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Just as every college/university is different, so too are the criteria and priorities in each campus’ admission process. In fact, one of the great advantages of working with an independent educational consultant is their personal knowledge of these differences, helping students to navigate the process. Below are the criteria to pay attention to:

1. A rigorous high school curriculum that challenges the student and may include AP or IB classes.

2. High grade point average in major subjects. However, slightly lower grades in a rigorous program are preferred to all A’s in less challenging coursework.

3. High scores on standardized tests (ACT, SAT). These should be consistent with high school performance

4. Passionate involvement in a few activities that are meaningful, inside or outside of school.

5. A well-written essay that emphasizes insight into the student’s unique personality.

6. Leadership inside or outside of school. Depth, rather than breadth, of leadership is valued.

7. Demographic and personal characteristics that contribute to a diverse and interesting student body.

8. Strong counselor/teacher recommendations that provide personalized references.

9. Special talents that could contribute to campus life.

10. Intellectual curiosity exhibited through reading, research, and extracurricular pursuits.

11. Student’s character and values are seen as conducive to being a good community member.

12. Demonstrated interest and enthusiasm in attending (through campus visits, etc.)

This ranked list is based on a nationwide survey of IECA member independent educational consultants. Copyright IECA 2020- printed with permission

I get asked this question time and time again, especially as we near course selection time. My answer is that a students’ focus should not be on ‘more’ but, instead, on who they are. In helping students with their course selection, I ask what suits this particular student best in terms of their intended major or career interests. What is the most rigorous course load with which this student can be successful?

We want students to be taking a rigorous course load which challenges them but we also want them to be able to maintain their sanity. I tell students to pick a course load with which they know they can be successful personally while maintaining a balance in their life and managing their sanity. Naturally, every choice will have an impact and will make a difference. However, once the student takes 5-8 AP courses, anything beyond that doesn’t matter as much. In many instances, the benefits of more AP courses would be negligible according to studies.

Universities want students who can think and who can write. The rest is fluff. There are no set rules. Different institutions treat your profile differently. Academics matter, of course, but what also matters is how you will contribute to the campus community. Personal qualities matter. Leadership potential matters. Entrepreneurship matters. Applications to Honors Programs and to engineering programs are where more course rigor can make a difference.

Not every student has a passion; a student who has a passion for physics might have taken 3 or more advanced courses in that subject area, and several more in other areas of interest. However, everyone is different and there is a wonderful college or university where each and every student will thrive. What is important is the need to build up a strong foundation with solid building blocks to do well in certain areas of focus, for example in math and calculus for those targeting business or engineering programs. This can’t always be rushed. It’s not a race to collect as many AP’s as possible. Some students do it for the credit they can get when entering university but it is not always a good idea to use such credit to skip introductory classes because you’ve taken what you think is a similar course in high school. At some high schools, their AP program’s science courses don’t have electronic microscopes and universities are aware that not all AP programs were created equal. By leapfrogging Biology 101 at university, a premed student could be doing himself or herself a disservice as the university course will go more in-depth into the subject matter and by opting to take the course, you are building a strong foundation and if you find the course easy, you will gain an easy ‘A’ to buy yourself time to ease into university life and join more extracurricular activities and get to know more of your fellow peers.

When reviewing your transcript, universities will look at your overall profile and the ups and downs of your story, as told in various ways, including the story your transcript tells. Your recommendations also tell a story.

For those of you applying to UK universities, your grades are the first priority. Next are activities you have engaged in which demonstrate your interest or strength in your area of proposed concentration. These activities can include extra courses, summer programs, hobbies, clubs, internships and so on.

In selecting courses, students are advised to balance their activities and make sure they can balance their academic load with their extracurricular commitments in order to maintain their sanity to give themselves the opportunity to thrive and gain leadership in activities they engage in.

This is a true story of an encounter that led to very unexpected results for one of my students. Having attended a conference in Chicago one early May, I went on tour of a number of college and university campuses, some world-renowned and others relatively unknown – at least in my part of the world here in Canada. There was one particular liberal arts college at which I did not take copious notes as I usually do, thinking I would have a difficult time convincing my students to attend or even to apply to this university – given that too many of applicants are illogically brand-conscious, coming to me with a hit list of a dozen universities they are targeting, often taken from the US News and World Report top 20 rankings.

Within a week of my return, I met with a new family. The parents were divorced and the daughter, who had already finished high school, wanted to attend a US university, stipulating that it had to be in the Chicago area where her mom was living. In fact, she had two particular campuses in mind. With my focus being on fit, I knew right away that neither of her two choices were a good match for her needs – one was completely out of her reach and the other was just not right. We reviewed an SAT preparation timeline and discussed her extracurricular engagements. She assured me she was ready to spend the next 10 months working extra hard to reach her goal of gaining admission to a US college or university – a process that would entail months of test prep, applications, and essays for multiple campuses.

