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8. Testimonials
Here’s what some colleagues have had to say about Capstone Vietnam and our fairs.
MTSU participated in the Capstone Vietnam virtual Fall (2020) Flex Fairs in five Vietnamese cities in November. These were the first hybrid type virtual fairs that I have done. The format included an MTSU representative on site, a designated translator in the Capstone office, and me, an international student recruiter, on my laptop in Tennessee. Previously, I had done only in-person or all online virtual fairs. This format provided the best of both virtual and in-person representation. The Capstone assigned representative and translator was outstanding. They were very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and eager to promote my university. Moreover, the format was easy to use and glitch-free. The Capstone staff gave excellent customer service and assistance in building the virtual booths, uploading the required documents, and answering all my questions. After the fair, we were also given important and targeted diagnostics which enabled me to follow up on all the visitors to our booth and all the student participants in the virtual fair. These valuable leads will prove invaluable to our outreach strategy for Vietnamese students. The quality of the prospective students was also excellent. I found them to be very serious, well-qualified, knowledgeable about the US higher education system, and confident to ask the right questions. They seemed to know exactly what they wanted from a US American degree.
I’ve participated in over 30 virtual fairs all around the world this year, and I can say with certainty that the Capstone Vietnam organization is superior. They offer excellent customer service, great access to well-qualified students, and a true commitment to international education. I am grateful to have found such a great partner in Vietnam to promote my university.
John Wilson, Ed.D., Former International Student Recruiter, Middle Tennessee State University (Tennessee, USA)
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I have been delighted to work directly with Capstone Vietnam for the past three years, though their relationship with my college has existed much longer. As an agency, they are relationship-focused, transparent, caring, and highly ethical. It is very clear they are invested in educating HEIs about trends and best practices in the region and will offer any support services needed for HEIs to be successful (they’ll even take you to the pharmacy if you find yourself in need!).
Capstone has sent us several of our top students from Vietnam, and as a true testament to their great work, we will be receiving the younger sibling of one of our Capstone graduates next quarter—nothing speaks to real, long-term family satisfaction as much as sending another child.
I feel very confident in recommending Capstone to HEIs that are interested in building their portfolio in Vietnam.
Lisa A. Maroni, Former Senior Associate Director, International Outreach, Shoreline Community College (Washington, USA)
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Mark A. Ashwill and the Capstone Vietnam staff are phenomenal!!! They go above and beyond with their professionalism, their communication and follow-up and, most importantly and impressive to me, their hospitality! My institutions and I have participated in Vietnam recruiting trips with Capstone Vietnam now for the past two years and they have been nothing but the best experiences for me. My institutions and I look forward to hopefully many more years of partnership with Capstone and helping give prospective Vietnamese students and families the best and most accurate information to help them make a very important decision! I have nothing but positive things to say about Capstone Vietnam, Mark and the Capstone staff. They are truly wonderful to work with!
Cory Becker-Kim, Former Assistant Director of Admission, Intercultural LEAD (I-LEAD) Fellowship Program Liaison, College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University (Minnesota, USA)
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I have spent a lot of time living and working in Asia, but this was my first experience recruiting in Vietnam. I am very happy I joined the Capstone Vietnam recruiting tour. The in-depth knowledge and understanding that Capstone staff brought to and shared with the group was a great way to get introduced to the students, the schools and the educational system there. They provided a great infrastructure for us. I visited a lot of schools and talked to a lot of students I would not have been in touch with otherwise. It was educational, and even fun!
David Wivell, Associate Director/International Enrollment, Rochester Institute of Technology/RIT (New York, USA)
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Capstone Vietnam is a recruitment agency like no other I've used: diligent, professional, and ethical. It's more than getting payment; it's also ensuring my institution and the student are good fits for each other. They achieve this goal by investing significantly in educating their clients--the recruiters and the students. Capstone Vietnam is an agency I can trust.
Funwi Ayuninjam, Director, Office of Internationalization, Professor of English for Academic Purposes, Georgia Gwinnett College (Georgia, USA)
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It was a really good fair today. We’ve been really happy with Capstone. I think that we have been attending Capstone’s fairs almost every year since 2022 now. Whenever I come here I always speak to students who are really highly motivated, who bring their parents along and have a lot of good questions and a lot of interest in subjects like computer science and pharmacy and nursing. They are very serious about studying in the US so we always feel that we have a good experience at Capstone meeting high quality students. And we are seeing applications, we are seeing admitted and enrolled students and so we’re feeling very confident that we’re receiving high quality service from Capstone that is generating applicants.
Rachel Williams,
Assistant Director, International Enrollment Management, University of Kentucky (Kentucky, USA)
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Oh, my goodness, Capstone has made this such an enjoyable fair. This fair today has been amazing. From the time the fair opened until about two hours, we did not stop talking with people. It was very exciting seeing them. The staff has been so accommodating, getting us what we needed. I have actually done four interviews with students, and all of them I'm very impressed with their English abilities, of course not as strong as if they were in an all English culture, but all of them were able to explain themselves to me. The quality of students who have come through today has been quite impressive to me.
Daniel Thomas, Principal of Bethel Baptist School (California, USA)
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I think Mark and Hang run a good ship. I love coming to these fairs because they’re well-organized and well-planned. And the staff, the hotels are good. The clientele or the parents and students we saw today have been really top-class. They’ve been here with specific things. It’s always a pleasure to come. I also noticed times they bring the parents or only the parents come because ultimately it’s the parents that pay. It’s great to see them, and we’ve had some really good questions today.
Tony Blignaut, Regional Director of Cardiff Sixth Form College (UK)
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The students that we meet here in Vietnam are very well academically qualified, and strong applicants to the university. Capstone is great at finding students who are academically eligible for our university, who have strong English skills, and who are interested in a liberal arts education, which is something that our university can provide.
Danielle Kanclerz, Former Associate Director of Admission, International Students, Linfield University (Oregon, USA)