high school students

The Boarding School Experience: Preparation for College and for Life

Mark A. Ashwill Commentary ,

 This guest post was written by Nguyen Xuan Toan, a student from Hanoi who attended Hanoi-Amsterdam High School and graduated from Phillips Academy Andover in 2010.  He is currently  a student at Amherst College.  -------------------- I often joke that boarding schools are basically colleges for high school students. In some ways they are. The boarding school experience resembles … Continue reading The Boarding School Experience: Preparation for College and for Life

StudyUSA Community College Fairs: Making Connections

Mark A. Ashwill Commentary , ,

Fair week is over.  The fall 2011 StudyUSA Community College Fair series started on a Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and ended on a Saturday in Hanoi with stops and high school visits in between in Nha Trang (first time ever) and Danang.  These US community college-only fairs are unique in Vietnam, a wise choice … Continue reading StudyUSA Community College Fairs: Making Connections

Community College Draws Foreign Students by Serving as a Gateway to Universities

Mark A. Ashwill Articles, Events , , ,

This is the title of a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article that begins with this sentence:  When American community colleges attend student-recruitment fairs abroad, they are often greeted with blank looks. This is true in a lot of countries but not in Vietnam, where many students and parents have recently discovered the benefits of … Continue reading Community College Draws Foreign Students by Serving as a Gateway to Universities

VietAbroader Summer Study Abroad Conferences: Passing of the Torch

Mark A. Ashwill Announcement, Conferences , , , ,

Capstone Vietnam, of which I'm managing director, is pleased and proud to be a corporate sponsor of the 2011 VietAbroader Study Abroad Conferences (VAC) on 15 and 16 July in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Hanoi, respectively.  VAC, the flagship program of VietAbroader (VA), was first organized in the summer of 2005.  (I had the privilege of … Continue reading VietAbroader Summer Study Abroad Conferences: Passing of the Torch

Vietnam’s Younger Generation & the Future

Mark A. Ashwill Commentary , ,

Vietnam is a "young" country.  You can see it everywhere you look and in the statistics (median age:  27.4).   It's what economists refer to as a "demographic dividend," which Vietnam is hoping to take advantage of.    I recently spent a couple of mornings and afternoons conducting Skype interviews with young people, high school and … Continue reading Vietnam’s Younger Generation & the Future

Education Mission 2011: Indonesia & Vietnam

Mark A. Ashwill Conferences, Events , , , , ,

This April 2011 "education mission" to Indonesia and Vietnam, organized by the US Department of Commerce and described below, is most suitable for newcomers to the Vietnam market.  Check out the BuyUSA.gov website for more information.  On a side note:  this event should dispel any doubts you may have had about the importance of education and these … Continue reading Education Mission 2011: Indonesia & Vietnam

“More Vietnamese students to be gifted by 2020”

Mark A. Ashwill Articles ,

This is one of my favorite recent headlines in the English language media here.  Is it something in the water?  A more liberal definition of "gifted"?  At any rate, the plan is to build at least one high school for gifted students in each city/province with the goal of placing about 2% of high school students … Continue reading “More Vietnamese students to be gifted by 2020”

“Graduation rate at high schools tops 80% target”

Mark A. Ashwill Articles , ,

VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 83 per cent of people between the age of 18 and 21 in HCM City completed the 12th grade last year, which exceeded the target set by the city’s People’s Committee by 8 per cent, according to the city’s Department of Education and Training. Huynh Cong Minh, director of the education … Continue reading “Graduation rate at high schools tops 80% target”