Last Thursday of every month!

FOR YEAR 12 STUDENTS

Newsletter

The NIST College Counseling Newsletter provides extra guidance for you. It will be sent to you on the last Thursday of every month until you are done with your applications. Please read each newsletter carefully, and save it in the College/University folder on your tablet, so that you can find it easily, and go back to review important information, dates, and deadlines when needed. This newsletter will also be sent to your parents and teachers. This is the last newsletter you receive in Year 12. We will have a look at what you should do over the summer to get ready for university applications in Year 13. Have a great summer vacation. We hope to see you back at NIST THIS in August ready to go through the INSIDE ISSUE: application process.
The Three-way College Conference
Important University Preparation During the Summer

May 30, 2013

Steps to College/University

2 3 4-5 6 7-8 9 10 11

Important University Preparation - US Important University Preparation - UK Planning for a meaningful summer? Indago Future Leaders Camp, Cambodia IB World Student Conferences (IBWSC) US University Fair May 31-June 2

Meet the Counselors

Mr. Joachim Ekstrom (Mr. Kim) jekstrom@nist.ac.th Room 4203 Phone Extension: 353 Mrs. Brenda Manfredi bmanfredi@nist.ac.th Room 4204b Phone Extension: 204 Ms. Jacquelyn Valenzuela jvalenzuela@nist.ac.th Room 4205 Phone Extension: 205

The Three-way College Conference

Congratulations to all students who have completed the Three-way conferences.

Most of these meetings were one hour long, and lots of important information and processes were discussed. Some of you have still not registered for the Conference. If this is true for you, please contact your counselor immediately! Remember that this is a compulsory meeting for all Year 12 students. It is probably the most important meeting you have this year. You and your parent(s) must meet with your counselor to discuss the university research and application process. We will discuss what you should have done by now, and what else you need to do to get ready for the application process that begins early in Year 13.

How to register? 1. Register for the conference by sending an email to your counselor with a few preferred days and times. 2. Make sure your parent(s) are really available at this time. 3. Your counselor will then confirm your time by email.

Important University Preparation during the Summer

Continue your university research. Go back to the previous Newsletters or the UniQuest guide and have a look at the online research tools. Stay organized by using the University Research Data Spread Sheet. Finalize your short list of universities before you come back in August. Is your passport not from North-America, Australia, New Zealand, or the UK? Then you should take the TOEFL (www.toefl.org) or IELTS (www.ielts.org) during the summer. When you register, remember to name the universities to which you want the scores to be sent. Help out at home and learn how to operate the washing machine, and take some cooking lessons. Try to get some insight into how your parents plan their monthly budget. These will be important skills for you to have when you leave your parents home in a bit more than a year. If possible, take a summer course and spend some time away from your family. That would help you prepare for whats coming next year. See page 6-7 for more information about summer courses. If you are applying to universities in Australia, please continue doing your research and finalize your list. As you know, you will not need to write any essays, and recommendation letters are optional. The deadlines are also later in the year. When you receive your predicted grades in October, we will discuss if you want to apply based on these grades, or your final IB grades after you have graduated. If you are applying to universities in Thailand then you really should go and visit each of them. Contact the admission office and book an appointment and ask for a campus tour. If you are applying to other universities in Asia, Europe or Canada, please spend some time over the summer to find out what requirements they have. Some Asian countries have very specific requirements. If you are applying to Universities in the US see page 4-5 If you are applying to universities in the UK see page 6

Important University Preparation during the Summer

If you are applying to the US:

find out what the college essay questions are (on the universities websites) and write the first draft for each university. Try to choose questions that overlap so that you can use the same essay (or the same essay with minor modifications) for more than one university. Do you have any Common Application schools on your list? Then you should familiarize yourself with the website: www.commonapp.org (The new essay questions are included on the next page). Decide if you need to do the SAT again, and register for October, November, or December: www.collegeboard.org Find out if you need to take SAT Subject Tests and register accordingly. If the university recommends that you take subject tests, you should absolutely take them. Sometimes you can choose what subject tests to take, and other times the university will specify the tests they want. Complete the Naviance Resume and make sure that you have given as much information about your passions and extracurricular involvements as possible. Are you planning to visit universities in the US during the summer? Contact the admission offices in advance. They are happy to receive you. Many universities have an online registration for campus tours and information sessions. Visit their websites to find out more. Decide what 2 teachers you will ask to write your recommendation letters.

The Common Application Essay Prompts 2013-14

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don't feel obligated to do so. (The application won't accept a response shorter than 250 words.)

Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn? Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you? Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

Important University Preparation during the Summer

If you are applying to the UK:

Write the first draft of your Personal Statement. You will find guidelines here: www.UCAS.com Decide on your 5 choices. Make sure that at least one or two of them are Star (Safety) Schools. Are you planning on visiting universities in the UK over the summer? Find out when Open Days are offered at various universities here: www.opendays.com If you are applying to Medicine related courses, find out when you can take the UKCAT (www.ukcat.ac.uk) or BMAT (www.britishcouncil.org) and start preparing for the tests. If you are applying to Law, find out when you can take the LNAT (www.lnat.ac.uk) and start preparing for the test. Decide what teacher you will ask to write your recommendation letter.

Have a great summer vacation

Planning for a meaningful summer?

The summer vacation is just around the corner. Do you have any plans for the summer yet? We strongly suggest that you do something meaningful with your summer break, not simply sit around the house watching TV or go out with friends. How you spend your summer can influence your admission to college. While summer activities will not compensate for mediocre grades and poor test scores, careful planning can tip the scales in your favor. Some very useful things to do during summer could be: Take a SAT preparation course Volunteer and do service Read some inspiring books If you are travelling, take the opportunity to visit art galleries, museums, etc. Join a pre-college program such as Summer Discovery with five campuses in the US and Cambridge in England, or Summer Study at Penn State and Summer Study in Paris (Follow the links below for more information).

You should ask yourself: What kind of summer experiences do I want? Do I want an educational environment, or a social one, or a combination? Do I want to get a taste of college life? In what country do I want to be? How much money is available? Use the links on the following page to explore some great summer experiences.

Planning for a meaningful summer?

Click the pictures to follow the links

IB Summer Programs:

OSC based in Oxford, UK, specializes in support for students taking the IB Diploma. They run Summer Revision Courses for IB students based in beautiful university locations. Since they started in 1990, over 14,000 IB students have taken one or more of their courses.

The IB summer courses at St. Clare's draw on the Colleges extensive expertise and resources to provide review and extension courses for students following the IB Diploma course.

The Mid IB Summer Course at IBWISE is a course designed for students who have completed their first IB Diploma year.

Searchable Summer Experience Databases:

Next NIST College Counseling Newsletter will be in your inbox on

Thursday August 29th Have a great summer vacation!

Kind regards, The Secondary Counselors

Indago Future Leaders Camp, Cambodia

For more information:

http://www.indagotravel.com/future-leaders-camp

IB World Student Conferences (IBWSC)

For more information: www.ibo.org/wsc