On March 21st, one day before the beginning of the second leg of the spring edition of RIUF (Romanian International University Fair), the Fulbright-EducationUSA/FEAC team reached out to a variety of audiences in Cluj-Napoca, one of the most prestigious academic centers in the country. The day started with a presentation about the Fulbright Junior Award and independent applications to graduate programs in the U.S., kindly hosted and efficiently co-organized by the Center for International Development within Babes-Bolyai University. The presentation benefited from the presence and active involvement of Colleen Bertsch, current Fulbright grantee in Romania, who shared invaluable insights from her Fulbright experience in Romania. The next presentation was aimed at high school students keen on studying in the U.S. and took place at the American Corner in Cluj, which has so generously hosted FEAC’s presentations for many years. Students from four secondary schools in Cluj received advice on how to best manage the application process, how to make use of the newest test preparation materials which await them at the local American Corner and how to keep in touch with the FEAC team via online advising. Last, but not least, the Fulbright-EducationUSA team spoke to the students of Transylvania College, a private school in Cluj-Napoca whose class of 2016 includes at least one graduate who will become a freshman of an American university in the fall of this year.  

On March 22, the FEAC team interacted with over a hundred RIUF visitors in Cluj, many of whom came from surrounding areas and were curious to know more both about the Fulbright program and about other study opportunities in the United States. The FEAC advisers were delighted to take questions about the recent trend in supporting community colleges as gateways to U.S. higher education institutions and were equally pleased to answer more specific questions during the special presentation which they gave as part of the general fair schedule.