Within minutes of her leaving my office, I looked into her options. By instinct, I contacted the college I had visited in Chicago to see if they were willing to consider her application at that late date in May. They suggested she put in a quick application and agreed to waive any standardized testing requirements for her. Under my guidance, the student completed the application in ten days and we sat down for a mock interview prior to her visit to the college campus. Needless to say, the interview went well and she flew home with an acceptance in hand. A process that could have taken many months was accomplished in the course of a couple of weeks. The student has since graduated from the college she attended and I had a chance to revisit that same campus on my most recent visit to Chicago, knowing that every single campus I evaluate, has the potential to fulfill the needs of at least one of my students!

Having attended two professional conferences in the city of Chicago and in Providence (Rhode Island) this past May and June, I had the opportunity to tour a total of 8 university campuses, attend two university fairs, meet with admissions representatives from various colleges and universities as well as network and exchange ideas with independent educational consultants from across the U.S., Canada and overseas. Another aspect of these conferences are the Vendor Halls, where consultants like myself take time to chat with providers of services which help us support the needs of our students with resources such as DuoLingo and LanguageBird which deliver online world language courses via private tutoring and conversation lessons.

I attended a number of interesting educational sessions. The workshop on perfecting the art of essay-writing has enabled me to tweak my summer workshop presentation to make it more interactive. Breakout sessions on topics such new developments on standardized testing, gaming disorder in students, mental health issues and managing anxiety in the application process, how colleges count demonstrated interest, all have informed my knowledge of university planning and advising.

Finally, the keynote speakers, Dr. Robert Zimmer, President of the University of Chicago, spoke about Productive and Unproductive Change at Universities, and Patrick Schwarz spoke on the essential tenets for supporting learning differences. The most dynamic speech, however, was given by Dr. Michele Borba, who spoke on the importance of nurturing empathy in youth and mesmerized the audience. Her book, Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in our All-About Me World, is one I recommend to all parents of young kids.

Universities I visited during my two trips were: The University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Lake Forest College, Loyola University Chicago, and DePaul University as well as Brown University (where I spent my four undergraduate years), Salve Regina University, Providence College, Sacred Heart University, and Yale. Despite the fact that for some of these universities, it was my second or third visit, campus visits are always an opportunity to learn about new programs and policies that will suit my students and are, therefore, a very valuable undertaking that I look forward to every year.

Beginning with September 2020, ACT will be allowing students to sit for individual sections of the exam instead of having to retake the entire exam when they are unable to achieve their target scores. Starting next fall, a student who has done well in the Math and Science section but would like to increase his/her score for the English section, may just retake that portion without redoing the whole test. Only students who have taken the full test at least once, will be eligible for section retesting.

Over the years, we have had students who retook the test to increase the English portion but then saw their Science or Math score drop in their retake of the test. Given that many universities did not allow superscoring (combining section results from one test date with the results of another test), this was a problem for students. Things will be changing as of next year but it is till up to the universities to decide whether or not they will accept combined results from multiple test dates. Globally, section testing will only be an option for students who take the computer-based tests. Computer-based or online testing has been the only option for testing here in Canada. Some students have preferred to travel to the US to take the test on paper. If you go across the border, you will not be able to test for section testing as this is going to only be available at online testing centers; section testing is not an option if the test is taken on paper. The advantage of online testing is that scores are available in 2-3 days instead of in 3 weeks.

According to ACT, they “will supply [universities] at least one full composite score with each superscore, plus all of the scores from the test events that are part of the superscore composite.” This will mean some savings for families because they will no longer have to send all the individual score reports to their colleges which want official reports; they can just send the superscore which will include one full composite.

This is good news for all of our students but especially for those who have testing anxiety. Students will clearly benefit from this new policy as now they won’t have to sit through two or more sections just to get to the one part of the test they want to improve. However, students taking the test for the first time should walk into a test center ready to do their best on all portions of the test and take advantage of this new policy for section retesting only if it is absolutely necessary to do so.

Fall is here and university representatives from many US and Canadian universities will be traveling to Vancouver and cities around the world to promote their universities and answer any questions you might have about their institutions. Some will be offering group information sessions* at a local hotel or at a school near you. These are usually open to students from any school. In addition to these, representatives from individual colleges and universities might be coming to your school for a short presentation after school or during the lunch break. Pay attention to your school newsletter or daily announcements not to miss a visit that is important to you. Be sure to take advantage of these opportunities in order to:

• Learn more about the universities which you are targeting
• Gain exposure to universities you are not familiar with
• Find out what these universities are looking for in the students they admit
• Find out if you are a good candidate for X university by asking questions such as “I am not taking higher level math; with my current profile am I admissible to the business program at your university?”
• Establish a relationship with the reps of the schools which interest you.

