University Counselling Team

MR. BRIAN MARSHALL bmarshall@ris.ae

Grade 12:

Senioritis:

Senioritis refers to the attitude and behaviours that seniors display in towards the last term of school before graduation. When university decisions are released and students have their offers, senior students tend to lack motivation, cut classes, get lower grades, lose fucus and procrastinating on assignments. If students become aware of this, then can attempt to avoid this downslide just before exams. University offers are conditional, which means the door has been opened for you, but how you finish determines if you walk through the door and on to campus. Keep your focus on the end-goal.

Managing University Offers:

Managing too many offers can become overwhelming and cause you to lose focus on the offers you truly care about. This could result in missed communication and not responding before deadlines. At this point, it’s best to decline offers you are no longer interested in and inform those universities. Keep a few offers in case your exams don’t go as well as you thought. More than five to eight is not necessary.

At some point, universities will ask you for a nonrefundable down payment to keep your offer “alive”. If you miss the deadline for the down payment, the university will rescind their offer. So, there is also a cost to keep all your university offers. Here are two Looms on managing your offers. One is specific for the UK and the other deals with other world countries.

Managing Offers https://www.loom.com/share/b91cf08771424f5492a2d59279d15c08

Managing UK Offers within UCAS System https://www.loom.com/share/ff3391f7739642bf8b27200a3d7d7614

Negotiating University Offers:

You should view each university offer as the beginning of nego tiating deal. What university care about the most is not giving offers but getting students on their campus, which is referred to their “yield”. Admission set target yields each year and are determined to meet their goal. This puts the student holding an offer in an influential position. Asking a university to match a scholarship you received at another university can be a highly successful maneuver by the student/family. Now the university has every right to say “no” to the matching request, and this in no way threatens your offer. But what if they say yes to meet their yield target. $weet victory! Here is a Loom outlining the steps to request a university to match your other offer.

Negotiating Offers https://www.loom.com/share/5acd545005a34141826cd89163e8fa74

Respectful Relationships with Universities:

As a school, our reputation of our students is enhanced when use proper etiquette in our relationships with universities. If a university gives you an offer and you decide not to attend, please contact that university to let them know. Don’t simply be a consumer and grab what you want and leave everyone else wondering “what happened to this student”. It’s simply embarrassing having universities calling the school wondering why you are not on their campus.

Night School Southern Hemisphere Session April 27th: See schedule below.

Grade 11:

Changes to UK University Applications:

UCAS, the centralized organization for UK applications, are changing the application template for applications this 2023-24 cycle. They are adding sections or questions to the Personal Statement. Before, it was a limited blank space with no format. They are doing the same changes for the reference section by adding questions/structures to the format. These are significant changes which places all of us in a learning position. If the changes are released on time, I will certainly be providing instructions during the Night School UK session this May. Please attend if the UK is a possible destination for you. There will be another Night School UK session next September.

Student Profile:

You should be continuing to look for ways to b uilt up your student profile this spring and summer for university applications. Some areas to consider:

1. Extra-curricular activities at school or in the community. You are going to be asking universities to join their community and they would like to know “Where would they find you on their campus?” “How would your involvement add to student life?” US universities place a great emphasis in these activities.

2. Oxford and Cambridge created the term “Super -curricular” activities. “What have you done, beyond your classes, to extend your learning on the course you are planning to study?” This could take the form of internships, summer programs, online courses, or independent research projects. UK universities and very selective top universities around the world place great importance on these activities because it shows engagement, self-initiative, and high motivation.

3. Prep for Admission Examinations. First, you must determine which courses/degrees/universities/destinations require admission exams. US universities have been SAT and ACT test optional for two years. Next year, some universities may bring it back. And even if a university is test optional, why not prep, and achieve an excellent score and submit it as part of your student profile. The UK has several admission tests, whether its for medicine, law, Oxford, and Cambridge. If English is not your first language, you may need to write an English Proficiency Test. Completing this test while in grade eleven is a great idea.

4. Practice written response to university essay questions. Often referred to as an electronic interview, this is where university admissions meet you beyond the numbers. I know from experience that excellent written responses lead to offers at top universities.

Attend Night School Sessions: These sessions are designed to absorb the entire university application process for a certain destination in one session. Obtaining this information equips you to built highly successful plans. Your assigned university case manager will support you every step of the way.

Try to attend at least one Night School session for every potential destination during your DP. UK, US and CA sessions are twice a year, while all other sessions are once a year. See Spring Night School Sessions below.