2005
Fall American Education Fair
- Korea Post-Fair Report
Subjects covered in this
report:
Pre-Fair Orientation: Korean Student Market Status
At the invitation of AIEF, U.S. Embassy consular official Ms. Amy Canning provided a briefing for the American education delegation at the Oakwood Premier Hotel in Seoul on the morning of Saturday, September 24th. Ms. Canning noted that many travel agencies in Korea intentionally give the false impression that it is difficult to obtain a student visa to travel to the USA. In actuality, the success rate for student visa applicants in Korea is around 95 percent, she said. Citing data from the 2004 “Open Doors” report, Stephen Smith, director of AIEF’s Washington office, pointed out that in that year there was a nearly 2 percent increase over the previous year in the number of Korean students studying in the USA. Current indications are for continued growth in 2005.
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Seoul Fair Statistics
The 2005 Fall American Education Fair in Seoul, held on September 24-25 as part of the Korean Student Fair, saw an exceptionally healthy turnout during its two-day run at COEX. Overall attendance at the Student Fair was estimated at over 30,000, with over
6,000 fairgoers visiting the American Pavilion. At the AIEF booth, all materials were disseminated two hours prior to the closing time of the event. Many U.S. school representatives happily reported that most or all of their materials were disseminated to fair visitors as well.
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Seoul Fair Highlights
Located prominently to the left of the main entrance to the Korea Student Fair exhibition area at COEX in Seoul, the American Pavilion was reserved only for official U.S. school representatives. As recommended by
AIEF, this is the first year that international pavilions were separated from the local exhibitors. With this improvement in the exhibition’s layout, the fairgoers were clearly directed based on their needs and schools were able to distribute materials more effectively. Besides directing student traffic, our staff also offered free on-site counseling at the AIEF booth. We are grateful to the representatives from the U.S. Embassy and the Fulbright office in Korea who were on hand at their respective booths throughout the event to answer questions posed by the public.
As is our customary practice, AIEF arranged for interpreters from Korean colleges and universities to translate for each of the participating American schools. Korean-language signs were also provided at every booth within the American Pavilion to introduce the essential facts about each institution.
Free color maps of the U.S., printed by
AIEF, were distributed to the American Pavilion’s visitors. Students found the maps to be a useful way to locate where the participating institutions are situated geographically within the United States.
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Seoul Special Seminars
Offered concurrently with the Seoul Fair were a series of seminars for students. Fulbright representatives addressed the future launch of the iBT TOEFL Test in Korea, while U.S. Embassy consular officers Mr. Michael Edwards and Mr. Matthew Flannigan educated students on the student visa application process. In addition, several U.S. school representatives presented information about their institutions to prospective students.
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AIEF’s Student Tracking System
Pre-Fair registration was offered as a service to students, and visitors to the American Pavilion were encouraged to register their educational goals and contact details in AIEF’s student tracking system. The registered student data will be entered into an AIEF computer database and will be distributed in early November to schools that participated in the fair.
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Seoul Social
It was “AIEF Night” at the Zen restaurant near COEX on the evening of Saturday, September 24th. Fair participants enjoyed an atmosphere of cordial comradery and good food at this traditional Korean barbecue-style eatery. Mr. Hongyu Lee, president of KTF and co-host for the evening, welcomed the U.S. school representatives and wished all success at the fair.
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Busan Fair
Attendance at the Busan fair, organized by KTF at the Haeundae Grand Hotel, was disappointing. To resolve scheduling and location issues, AIEF will confer with KTF in advance of the 2006 Spring Fair in
Busan.
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2006 Spring Fairs
Registration will soon be open for AIEF’s 2006 Spring American Education Fairs in Taiwan and Korea. The Spring Fair schedule is as follows:
Singapore -March 16
Taipei – March 18-19
Kaohsiung – March 20
Taichung – March 21
Seoul – March 25-26
Busan – March 28
Shanghai - April 15-16
Beijing - July 21-23
Online registration is available at:
http://www.aief-usa.org/services/signup_fair.htm. For more information, please visit our Website or call the AIEF office in California at 626-965-1995.
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