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Graduation Advice

It has been my pleasure to work with all of the students at ISU, and especially the seniors of 2010 and 2011. Good luck to you all, work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen!

Sincerely,
Mr Larrison


Conan's advice for the Dartmouth Class of 2011, two days ago:


More Career Interest Tools

More career interest tools have been added to the link in the "About You" section, on the left-hand side of this page. They are all free, so check them out!

There are paid versions of the tools that are also available. For the most part, the paid version provides significantly more information, but may be more than you need.

From Stanford Unversity

Counselor Update

April 2011 Volume 1.4

From the Director

Hello from the Farm,

As you may already know, we received 34,348 applications for freshman admission this year--a number that we see as both welcomed and unwelcomed. We welcomed such numbers as they afforded us the opportunity to review students with a wide range of academic, socioeconomic, geographic, and ethnic backgrounds, giving us flexibility as we created our class; however, it was an unwelcomed number because we knew that we would have to give the vast majority of our applicants disappointing news. Hopefully, we can help you and your students contextualize the decisions they received.

The majority of our applicants are highly qualified for admission, with records that include flawless academics, nearly perfect standardized test scores, and jaw-dropping extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, we do not have the space to admit all of these qualified applicants. This year we were able to offer admission to only 2,427 students for the Class of 2015. In an effort to give as many students as possible a timely final decision, we offered a space on the waitlist to 1,080 applicants. In recent years, as many as 125 students have been admitted from the waitlist. In other years, that number was zero.

It is extremely challenging for us to make these decisions. Our admission officers read each application thoroughly and holistically, and then decisions are made via a committee presentation and vote. Each applicant presents a unique combination of achievement, potential, and intellectual vitality, as well as personal qualities and story. It is the composite of these factors that ultimately influences the outcomes in committee. We too are heartbroken when our favorite applicants don't garner enough votes for acceptance.

Stanford's founding philosophy was to provide an education for all. While we can't offer admission to everyone, we do strive to ensure that there are no barriers to the application process or to enrolling. Our comprehensive review process coupled with our substantial financial aid packages support our core beliefs. We are proud to say that our admitted class has students from all 50 states and over 40 countries, half are students of color, and over 15% will be the first in their family to attend college. We are extremely excited about about this year's class, and we once again thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to the lives of our youth.

As we wrap up this admission cycle, we know that many of your juniors are just beginning to embark on their college search. We will continue to provide you with information to aid your students in figuring out if Stanford is a potential fit for them, and we look forward to our continued partnerships.

Sincerely,

Bob Patterson
Director of Admission
Stanford University

Summer Opportunity

ANNOUNCEMENT: MONGOLIAN YOUNG SCHOLARS PROGRAM

The Mongolian Young Scholars Program will unite 20 Mongolian High School students (10th grade graduates) for a seven day intensive academic experience in June 2011. The program will be taught in English by undergraduates from Harvard and Stanford Universities, USA. The undergraduate instructors, recruited through a competitive application process, will teach seminars in the liberal arts, English language composition, and college preparation. These college-level seminars will prepare students for rigorous academic environments.

Purpose: To identify and prepare promising Mongolian High School students for admission to leading American and international universities.
Location: Nairamdal Camp, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Date: June 10-17, 2011
Cost: A student fee of $200. Financial aid is available for eligible students.
Language Requirement: Students must have strong English language skills; all classes will be conducted in English.

Application: Application deadline is March 31, 2011. The application is available on the YSP website at www.ysp.mn

Student Participant Benefits:

• Work with and receive mentorship from students and recent alumni of leading American universities
• Get deep exposure to a liberal arts curriculum and receive extensive guidance on the college admissions process
• Meet talented peers from across the nation and build a social entrepreneurship project
• Engage in fun activities outside of class, such as dance, art, debate, and sports

Management Education in Asia is Booming!

