By Editorial Board
Ever since the introduction at the beginning of the year, and the gradual addition of information on the different courses over time, Grade 10s have become more familiar with their personal interests, whilst developing ideas about potential careers for the future. As there is still much uncertainty with these decisions, we have decided to interview one of our three university advisors, Mr. Taskin, for some primary information on the subject as he discusses everything from the university application process to the different education systems provided around the world. We hope to bring clarity and give the students a preview of a crucial step toward their future.
General Information
What is your role as a university counselor?
My role as a university counselor is multidimensional. We work with students primarily, but we also work with parents and to a certain extent, teachers. Teachers are obviously supporting students within the classroom but with the application process, they support students with letters of recommendation. My primary role is to make sure that students and their parents understand the process, the general big picture, beginning with Grade 10 for the most part. Then, when it comes down to application season in Grade 12, I ensure that they understand how to apply to a particular university in a country, how to meet deadlines, and how to package themselves in the best light so that they are accepted into where they want to go.
Can you break down the university application process?
The university application process really begins in Grade 12. This is when Grade 12 students apply to university, you do not apply to university before then. There are a few big pieces for students, one of them is to make sure that their college essay, also known as the personal statement, is well-drafted by the time they begin Grade 12 or finished. They also have to prepare for their teacher’s letter of recommendation by filling in a questionnaire about themselves, which they will give to their teacher for the teacher to then write a letter. The third big portion is to do your research on universities to think about yourself, your preferences, and to start to think about the country, city, and all other variables of where you want to spend the next 3-4 years of your life. There will be a lot of individual meetings and discussions with your university advisor on the finalizing of details and submitting the applications by the application deadline.
When do students typically apply? What does the university application timeline look like?
As mentioned before, Grade 12 is really when it starts. 70-80% of applications are done by January. For specific universities in Singapore and Europe, it’s usually around February or March. Of course, if you don’t apply at that time, you can apply to Australia or New Zealand after your IB grades come out in July as they have a different timeline compared to the rest.
How many colleges should a student apply to?
We have a limit of applying to 10 universities. Otherwise, it just gets way too many. It’s a lot of work for a student to apply and we don’t want them to sacrifice their academics as there can be a lot of writing essays. You can apply to multiple countries but you do have an application limit.
More about The Application Process
What do admissions officers tend to look for in applications? What can make a student stand out?
This is going to be dependent on the country. First, they do not want any mistakes, you can not miss a deadline. I tell students, why apply at the last minute or the last 10 minutes when there is probably a time stamp on these applications. Why not get it in sooner than later, it should go in as soon as you possibly can. They also look at extracurriculars in almost all universities but some weigh those activities more than others. Sitting at the top of what they look for is if the student is ready to take on the rigor of university courses. Can they handle it? Are they going to do well? When you are getting IB grades of 5, 6, or 7, this shows that you are ready for university academics as well as the workload. Obviously, if you get higher grades, this will increase the likelihood that you will get accepted.
What are common characteristics you’ve observed over your years at CIS during this university application process?
In a perfect world everyone would be very proactive about this, show initiative, have drafts of their essay done, and meet deadlines. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Those students who adhere to our deadlines and get things done in advance tend to have less stress involved in the process, and more success later on. When we see students being sloppy about things, for example, an essay, they write, and then it just doesn’t look that good. The admission officers who read thousands of letters are gonna be like “Look at this kid, they have great grades but didn’t put any time into their essays,” and then they won’t take them. It’s a little bit like a slap in the face. We want those students to be in the middle, and even on the bottom, we want them to be more involved.
What are things students should avoid doing when applying?
They should avoid having other people give them advice, especially on their essays. Get advice from outside people or agencies for where you want to go. But when it comes time to write essays, you can’t have anybody writing those for you. You want to avoid having someone take over your application.
Advice for Decision-Making
How do you guide students who have no idea what they want to pursue in the future?
We talk to them about career interests and give them a career survey. It’s based on personality. We follow that up with individual meetings as students may need that. Students also are guided by their teachers in subject areas. For example you have someone interested in Medicine who is taking Biology and Chemistry, their teacher is a resource for them to use in guiding them. We do a lot of this individually and have long discussions with them about their careers.
