43,000 hopefuls applied to the 2,800 spots for the incoming freshman class which is a record high for the university. According to university officials, the number of applications is up 15% from last year and is almost triple the number from a decade ago.

Many other institutions in Boston, including Harvard, Tufts, Brandeis and Boston College have experienced the increases in applications from high school seniors, the rise at Northeastern is noticeable by the sheer size of the increase.

Philomena Mantella, senior vice president for admissions said that the number of international students has also leapt by more than 42 percent in just one year, to just under 4,500 applications.

The rise in applicants could be due to the university now offering students the opportunity to graduate in four years instead of the traditional five year commitment, they’re also still able to fit in two six-month placements of job-training.

The university also has a good reputation for its overseas connections and extensive global reach, in placing undergraduate students in co-ops in 69 countries and on all 7 continents including Antarctica.

It could also be argued that one of the reasons for the increase is due to the university hosting an admissions conference, OACAC, last year – inviting 700 high school counsellors from across the world to take part.

Overseas Association for College Admission Counselling (OACAC) is an affiliate of the National Association for College Admission Counselling (NACAC). It strives to serve students as they make their choices about pursuing postsecondary education. Their conferences bring together college counsellors and careers advisors from all over the world to meet with college admissions representatives to build relationships and help aid students through the international application process. It is an annual event which will be taking place this July at the University of Calgary.

We would like to thank all organisers at Northeastern University and Bridget Herrera and the OACAC Board Members for the organisation, care and attention to detail that went into making this year’s conference such a special event.

Highlights of the event included the High School and College Fair (proudly sponsored by i-studentgroup), the lobster dinner held in the idyllic grounds of Babson College, the annual dodge ball tournament, and Saturday night at the New England Aquarium, set against the backdrop of Boston Harbour.

Our thanks is also extended to all the attendees who hosted educational sessions – the selection on offer was fantastic and covered such a range of topics across the international education spectrum.

We are already looking forward to next year’s conference; set to be hosted by the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

Thank-you again to all those involved in the planning and execution of Bos10 – we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

If you attended the OACAC Summer Conference, please feel free to share your comments or experiences.

i-studentgroup will be attending the 17th annual OACAC Summer Conference. This year the Conference is being hosted by Northeastern University, situated in the thriving city of Boston, Massachusetts.

A total of nearly 900 counsellors, advisors, university admission staff, and other professionals in the higher education sector are set to attend the 3-day conference, which begins on Thursday the 15th of July.

The Conference will include the usual blend of educational workshops, hospitality and networking sessions and the high school/ college fair – which i-studentgroup are sponsoring.

Special events this year also include a New England dinner at Babson College, the annual OACAC dodgeball tournament and a closing gala set in the New England Aquarium, which lines Boston harbour.

For further information on the OACAC conference, visit: www.northeastern.edu/oacac

Alternately an OACAC app for Smartphone’s can be downloaded from the Apple Store or the Blackberry App World. Just search for OACAC Bos10. The app includes a conference schedule, campus map and details of the educational sessions.

See you in Boston.

The fellowship’s goal was to introduce American students to all aspects of Saudi culture, and Cournoyer said the experiential learning opportunity left him much wiser, inspired and globally enlightened.

Cournoyer was selected as one of nine current college students — all Model Arab League standouts at their respective universities — to participate in the 10-day fellowship. The trip, June 7 to 16, was organized by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, an American nonprofit that strives to improve Americans’ knowledge and understanding of Arab culture. It was co-sponsored by the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission to the U.S.A. and the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Higher Education.

In his group’s guided travels across the country, Cournoyer had some memorable experiences. He shared tea and coffee with Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil, a Saudi billionaire. He met Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, longtime director of the Saudi Arabian intelligence agency, who shared his views on Saudi Arabian history and the Kingdom’s foreign affairs policies. And he heard John Sfakianakis, a leading economist and group general manager at Banque Saudi Fransi, discuss the oil industry’s place in Saudi Arabia’s economic future.

The fellowship also included visits to several universities and museums showcasing the country’s history, scientific advancements, and oil drilling and production process.

“It strengthened my interest and appreciation for society in the Middle East,” said Cournoyer, a political science and international affairs double major.

Cournoyer said he discovered there are more opportunities for women than is commonly believed in the West, and the fellowship strengthened his understanding of how closely religion is integrated into every element of Saudi life.

“What we saw was much more dynamic and had much more depth to it than the perception that the only thing going on over there is exporting oil,” he said.

Cournoyer, who said he is eager to return one day to learn more about the culture, has been selected as the secretary-general of the 2011 National Model Arab League Conference in March in Washington, D.C.

Story courtesy of Northeastern University. To view the original release, click here.

Amongst the highlights of the conference, hosted by Chapman University, were the awards dinner on the Queen Mary, the social event at Downtown Disney and the (fiercely competitive) annual dodgeball tournament!  Of course the conference was not all about socialising and there were a fantastic selection of workshops to choose from discussing important topics within international education, it was fantastic to hear the perspective of both the schools and the colleges on different issues. Another highlight was the high school and college fair on saturday, which i-studentadvisor were very proud to be the sponsor of.

This was the first OACAC conference i-studentadvisor attended and we were amazed by the care and organisation that went in to planning the conference. Special mention should go to David Allen, Doug Thompson and all the OACAC team for organising the conference and Chapman university staff and students for being fantastic hosts. We would also like to thank all the sponsors of the events, workshop presenters and all mentors and experienced ‘OACACers’ who made us feel so welcome.

We hope everyone who attended the conference enjoyed it as much as we did and we are already looking froward to next years conference being held at Northeastern University, Boston. Those who would like to attend next year should keep checking the OACAC website for updates and we would fully recommend anyone who works in the international college admissions field attend.

Were you at the conference? Please leave a comment aboout your favourite 2009 OACAC memories, or your thoughts on the conference as a whole.