My TOEFL score was not enough for direct admission to GMU, but I didn’t want to lose the chance for further study. I wanted to improve my English reading, writing and speaking skills as well as gain more knowledge for my graduate program. So I decided to join the accelerated pathway program. The program gives international students the chance to adapt to the learning and teaching style of the U.S. and at the same time get credits for their graduate program. It is a great choice for anyone who didn’t get a high enough TOEFL score, but doesn’t want to give up the chance for a postgraduate degree in the USA.

The main aim for the pathway program is to improve my reading, writing and speaking skills. It does help me a lot in those aspects. In PROV504, we begin at the cultural different between our country and the U.S. and get lots of tips about how to communicate with teachers and professors in right manners through mail and in person. Those tips are all details I didn’t pay much attention to before. Furthermore PROV504 have plentiful resources about writing. I didn’t have much experience about writing essays or professional documents such as statement of purpose and resume. But the gap is filled now. I learned how to write not only the essays I need to apply for master degree but also artifacts I need in my future career like portfolio. With the development of my writing skills, PROV504 also provides peer review, which is helpful to train our speaking skill and critical thinking. In addition we have a short tour to the library, which is really wonderful. Though it is not the first time I went to Fenwick library but it is the first time I know how to utilize all the resources and librarians. In EAP508 I experienced a great enhancement on my reading skills. It is the first time I know how to read and annotate academic articles. Annotations are really helpful during the study or research since it helps us to get the main ideas of the article fast and clearly. If PROV504 tell us about professional writing, EAP508 is about academic writing. In the class I try to build up my own academic literature review with annotated articles, research plan, and other helpful resources. This is really wonderful for students who need to read papers and write their own thesis. Last but not least, both of the two course have lot of chance to participate in class or presentation, which improved my oral speaking in a short time.

Besides the pathway program I also took two of the major courses from my graduate program. That’s a great deal for time efficiency and knowledge continuity. After finishing the pathway program we already have 6 credits for the graduate program and we have built some connections with the faculties and classmates in our major. With the help of pathway program we are not strangers for studying and living so that the following semester will be much easier to keep pace with others. For a time I was wondering whether the pathway program is necessary or not but after taking those course I am sure that it is a wonderful bridge for international students to their degree seeking studies. The reading and writing skills help me do better in major courses projects. And the training of oral presentation leads to calm and fluent speaking in course projects and future consulting works. These experience will help me moving on for my academic and career goal.