Which factors impact a student’s university choice? And how do they choose?
There are a lot of variables that students need to consider when they start narrowing down their long list to a short list. Some examples are the system of higher education and the location of the universities.
- Do they want to study for 3 years in a more focused subject-oriented system like the U.K. or do they want to take 4 years and be more broad in the first 2 years, then start to narrow down in the U.S?
- Do they want to live in a large city or a small rural town?
- Do they want to live in a country that is warm, has 4 seasons, or do they want to live somewhere cold?
- Are there going to be like-minded people around them or are they going to be shocked by the lack of diversity, for example?
- There are a lot of factors and we teach the students and bring these factors up at the beginning of Grade 8 of what you would need to start thinking about.
How do I choose between what I want to major in vs. what is good to major in?
That’s kind of a subjective question. I think you have to ask yourself what you are interested in. You shouldn’t look at the table of salaries and just pick the highest 10 salary majors and just go for those because you won’t like it. You can go into the system if you’re not sure. You can go into the US system and choose after year 2, there’s nothing wrong with that. Well, actually it just has to be a good fit between yourself and your preferences. Another thing you can do is read about the program in-depth. Universities will have a general outline of what you do each year. If you read it, and you’re jumping out of your skin like “I want to start tomorrow”, then that’s the program you want to go into.
What research should be done to help students decide on their major/university?
There’s so much information online that you can get, that’s a great place to start. Typing in on YouTube the university name, their dormitories, academic programs. You can just spend half an hour focusing on one university. Another thing is to develop a short list of questions that are important to you. Now-a-days with so much more online resources from the universities, you can really chat with a current student. You can see that option on their websites. Ask the same questions to different universities and keep track of it.
University Locations
How does the process vary depending on the university location?
It can vary quite a lot. For example, there are some countries where the process is very streamlined and other countries where it is more involved. On one end of the spectrum, Canada and Australia look primarily at the grades of the students, and they do not require teachers’ letters of recommendation or students’ personal statements/college essays. They make their decisions based mostly on grades and extracurricular activities. On the other end of the spectrum in the U.S., where it is a holistic review. This means that they will look at the teacher’s letter of recommendation, college essays, grades, SAT scores, extracurricular activities, leadership, etc. so it does depend on where you apply in terms of the process and the timelines.
What are certain prerequisites for majors/universities in different countries?
In the UK, it’s written down on their websites what IB subjects are required to apply to their programs. In the US, rarely are there any subject requirements or scores. Canada does have subject requirements for specific majors. So you really have to look carefully at what those are. If you have any doubt, that’s where we come in, but we can’t list everything.
How do admission officers view international students?
They view them in very high regard. They see international students as bringing some diversity, global mindedness, and intercultural competence. Universities will reach out to international schools to recruit students. In terms of medicine, it’s really going to vary as there are a lot of different factors.
Any information about post-undergraduate schools?
We don’t have a whole lot there. You know we talk about education, social work, nursing, medicine, law, all of those in many countries are done after the 4 years at university. But you can directly go into these in the UK because they have a different system.
Which countries do CIS students lean towards when applying?
This year has had more applications in the US than we’ve seen in the past. But it typically tends to be led by the UK.
Worse Case Scenarios
What if a student’s grades don’t necessarily meet the requirements of their desired major?
Then you just don’t apply there. Again, this is going to differ. Let’s say in the UK you need a 38 with a 7,7,6 in your higher level subjects, if you don’t have that, you don’t apply. It’s unfortunate but you won’t be able to get in. If you want to apply to Stanford, a highly selective and prestigious university, and you have a 37 (a relatively lower score based on the people that go there) but have great activities and everything else in your application is extraordinary then they might accept you. Grades do count a lot but it’s not everything, particularly in US universities.
What happens if you don’t get into any of the universities you applied to?
It is very rare. But also, we’re not going to let you apply to all the most selective and hard universities in the world if your scores don’t match up to it. But if you’re rejected, you can reapply next year and take a gap year. You can also look at options in Australia because their schooling system starts later. You start the February after you graduate and take a 6 month break. Australia’s a wonderful option; highly ranked universities, relatively high acceptance rates (60-70%), four seasons, safe country, beaches.