practical training time at a job after completion of a degree and curricular training time during the time of study.

An institution of particular interest that has risen to prominence in Sri Lanka is, The University of Cincinnati (UC). It was founded in 1819 and is regarded as one of the top 25 public research institutions in the country. It is Ohio’s premier urban public research institution with an annual budget that tops one billion dollars.

It is a prestigious institution that balances excellence in education with real world experience, with a highly-sought-after cooperative education program. This program was first discovered in UC more than 100 years ago that enables students in certain disciplines to alternate between fulltime status as a student and as an employee.

Co-op provides them with the necessary experience and professional development before graduation. Foreign students are also eligible for Co-op just as much the native students if their program of study is part of the Co-op program. Today, UC is ranked as the fourth best institution that offers Co-op program, and its students get these well paid opportunities all over the world.

UC is a very well recognised institution in the US and the world. It has attracted quality students from all over the world representing 110 countries and its international student population is over 2000 strong. Currently there are over 40 Sri Lankans at UC pursuing various degrees as undergraduate and graduate students. Many have benefitted from the Co-op program and are very pleased to have chosen UC over many other competing institutions all over the world.

Scholarships for USA (SUSA) was the first representatives from Sri Lanka to partner with UC in 2007. Since the first trip to UC by a Sri Lankan representative, Priyanthi and Padmasena Dissanayake in 2007, SUSA has sent numerous quality students to UC. Additionally, SUSA helped forge 2+2 partnerships between UC and the Institute of Chemistry (ICHEM) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Information and Technology.

Many Sri Lankans have come to study at UC with a generous scholarship package that includes aid in the range of $ 5,000 to $ 12,000 off the tuition sticker price per year. UC is eagerly anticipating welcoming its recruiting class of 2012 from Sri Lanka to its campus in August. (Incidentally UC has been regarded as one of the most beautiful campuses by Forbes magazine in 2010, for its pristine architecture and surroundings).

It expects to receive more than a handful of students majoring in various disciplines, including students from (ICHEM), who are filling up the open Chemistry slots at UC. It is an exciting time for UC and Sri Lankan students.

As a faculty member of UC, and a fellow Sri Lankan, I am especially thrilled to welcome a brilliant academic with a well-rounded skill set in Midhun Sugandhan Shanmuganathan from Ecole High School in Kandy this fall.

Midhun was the sole recipient of the first-ever scholarship offered to a Sri Lankan student with a full tuition waiver. He received a UC global scholarship of $ 18,000 per year, and the College of Engineering chipped in with an additional $ 6,000. He will be majoring in Mechanical Engineering and would also benefit from mandatory Co-op job experience before he walks away with his degree.

Midhun received a whopping SAT score of 1480 (Verbal 750, Math 730, Writing 660) and his IELTS score was 8.5. He received eight As for his O/Ls and four 4A*s and one A for his Edexel A/Ls. He was the Head Prefect at Ecole HS and also played basketball for them. It is a remarkable achievement for this young academic all star from Kandy.

I am so proud that he chose my institution and he has set an example for many more students from Jaffna to Matara to work hard, aim high and dream big to join this prestigious institution with a generous aid and come to the United States – still the land of opportunity and the greatest nation on the face of the earth.

(The writer is an Associate Professor – Mathematics.)