The GradTrain story:
why make your own mistakes
when you can learn from others?
We are five
friends from five different
countries, who went through the journey of studying in
another country. Studying abroad changed our lives. Not only
did it help kick off our careers, but it is now also an
undeniable part of our identity.
We want other people to be able to do the same.
For
years we have been approached by friends, friends of
friends, and even people loosely connected (or not) to our
network. They sought advice on how to find and get into
graduate school abroad. We have also heard many stories of
people who missed their opportunity to obtain a graduate
degree abroad. We ourselves witnessed the challenges of
finding information and choosing programs abroad,
and decided to create a solution. We decided to be the
solution. That is what GradTrain is all about.
GradTrain is the first international web platform designed
for people who want to attend graduate school abroad.
GradTrain provides guidance from people who are what
you want to be in a few years. People who understand
your background, language and culture, and really care
about your success.
GradTrain
revolutionizes
the international application process
To find out what people need, we ran a
survey
among hundreds of current and past international graduate
students from more than 50 countries. Based on this
survey,
we are building an online platform that will:
-
Connect prospective
students with coaches who share a similar background to
theirs, who have been through the process and can guide
them
to fulfill their potential.
-
Provide sophisticated
algorithm-based decision making tools that will help
people make decisions based on data, and not on gut
feelings.
-
Revolutionize
international education, by minimizing information gaps,
and allowing all students to fulfill their potential.
Deployment
Plan
-
GradTrain is currently running a private beta for
hand-selected coaches (under 100 coaches from diverse
fields and nationalities).
-
Throughout September we will open up the platform to a
broader audience of coaches, who we will be vetted and
certified
(interested coaches can registered at:
www.gradtrain.com
-
In October, the peak of the university application
season, we are opening the platform for applicants to
book coaching sessions.
-
Following that, we will launch algorithm-based
decision-making tools that we have lined up, such as an
acceptance-predictor and
an application scheduler.
Why contribute to Gradtrain
1. I am a past, present, or
future international student (or a parent of one).
I want GradTrain to happen so I can be a coach or use the service myself.
2.I'm not an international student but I want to help one.
This page makes it so easy to help!
3. I
really care about global education.
I want to put my money where my mouth is.
4. GradTrain
is the next big thing. I sense it,
and I want to be able to say that I gave the seed money for
it.
5. I
love the idea of social impact startups. Companies that care
about their social impact and not only about their bank
account
is a refreshing concept I want to encourage.
6. I
believe through international study we bring talent into
this country,
and GradTrain is a great way to enable talent get here.
7. I
was deeply impressed by the idea and your hard work,
and want to help you fulfill this dream.
What
we need and what we will do
with your contribution
If
we meet our $30,000 goal, with your generous help, we will
be able to:
Our
perks are designed to make you a part of this initiative
and to connect you with the stories of real students.
Your support will allow us to help students in their journey
for international education!
If
we exceed our goal, we will be able to do a lot more and
provide tailored guidance for additional fields of study and
additional geographies around the globe, as well as provide
additional scholarships for students at need. We will also
be able to build more specialized tools to meet the needs of
international students.
Our goal
is to transform
the field of international education.
We believe that enabling more people to study abroad is the
key to solving many global challenges. There are too many
barriers in the face of a person who wants to study abroad,
and GradTrain will remove many of them and
make the process much less of a guessing game.
Studying abroad opens people’s minds and exposes them to new
cultures. Being a foreigner is a humbling experience that
makes people understand more about minorities in their own
country. If we can empower more people to fulfill their goal
of studying abroad, the world will be a better place with
more acceptance of differences and better understanding of
others across the globe. It will enable a cross-pollination
of ideas and innovation that will be better distributed
worldwide.
GradTrain is a social impact for-profit venture, and we will
measure our success not only by the company’s bottom line,
but also by the social impact we are able to achieve. Our
services will be affordable and we will dedicate a
portion of our earnings to scholarships for students at need.
Other Ways You Can Help
Even
if you can't contribute you can still help!
-
Get the
word out
and make some noise about our campaign. Go to
www.gradtrain.com and
share the GradTrain love!
-
Share the
Indiegogo campaign
using the link at the top of this page (below the
video)! Here it is again just in case:
http://igg.me/at/gradtrain
-
Share the campaign offline via our
QR code.
Print it out, add your personal endorsement and hang it up - at your
University, in your building, in the subway - anywhere
you go!
Contribute to our campaign and share it with your networks -
you will have our eternal gratitude for making this happen
and helping ambitious and intelligent people from across the
globe fulfill their dreams and aspirations
through studying abroad.
Together - we can make a real positive impact for
generations to come!
Truly yours,
The
GradTrain team
Partners
We
would not have been able to launch this campaign without the
help of dear and important friends who helped us with
sharing their own personal stories, helped us fine-tune the
message, and supported us along the way. Special thanks to
Moshe Laniado Peleg, Hadas Ben Sasson, Jette Lundgren,
Menachem Katz, Klara Stefflova, Natalia Urrea, Sarvenaz
Bakhtiar, Claire Chen, Gillian Albert, Mei-Tal Nadler, Ophir
Bar Zohar, Sanjeev K. Mahto, Ayanna Samuels, Luo Jing, Akiva
Miller, Alana Shultz, Brian Batts, Noa Reindel, Hagit
Stauber, Tzvika Avnery, Ori Harel, Katie Klein, Christian
Fink, Osnat Stimatzky, Larry Price, Barak Bard, Tom Dow,
Assaf B. Spanier, Yossi Goldman, Ilana Nesher, Arik
Marmorstein, Amir Hirshfeld, and Chris Wong. We would not be
able to get to this point without you, and appreciate your
continued support very much!
GradTrain in the media:
Forbes: New
website gradtrain helps international graduate students
Black Tie International
Magazine:
Startup aims to revolutionize university
application process globally
Jerusalem Post:
"Hop on the GradTrain, next stop a far-off
campus"