Education

  Star Education Fair

Sunday September 6, 2009

Making it to the top

By PRIYA KULASAGARAN

IMAGINE an auditorium filled with people, all quietly straining to hear that one tip that will make their dreams come true.

That was precisely the air of tension and expectation created by students attending Taylor’s University College’s Ivy League preparation workshop earlier this month.

The collective dash of hopes was almost audible when Kevin Sim, the resident counsellor at Raffles Junior College, Singapore, said: “No one can say for sure why some people get admitted and others don’t — the entire admissions process is very subjective.”

The students listening intently to what the speakers had to say about some of the top universities in the United States.

Sim’s comment (and the reactions to it) highlighted the fact that students frequently find themselves in uncharted waters when applying to top American institutions such as Harvard or Yale, where simply having stellar grades is not enough.

Organised by Yeoh Chen Chow, the Ivy League preparation workshop was held with the purpose of giving young people out there some form of navigation.

Amazingly, Yeoh’s efforts are voluntary and not profit-driven.

“The fee for this workshop is just enough to cover the cost of setting up the workshop, as our panel speakers volunteered their time. It also helped that Taylor’s stepped in as a venue sponsor.”

The three-day event was filled with various talks and coaching on each part of the application process for Ivy League schools.

From left: Darmouth student John Lee, Ow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology interviewer Dr. Ewe Hong Tat and Lim at a panel discussion during the workshop.

One of the most entertaining sessions was Sim’s “Perspectives from the Admissions Office”, where he explained the screening process for written applications. He noted that while strong academic results were important, applicants have to put just as much effort in their personal essays as these could reflect an individual’s strength of character.

“The most memorable student essay I have ever read was about counting cows,” said Sim, elaborating the story of a young boy who travelled miles from his village to send an email and studied while looking after his father’s herd of cows.

Stressing that students need to articulate their passions, he also told applicants to focus on what makes them unique.“You don’t have to be the ping pong queen of Malaysia to catch my eye,” he quipped.

An earlier session, featuring a panel of Ivy League interviewers, provided insight into the interview procedure for potential university students.

“Go into the interview with the mindset that you’re meeting a new person,” said University of Pennsylvania interviewer Christine Lim. “Try and establish a personal connection with the interviewer. That way, you’ll be more relaxed and able to answer their questions.”

Adrian Ow, the interviewer for Harvard University, reminded the audience that failure to gain admission into an institution could be caused by a mismatch between the applicant and the university.

“Most of the times, the success of the interview depends on whether the individual and the university are on the same wavelength.”

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