With four schools firmly ensconced in the Financial Times top 20 global M.B.A. rankings--China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Hong Kong UST Business School, the Indian School of Business, and the Indian Institute of Management--those who pursue an M.B.A. in Asia are banking on the idea that studying in the region will open doors faster, and wider, than ever before.

Flexibility and cost are just two factors swaying applicants to look at programs in the Far East. Most are much shorter than the traditional two-year program in the United States and are significantly less expensive than the top American programs.

For international applicants, a program in their home country or region may offer better opportunities for career advancement. And as a student from the United States pursuing international opportunities, a school in the target region may have similar benefits.

[Read more about the search for a world-class M.B.A.]

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which administers the GMAT exam, noted the eastern shift in its recently released "World Geographic Trend Report." GMAT test-taking is at an all-time high among Chinese citizens, the Council reports, as China has become the largest group in Asia sitting for the GMAT exam and the second-largest group in the world.

This increase, says GMAC Asia Pacific Regional Director Julia Herries, reflects the growing need of young Chinese for quality graduate management education to better equip them for positions in the domestic market's public and burgeoning private sectors.

"The wealth of opportunities reflects China's extraordinary ascendancy as an economic power...and the need for talented management professionals to steer its development course while tackling a complex variety of attendant socioeconomic challenges," Herries says.

John Quelch, the new dean at CEIBS as of February 1, wants to tap into China's growing economy and aims to position the school to help. "Instead of being focused on teaching what we already know, we now have to be focused on creating new knowledge that is China-based, because it's absolutely clear that China is going to shift from a production economy to a knowledge economy," Quelch said in a Forbes.com profile earlier this week. Once the dean of London Business School, Quelch took the reins at the Chinese school after a 10-year stint as associate dean at Harvard Business School.

[See U.S. News's rankings of Best Business Schools.]

CEIBS, which launched in 1994 as a joint venture with the Chinese government and the European Commission, has seen its reputation soar due in large part to the success of its Executive M.B.A. program. With 800 students this year, it is the world's largest (versus only 200 in CEIBS's M.B.A. program), Forbes reports.

The program has also seen a jump in American applicants over the past five years, Lydia Price, the school's former dean, told The Wall Street Journal last summer. Almost 8 percent of the class of 2009 was made up of U.S. students. Many are self-selecting for an education in Asia, taking Mandarin language courses and studying up on Chinese markets and business well before applying.

Coming from Harvard, where one can afford to be blasé about rankings, Quelch admits that the ranking you achieve at a second-tier school actually does have significant impact in terms of driving M.B.A. applications.

"Obviously the bigger the M.B.A. application pool, the more selective we can be in terms of the submissions, and the better the students you get (and) the better the faculty you're going to get and retain, because they want to teach good students and work with good students. So like it or not, ranking is important," Quelch says.

[Explore U.S. News's rankings of the Top 50 Asian Universities.]

With that in mind, Asian universities have stepped up their game when it comes to competing for students. CEIBS, HKUST Business School, the Indian School of Business, and Singapore's Nanyang Technological University have formed their own so-called Asian Ivy League and now recruit jointly to raise visibility and lure more Western candidates.

Calling itself "Asia4," the group has established a Web presence and touts the region as the first-choice destination for management education, a place where one can learn to address the challenges of today's increasingly complex business world.

Whether the goal is to establish themselves ahead of U.S. candidates for international jobs, or simply to have a degree that carries the cachet of regional knowledge, it's clear students in China and the West have found a new destination for top-flight management education.

By Stacy Blackman, US News & World Report


IB Recognition Policy Summaries

As part of the college search process, IB students and their parents seek universities that recognize the rigour of the IB. The number of colleges and universities actively recruiting IB Diploma students is growing. Recently, the IBO published policy statements for many universities in both the United States and Canada. They are available online in pdf format, below.

Many of the schools with specific IB recognition policies provide college credit for particular IB courses taken in high school and some even award, entering students, 2nd year status! Policies change without notice, so, always ask a university if they have an IB Recognition Policy, even if they aren't listed in the links, below.