In addition to visits by individual reps or small groups of representatives, there will be a number of university fairs which you should consider attending. Some will be fairs for Canadian universities only and there will be many of these at various high school campuses in the Vancouver area. The VAIS fair is international will have universities from the US, Canada and other countries. Check their website in early October to see which universities will be present.

VAIS College Fair: Be sure to attend this year’s Vancouver Area Independent School Fair to meet representatives from 80+ US colleges & universities & to explore their programs & acceptance criteria. Details: Oct. 17, 2019, West Point Grey Academy’s Gymnasium, Vancouver, from 1:30 – 3:30 pm. This event is free for all parents & students http://www.wpga.ca/vaisfair

Fine Arts Enthusiasts: Be sure to attend this year’s Vancouver National Portfolio Day at The Wilson School of Design at KPU (Kwantlen Polytechnic Univ.) in Richmond. This event will be on Saturday November 16, 2019, from 11am to 3pm. There will also be a presentation by the representatives of the many art institutes attending this event at St. John’s School in Vancouver on Thursday November 14 from 6-8:30 pm. There will be an opportunity to show your portfolio pieces to a couple of the universities and get some feedback on how to improve your portfolio so this is a very worthwhile event to attend. As well, if there is sufficient demand from my students, I can arrange to have one of the representatives spend an afternoon at my home/office for some one-on-one time with my students who are artists so please let me know now if you are interested. In the past, my students have appreciated this opportunity.

*Dartmouth, Harvard, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania will be making a group presentation at St. George’s school at 7 pm on September 16. They will be repeating this at Collingwood School in West Vancouver on September 17 at 7pm. Check with the schools or with your school counselor to see if online registration will be required. These representatives might be in town for a couple of days so if you are a serious contender for one of these schools, then you might want to take the initiative to email that rep and arrange to meet them for coffee at Starbucks if they have availability.

Regardless of whether you are a studio artist interested in the Brown-RISD dual-degree program or a musician looking to apply to a music conservatory …

The world of higher education was recently rocked by the scandal where a number of celebrities and rich families were caught bribing and cheating the system so their kids could gain entry into the ‘prestigious’ US universities they were targeting. These parents are being prosecuted in US courts for hiring a scam artist to manipulate standardized test results or to bribe athletic coaches to have their child admitted as a recruited athlete to university when the student did not even play the sport in question. Given the publicity surrounding this recent admission scandal, I hope the following relieves parents’ concerns about working with a private counselor:

• As a long-time independent consultant, I am a member of a number of well-respected professional organizations, such as the IECA and HECA (both US-based), which have stiff requirements for membership. My colleagues and I follow the Principles of Good Practice set by these organizations.
• Since the scandal, inquiries have been up. People interested in an independent educational consultant, are wanting to work with someone who is ethical and someone with in-depth experience and understanding of universities, programs, campuses, and facilities.
• Some ask if a parent has ever asked me to do something unethical? I assure them that when and if that happens, I refuse on the spot.
• Others want to know if I get my students into their top choice schools? I make it clear that that question does not speak to my work. I help my students find the right college or university where they can thrive. They are admitted based on their own hard work—and narrowing down a list of institutions that are a good match for them is the job I do best.

I also spend considerable time with students and families on preparation for senior year, discussing leadership, career exploration, affordability, and finally on brainstorming and editing their essay topics. I base my advising on the knowledge I have gained at conferences, on campus tours, in discussions with colleagues, through the training and professional development I continuously engage in throughout the course of each year.

 

Education is about keeping doors open. That is why universities have certain minimum expectations for students to fulfill from grades 9-12. These may include 4 years of English, 4 years of math through calculus, 3-4 years of a foreign language, 3-4 years of, at least, 2 lab sciences and so on and so forth. A student who decides to cut out science at the end of grade 10, will be cutting herself off from certain fields such as cognitive science or psychology. A grade 12 student who suddenly decides to apply to a selective undergraduate business program, such as Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania, but has only taken IB Math SL (standard level) at school, might have limited his options by not having taken IB HL (higher level) Math.

It is important for students to discuss with us their potential course options alongside majors and careers they are considering as well as giving us an idea what countries they are targeting for university admission. The requirements for applying to UK universities (which are, in most cases, direct entry programs) will be very different from those for applying to US universities, where students can apply as undecided and later make up their mind about their major. In the US, students can spend the first two years exploring a variety of courses and faculties and are usually required to formally declare a major at the end of their second year. Even then, they can still change their mind. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. With certain fields such as business, architecture, nursing, engineering etc. the programs could be direct entry. In other words, the student will be sending in their university application having to specify they want to study one of these fields and often, they will have to write specific essays on the subject of why they want to study the field (for example, engineering) and what makes them a good candidate for the program. For the of you who have not yet firmed up a choice regarding a major or even an area of focus, the best thing is to pick the more rigorous course if you are able to do well in a higher level one. Options abound and there are many fields out there that you might not have heard about and many more you might not have been able to experience in high school. These may include the likes of cybersecurity or bioinformatics. Always remember that education is about keeping doors open so don’t limit your post-secondary options by suddenly deciding you will never need math in your adult life (this, by the way, is a myth!). 

