SUMMER UNIVERSITY
Useful Tips
Before to choose your destination:
The first suggestion is to get a look
at the evaluations of each SU filled in by the participants of the past year,
you can find them
here (you need to log in first to see them). We
suggest you not to apply for the SUs that received also just one bad evaluation
or those that didn’t received any.
Choose destination that are not so
common. Not always the most known cities organize the most successful SU:
consider that Messina it’s not well known or so beautiful Italian city, but our
SU it’s usually in the top ten ranking of the best SU. The most important thing
to have a good time is the group of participants and organizers, the place is
not that important. The cities where you would have more possibilities to be
accepted are the one you have never heard about, the east of Europe and the SU
taking part from June to half of July. The most requested one are the European
capitals, the one in nations where there are less SU and the one organized in
August and September.
If you would like to travel with one or
more friends (but this is not the spirit of the Summer University project), in
the application form you
have to check "Respect my order of preference" to be QUITE sure your first
choice would be pre-selected (obviously it has to be the same first choice as
your friends). Avoid to write the same motivation letter.
After you filled in the application form:
Write directly to the local organizers.
Inform them that you know you are pre-selected, you are really happy about this,
and you really want to take part in their SU. Remember organizers want to accept
students really motivated to participate, So write, write write.
Often they do not answer you. Consider
they receive a lot of e-mails like yours each day so: write in English or the
language of the country you chose, always be polite and friendly, never angry or
disappointed. Feel free to write them another and more detailed motivation
letter, or simply make questions.
To send a photo of you it's always a risk, but it could be
a good idea, usually people always prefer to give a face people they are talking
with.
AVOID to ask your local board to
contact the organizers instead of you. Any organizer always prefer to have a
direct contact with his potential participants. Obviously each local board is at
your disposal for any doubt or question.
After the selection
If you are in a waiting list (WL) do
not desperate, instead be happy, it means you were not rejected and you still
have good possibilities to be accepted. For sure some students will delete their
participations so continue writing to the organizers that you really want to
enjoy their SU and you are hopeful waiting to be selected as participant. In my
experience I can tell you that we always accept from the waiting list only who
write us to confirm they really want to take part in our SU; those that do not
write show us they are not interested and for this reason we do not select them.
Sometimes after one (or maybe more) good and stressing e-mails we accepted
participants we rejected during the selection.
The main suggestion is always the same:
send e-mails to the organizers, write and do it often. Tell them you absolutely
want to take part in their SU, you cannot do differently and you are sure they
wouldn’t have the responsibility of your suicide on their consciences.
If you are not accepted at the first
round be always informed about SU with free places. If you read “free places
for….” And you are interested WRITE THEM IMMEDIATELY (same day) asking to be
accepted, maybe later tell us (your local responsible) about your decision.
So it's absolutely necessary to check daily your own e-mail account to
read promptly each mail for a free call and it's obviously, necessary as well,
to be subscribed to the mailing list of the SU project (AEGEE-SU-L).
Here
all the Aegee mailing lists and the instruction to subscribe them.