Happy New Year! There is always much anticipation in the start of a new year and a new term. Already the University Advising Centre has been buzzing with activity. In addition to visiting Grade 10 mentor groups this month to introduce them to the Self-Assessment tools and Resume Builder in Family Connection, we have begun our individual advising program with Grade 11 students. Over the next two months, every student in Grade 11 will be invited (via Google Calendar) to meet with their University Advisor for an 80-minute session during one of their free periods. Students have been asked to complete a number of surveys and conduct research into potential courses of study, careers and specific universities in preparation for their meeting.
In the first week of term, Grade 11 students attended an assembly involving a panel presentation of recent alumni from UWCSEA's Dover campus on "Life at University". The five students came from five different universities in the US and the UK and were on holiday in Singapore after their first term of university. The young alumni talked about different aspects of their new lives at university and contrasted their experiences at US and UK, large and small, urban and rural campuses.
Our Grade 11 students took the alumni's advice to heart to really do some soul searching about what they want out of university, develop good time management skills, not to sweat too much about the SAT, and to definitely attend international student orientation. Two of the best takeways from the event were that UWC and the IB were great preparation for university, and that it was possible to be happy and find a community at a wide variety of universities. The panelists' experiences reflected that university is what you make it. This article from the New York Times reinforces the idea that students should look beyond just the numbers when choosing a college or university, and look for places that will stretch them and give them new experiences.
This month our campus will be a closed test center for the SAT on the morning of Saturday, January 26th. Over 40 students signed up to take this nearly four-hour exam as part of US university admissions. Those who didn't register for this month's exam will have several more opportunities to take the exam before applications are due.
All the best for a healthy and happy 2013.
In the first week of term, Grade 11 students attended an assembly involving a panel presentation of recent alumni from UWCSEA's Dover campus on "Life at University". The five students came from five different universities in the US and the UK and were on holiday in Singapore after their first term of university. The young alumni talked about different aspects of their new lives at university and contrasted their experiences at US and UK, large and small, urban and rural campuses.
Our Grade 11 students took the alumni's advice to heart to really do some soul searching about what they want out of university, develop good time management skills, not to sweat too much about the SAT, and to definitely attend international student orientation. Two of the best takeways from the event were that UWC and the IB were great preparation for university, and that it was possible to be happy and find a community at a wide variety of universities. The panelists' experiences reflected that university is what you make it. This article from the New York Times reinforces the idea that students should look beyond just the numbers when choosing a college or university, and look for places that will stretch them and give them new experiences.
This month our campus will be a closed test center for the SAT on the morning of Saturday, January 26th. Over 40 students signed up to take this nearly four-hour exam as part of US university admissions. Those who didn't register for this month's exam will have several more opportunities to take the exam before applications are due.
All the best for a healthy and happy 2013.
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