ALLEX 第三階段 - 學校配對 (中)/ Step 3 School Matching Part 2

WSU是名校嗎？威奇塔是什麼地方啊？堪薩斯州是鄉下嗎？？
http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita,_Kansas

收到了學校配對通知之後，第一件事當然就是先看看威奇塔是個什麼樣的地方，WSU這個學校的評價好不好之類的。不諱言的是當初有點失望，因為魚子醬的托福/GRE成績是不錯的，也一直覺得可以配到相對條件比較好的學校，畢竟雖然知道不要以名校為目標，但是名校情結大概是每個台灣人都無法避免的心理障礙吧。但是一方面是因為之前提過的配偶因素因此可以選擇的學校有限，再來也是因為期望科系的原因，ALLEX在每個學校能夠配合的科系都不盡相同，而魚子醬希望能夠攻讀與商科或是行銷相關的科系。因此這個配對結果在思考之後發現也確實是最適合的。

另外，David Patt先生也直言，WSU雖然不是大家耳熟能詳的名校但是ALLEX配合的學校都是正統的大學，可不是像有些繳學費拿學位的野雞大學，即便是美國學生也是要認真的上課才能夠畢業的學校，不是想混就可以混畢業的。魚子醬來到這兒之後也深深的感受到，這裡的課業壓力比起魚子醬畢業的台灣某知名國立大學可是有過之而無不及，沒有名校的光環但是真的可以學到很多東西。再加上，中西部州的國際學生少，因此學校的老師對外籍學生是沒有"禮遇"的，對你的要求就是對美國本地學生的要求。而原本魚子醬希望能夠攻讀MBA，但是David Patt先生建議念Communications，也就是台灣所謂的大眾傳播。主要是因為魚子醬沒有大學的商學學歷，兩年的研究所學程可能會修不完，而WSU的大傳頗有知名度而且也有行銷學程，是較為合適的選擇。另外，前一屆在WSU的ALLEX前輩也是就讀這個科系，David Patt先生也立刻介紹我們認識，當時也還在WSU教中文的潘學長很熱心的幫忙魚子醬了解學校和威奇塔這個城市，也很詳細的分析了選擇威奇塔的好壞，雖然溝通的時間短但是有一個在地人的幫忙很多事情也感覺不那麼遙遠了。這個關係相信各位在這個階段David Patt先生都會幫助各位認識各自的前輩，有的是等著你過去接下他／她的棒子的，極少數是會跟你同時一起共事的ALLEX前輩，也請大家好好地把握這個機會，多跟前輩們學習，也希望那天你有機會時，也不吝嗇的幫助後期的ALLEX參加者。

學校的考量確認了之後，就是地點的問題了，這個部分在仔細做了點功課之後，很快就克服了，基本上威奇塔號稱是堪薩斯州第一大城，但其實人口差不多跟新竹一樣，是個中小型規模的城市，沒有什麼精彩的娛樂，但是生活機能很夠，也俱備了中西部較便宜的物價，很適合魚子醬跟鳳梨酥的生活步調，而堪薩斯州的真正大城堪薩斯城 Kansas City離威奇塔約三小時車程，也不算太遠 （在美國一天開得到的地方都不遠，五個小時內都算近。）也剛好魚子醬非常嚮往在美國Road Trip，在這個美國的中心點往四個方向都有無限的想像空間。
（堪薩斯城之所以在規模上被定位為小於威奇塔是因為這個城市被堪薩斯州和密蘇里州的州界切開，一部分是畫在密蘇里州。但它是個不折不扣的大城。）

說了這麼多，主要是提供各位一個思考方向，美國不是只有洛杉磯和紐約，東岸和西岸，不管你/妳被分配到那個地方，都是可以體驗不同的美國文化的地方，這是參與ALLEX非常不一樣的特色，好壞因人而異，但是放開心胸去體驗是很重要的，反過來說，若是大城市的繁華是你對美國生活的基本要求，那一定要想清楚，不要勉強自己接受。畢竟兩年的時間說長不長說短不短，找到適合自己的留學生活是很重要的。