EXPLORE | ENGAGE | ENJOY

 

MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING: Standing at the juncture between mechanical and electrical engineering, mechatronics is an interdisciplinary field that teaches students how to build and control mechanical devices like motors and robots and how to take sensor data and turn it into commands.

BUSINESS: Besides taking courses in accounting, finance, marketing, business law, and management, business majors often work on team projects involving real-world case studies and participate in internships or hands-on experiences, including working with industry partners. It’s one of the most popular areas – and for good reason.

COMPUTER SCIENCE: Gone are the days when the field was practically synonymous with computer programming. Now, computer scientists have their hands in everything from creating cutting-edge educational tools and driverless vehicles to doing sophisticated data mining in health care to making advances in cybersecurity, robotics and artificial intelligence.

DATA SCIENCE: Data runs the world now.  Those steeped in the subject are at the forefront of predictive analytics – helping companies like Google and Yahoo improve their search engine functionality, or giving doctors and clinicians the tools to more effectively customize medical treatment to individual patients based on specific data points. Data scientists also play an important role in risk assessment within the credit card industry and in allocation and optimization of resources in environmental science and public policy.

COGNITIVE SCIENCE:  This relatively new interdisciplinary field blends elements of psychology, computer science, philosophy, neuroscience and linguistics. In other words, it studies the mind, its processes, and the nature of intelligence. There’s an emphasis on how to think critically and engage in constructive problem-solving. Cognitive science majors go on to work in health care settings, such as in hospital administration or as research coordinators in labs, neuropsychological testing centers, business-related careers such as marketing, and the technology sector, among others. The major can also be good training for medical school, law school, and business school.   

PHARMACEUTICALS: Undergrad programs in this field aim to prepare students for technical positions in the development, production or sales divisions of drug companies or for a career as a pharmacist or pharmaceutical researcher. With a B.S. in pharmaceutical sciences, you can work as a pharmacy assistant or technician or in sales for drug companies. Clinical pharmacists work in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings, dispensing prescriptions or working with doctors in making patient medication decisions when it comes to selection, dosage, and combining medications and type of administration.

HUMAN RESOURCES: Even in an increasingly automated world, there’s no taking the “human” out of human resources – these are the professionals who handle hiring, training and other employee relations tasks for companies or organizations. Going into the future, human resources looks to have more demand than supply given that any organization that has employees needs HR majors to help recruit, retain, and engage its employees. The field is another one that is transforming because of data. It is one that requires good communication and interpersonal skills. HR degrees are often offered via the business faculty at universities.

BIOINFORMATICS: Bioinformatics is the science of collecting and analyzing complex biological data such as genetic codes. It is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combines biology, computer science, information engineering, mathematics and statistics to analyze and interpret biological data. This field is closely related to data science.

CYBERSECURITY: Subverting international espionage. Protecting invaluable data. Defending computer networks. This is what it’s all about. These may sound like scenes from your favorite prime time thriller. But believe it or not, a career in cybersecurity could put you in the position to do these things on a regular basis. It may sound exhilarating and glamorous on the surface, but there’s a lot more to it. A career in cybersecurity clearly has its allure. There’s a significant demand for security professionals, and the work you do can be incredibly important. You’re on the front lines of defending private information from all kinds of trouble.

PUBLIC HEALTH: Those majoring in this field work to improve the health of communities through education, marketing, policy, and advocacy.  The focus of this profession is on prevention. Students can focus on the scientific aspects of the discipline, the statistical angle or policy, and find work in hospitals, nonprofits and community health centers. 

ECONOMETRICS: This is the use of statistical techniques to understand economic issues and test theories. It is the technical branch of economics, using mathematical methods (especially statistics) in analyzing economic systems, and testing theories and hypotheses. Without statistical evidence, economic theories are abstract and might have no bearing on reality.  Econometrics is suitable for students who are very enthusiastic about financial modelling, mathematics, statistics, and demography. Econometrics students take courses in economics, statistics, high-level mathematics, and programming. They may choose to focus on theoretical econometrics or applied econometrics. Those specializing in econometrics work as programmers or in the actuarial sciences field, helping companies forecast their future performance.

EXPLORE | ENGAGE | ENJOY