Recognition Policy Summary Charts

CANADA
Uploaded PDF file size
All provinces May 2010 38 kb



UNITED STATES


Alabama Mar 2010 28 kb
Arizona Mar 2010 28 kb
California May 2010 32 kb
Colorado Oct 2010 22 kb
District of Columbia May 2010 29 kb
Florida May 2010 28 kb
Georgia May 2010 25 kb
Illinois Jan 2011 28 kb
Indiana Mar 2010 24 kb
Kentucky Mar 2010 28 kb
Louisiana Mar 2010 28 kb
Maryland May 2010 29 kb
Massachusetts Oct 2010 24 kb
Michigan Mar 2010 24 kb
Minnesota Oct 2010 23 kb
Missouri Mar 2010 24 kb
New Jersey Jan 2011 24 kb
New York Oct 2010 28 kb
North Carolina Jan 2011 28 kb
Ohio Jan 2011 28 kb
Oregon Oct 2010 22 kb
Pennsylvania Mar 2010 28 kb
South Carolina Mar 2010 23 kb
Tennessee Mar 2010 23 kb
Texas May 2010 29 kb
Vermont Jan 2011 24 kb
Virginia May 2010 32 kb
Washington Oct 2010 22 kb
Wisconsin Oct 2010 22 kb

A Personal College Search Blog

Viewing College as a ‘Joyful Celebration,’ as Yet Unaffordable

By UYANGA TAMIR

I always thought that after high school, I would return to my home country, Mongolia, to pursue my undergraduate studies. All this changed during the summer before my junior year; my mentor persuaded me to try my chances and apply to elite colleges here.

Since then, I have been taking the most challenging courses at my high school to boost my G.P.A. An acceptance into a top school has been my goal; however, now I realize that any acceptance is not a thing to be joyfully celebrated if it does not come with generous scholarships.

Financial aid has become the most important aspect of a college; if I cannot afford the tuition, I simply cannot go. Moreover, there is one thing that further complicates my already too stressful senior year: I am an international applicant.

My application will be read with the large pool of intelligent and well-rounded applicants from all around the world. Space is limited, and competition is intense.

Additionally, most colleges require international students to provide their own tuition. Only the top schools consider an international student’s application without looking at his or her financial circumstance.

This is why colleges like Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth are on my list; they are need-blind to international students and meet the fully demonstrated needs of every admitted student.

To add to my concerns, tuition for international students among public schools is significantly higher; my so-called safety school, the University of Colorado at Boulder, cannot even be considered safety since my single mother cannot afford to pay the tuition of $30,000 a year.

Considering all these facts, my chances of attending a reputable school seem minimal, and I fear that I will end up going to a community college after all the hard work I have put in. This fear has been reinforced by my first rejection.

I started off my college application process by applying to a generous scholarship program called QuestBridge. Through the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship, I did a special, multischool early-admission program in which my application was submitted on my behalf to six institutions: Brown, Dartmouth, the University of Chicago, Pomona, Princeton and Yale.

I was chosen as a finalist, and the final results came out on Dec. 1. Nerve-racked, I sat in the car with my mother, holding my phone in my hands. With one touch I opened an e-mail that could be life-changing.

Instead of the “Congratulations” that I wished to see, it was a “Thank you for applying” instead. I instantly knew that I had not been accepted.

Though my hopes were crushed, I am still optimistic about the rest of my college application process. In fact, I am still free to apply to these colleges on my own, and plan to do so.

It will be exciting to discover if a quality education in America is obtainable, and affordable, for a poor international student like me.

I have about 13 college applications that I am juggling – 12 in the U.S. and 1 in Korea. The journey down the regular decision road should be interesting to experience.


Ms. Tamir is one of six seniors at Cherry Creek High School in Denver who will be blogging about their college searches for The Choice (NY Times) between now and May.

Read her blog.