Conditional Admissions Program provides linguistic and legal bridgeFor Lydia Liu, 20, and Denise Shi, 22, the opportunity to study at ELI was a timely solution to a problem spawned in the aftermath of September 11. The pair had left China to study in Switzerland three years ago. Both were planning to transfer to the University of Delaware's Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management program from the Swiss School of Hotel and Tourism Management in Chur, Switzerland. New, unexpected regulations meant that to get a student visa they needed to first prove their English competence. That meant passing the TOEFL, something neither one was then prepared to do.
Fortunately, UD's Conditional Admissions Program (CAP) provided a solution. Under CAP, the two - who were otherwise academically admissible - could be admitted provisionally to the university, study at ELI and, with successful completion of the Level VI English for Academic Purposes class, satisfy the language requirement to study at UD. Shi arrived in January and Liu followed one month later. Both found ELI classes rewarding. "I especially improved my writing," said Liu. Shi concurs. "I can feel by myself it's a big progress." Now studying in the Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management program, both intend to return to China to work. "In most four- and five-star hotels, the managers are foreign," said Shi. "We really need some native workers. I think it's a good future for us." |