So where exactly is Wichita? Is WSU a good school? Is Kansas all farms and cows?

http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita,_Kansas

After receiving the school matching notification, the first thing to do is certainly to check for the information of the city and the reputation of the school. To be honest Caviar was a bit disappointed at the beginning with this match. Although Caviar was well aware that the matching result was considered under various conditions, based on Caviar's pretty OK TOFEL/GRE score it was certainly natural to expect a match with relatively better school. After all, school ranking complex is probably the hardest thing to ignore for any Taiwanese growing up under competitive academic expectations. However, as aforementioned requirement for stipend scholarship that limited the options as well as the subjects that Caviar would like to study (MBA or marketing related) also affected the schools that can be offered, this match recommendation was rather reasonable and understandable. Please note that not all schools work with ALLEX offered the same graduate courses. So your preference in graduate course does affect your matching result.

Also, as Mr. Patt said not all ALLEX schools are well known to Taiwanese participants they are indeed all authentic American universities that the americans go and study hard to graduate. It may not have the fame as Ivy League schools but the academic training is definitely solid. After just one month in WSU Caviar can definitely agree to this notion that the academic pressure here is no less than the famous Taiwanese university Caviar graduated from. Plus, there're not too many Asian international students in the Midwest so you will be sure to have no special treatment in terms of your graduate study and you will be expected with the same standard just as your american classmates. (For Caviar, this is definitely good as well as very challenging even though my English was considered not too bad where I come from.)

Mr. Patt suggested Caviar to take Communications as major although originally Caviar hoped to study MBA because without business background in college it will probably take more than 2 years for Caviar to complete or at least not without very heavy course work through summer. Considering the heavy responsibility of ALLEX teaching, Communications is a good balance that also offers marketing program that can meet the expectation. Also, the previous ALLEX teacher Mr. Pan is also a Communications major and we were introduced right away. Mr. Pan has been a great help to Caviar and shared tons of information about the school and the city and really brought the remote strange place a little closer. This relationship will always be your greatest assets throughout your ALLEX period and no one can understand your situation better than these predecessors of the same school. Most of them are waiting for you to take over what they have built for the previous years and very few of them will have overlap year to work with you. Either way I hope you will cherish the opportunity working with them when you have the chance. And most important of all, pass on whatever experience you have in your term to the next ALLEX participants.

Without further concern with the school, then its about the location. If you have spent some time during the waiting to study the Midwest it should not be too hard to find information of your matched area. For my case, Wichita is considered as the biggest city in the state of Kansas, but the population is only similar to Hsinchu in Taiwan where Caviar was from. There might not be much of a night life but it is definitely a well equipped city that you can get pretty much everything you need. And it possesses inexpensive cost of living and life pace is not as fast as in Taiwan. It is perfect for young married couple I think. Plus, it is not too far from the real big city in Kansas, the Kansas City. Only about three hours drive eastbound (Yes, 3 hours drive is considered not far in the US.) Also, Caviar has always longed for road trip in the US and the center location of WIchita seems perfect for every directions :)

All of the above is to give you a direction as to how to decide and evaluate your school match offer. The US is not only consists of LA and New York, the west coast and east coast. No matter where you are matched to is a perfect start to experience American life in a very unique way. I think this is what makes ALLEX experience special. Whether it is good or bad really depends on YOU. But most important of all, keep an open mind is the key to your journey. On the other hand, if city life is your essential expectation to the life in the US, it is important for you to think clearly before you accept the offer.

*related posts 相關文章*

ALLEX 第一階段 - 申請/ Step 1: Application 

ALLEX 第二階段 - 面試/ Step 2: Interview 

ALLEX 第三階段 - 學校配對 (上)/ Step 3 School Matching Part 1
ALLEX 第三階段 - 學校配對 (下)/ Step 3 School Matching Part 3 
ALLEX life in Wichita, Kansas