Today@Dal

Dal admissions and recruitment team member Gillian MacDonald has been in Colombia meeting with prospective Dal students. Today, she files her final report from the road:

It was a packed trip. The CIS Colombia tour stopped in 6 major cities, visited 11 high schools, provided 26 presentations, and  saw approximately 2,000 students and 50 counsellors. We even took our work outside of the classroom on a service project in Medellin: decorating furniture with university brochures to inspire and excite children about higher learning.

The response to Dalhousie on this tour was overwhelmingly positive. We were able to offer studies in almost every subject students inquired about, and I’ve already received several inquiries on next-steps. While it can sometimes take a while to see movement in new markets, I am confident that our university will start to see more Colombians on campus in the near future. Our breadth of academic options, beautiful city, co-op programmes, internships and post-graduate work opportunities  were the most attractive DAL features to prospective Colombian students.

There were many comments about the cold weather in Canada and based on suggestions from Colombian alumni , I did my best to highlight the cold weather and snow as a new and exciting adventure. I also spent a lot of time explaining that Nova Scotia is one of the milder provinces in Canada and that students will enjoy four very different seasons.

During my time away, I learned that students in Colombia are in pursuit of the very thing our domestic students search for: a high-quality education that will lead to a satisfying life and career, excellent professors who inspire and motivate; a safe living environment with many extra-curricular activities, and of course, a lot of fun.

Until next time! 

Read all of Gillian's posts at the Passport to Dal blog.