About Us Attended:
◦ Grades 6 to 8: Cummer Valley M.S. (Gifted Program)◦ Grades 9 to 10: Marc Garneau C.I. (TOPS Program)◦ Grades 11 to 12: Don Mills C.I. (Gifted Program)◦ University: Yale University (B.S. in Computer Science)
High school“Community
college in Boston”
??? ProfitHow?Why?
高中 . 一个所在波斯顿的大学 ??? Profit
怎么上?为什么上?
What if you can’t?上不了呢?
High School Goals
Steps for getting into a good university.
Learning a lot. Being curious.Having fun. Developing your
character and becoming a better person (actually!)
Learning a Lot: Academics
Harvard-recommended:◦ 4 years of math
◦ MIT: Requires Calculus
◦ 4 years of science◦ MIT: 1 year of each of the 3 sciences
(Grade 11)
◦ 3 years of history◦ MIT: 2 years
◦ 4 years of foreign language (French)◦ MIT: not required
Rigour◦ Academic < Enriched = Gifted <
IB/AP◦ Do not sacrifice more than 5% for a
more rigorous course, unless you are actually learning.
◦ Highest level available.
Marks◦ Range: preferably >90◦ Rank in top 10%◦ Not declining
Learning a Lot: Academics
What?
Learn how to write! 学写作!◦ Write something daily. Write a diary or blog (about
music, anime, video games, whatever). Write love notes, emails to friends, anything!
Learn programming! 学编程!◦ Do it. Seriously. Even if you forget everything else.
Learn math, especially statistics! 学数学,特别统计!
Learn sciences: find one you’re interested!◦ Chemistry for us.
Learning a Lot: Academics
How?◦ Learn on your own. 自学。◦ Be nice to your teachers. They’re interesting people too! 对你的老师好一点:他们也是挺有趣的人哦!
Showing What You Learned
Do competitions◦ Shows interest◦ Shows academic ability (if you’re
good at some of them) Nice to do, regardless of skill
Common: math
Other great options:◦ Physics: CAP, OAPT, AAPT, SIN◦ Chemistry: CCO, Avogadro & Chem-
13◦ Biology: CBO, National BioComp◦ Computing: CCC
COMC (M
ath)
NBC (Biology
)
CAP (Physi
cs)
CIC/CCO (C
hemistry)
CCC (Computing)
02000400060008000
10000
Contest Participants
Approximate
Competitions If your school doesn’t have it and you want to do it
◦ Do invest time in preparing
Others:◦ French◦ Philosophy◦ English speaking◦ Science fair◦ Tournament of Towns◦ Linguistics◦ Arts◦ Design/Engineering
Extracurricular Activities:In-School
You like the activity
You actively
participate,
practic
e and excel
Your efforts are
recognized, and you get a
leadersh
ip role你
喜欢的活动
你愿意多花时间,自然优秀
会自然当个leader
Extracurricular Activities:In-School
Sports!
Common clubs and activities◦ Reach for the Top◦ DECA◦ Newspapers◦ Yearbook◦ Student government
Don’t have it? Make it!
Be willing to try new things多试试新的活动
◦ Music and shows◦ Debate!!! (public speaking, logic)◦ Robotics◦ Model UN◦ Academic (science, language) clubs
Extracurricular Activities:Out of school
Volunteering◦ Hospitals/Health care providers◦ Community organizations
◦ YMCA◦ Toronto Youth Cabinet◦ Cultural organizations◦ Churches
◦ Camps
But Wait? What about Universities?大学呢?
Universities mostly look for students who are:◦ Academically capable◦ Otherwise skilled◦ Interesting◦ Curious about the world
大学求:◦ 会学习的学生◦ 有特长的学生◦ 有趣的学生◦ 对世界好奇的学生
Resources on Campus Recent Master’s Tea Guests:
2011-2012◦ Fran Kranz - Actor (and former Morsel)◦ Gretchen Morgenson - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, writes Market Watch column for the New York
Times◦ James Stoller - Physician, Cleveland Clinic◦ Uta Werner - Chief Strategy Officer and VP of Xerox◦ Jonathan Silverman - Biographer of Johnny Cash◦ Carl Zimmer - Award-winning author on the topics of science, evolution, and parasites◦ Steven Brill - Author of “Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools”◦ Nicholas Christakis - Physician and social scientist, author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our
Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives◦ David Dobbs -Author on the topics of science, medicine, and culture◦ David Litt - Speech, op-ed, and joke writer for Barack Obama and senior White House staff ◦ Susumu Ito - World War II Veteran, biologist, & Harvard Medical School Professor◦ Klaus Kleinfeld – CEO Of Alcoa Inc.◦ Martina Gmur - Director of the Network of Global Agenda Councils, World Economic Forum◦ Marina Belica and Julie Flanders - Musicians, October Project
Reason 2: Community
History
Mechanical engineering
PhysicsItalian & Political Science
Geology
Biomedical Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Art
Community Diversity
Conducting
A capella
Rock climbing
Organizing service trips
Cultural groups
DancePowerlift
ing
Random art projects!
Why it’s easier to build communitiesUS TOP UNIVERSITIES
Students often are required to live on campus for multiple years
Classes are small even in early years
Meal plans are required or popular
Student organizations have incredible resources
More parties!
<2,000 students per year
CANADA
Students usually only live on campus for one year
Classes shrink in later years, and often remain large
Meal plans are optional
Student organizations have decent resources
Yep, Canada has parties too
>5,000 students per year
Reason 3: Reputation
Meeting people Finding jobs Having options … and more!
82.4%
14.5% 3.1%
Graduates’ Destinations
In U.S. (including Puerto Rico, territories, etc.) Outside U.S. Undecided
Picking a University大学选择CANADIAN 加拿大大学
◦ Choose major immediately◦ Almost all courses in major◦ Live on-campus only for freshman
year; little on-campus housing◦ Large lectures◦ Undergraduate business and
accounting programs; co-op
AMERICAN 美国大学
◦ Liberal arts: often first, second year without major
◦ Can take many non-major courses◦ On-campus housing (for all four
years for many top-tier schools)◦ Mix of lectures and seminars
Picking a University大学选择
Reflect on your goals
Know your academic interests (leave space for exploration)
Research, research, research!
Visit the campus early (strongly recommended)◦ Look into overnight stays on campus (with friends or acquaintances,
admissions-office arranged)◦ “A day in the life”
Aspects to Consider必考虑方面 Brand name
Quality of life and culture◦ Urban vs. rural◦ Athletics and fraternities (“big
state school”)◦ Extracurriculars (though most
schools have most things)◦ Degree of self-segregation and
mixing
Resources
Career prospects
Soapbox: American Universities我的意见:美国大学
Yale is the best!◦ Brand name, atmos., everything
Harvard◦ Brand-name, but higher pressure,
lower quality of life, less undergraduate focus.
Stanford: Great weather, tech
MIT: Many quirky and great aspects
Princeton: undergraduates; tough grading, but about to change
Williams, Wellesley, Liberal Arts Colleges
◦ Consider these!
Soapbox: Canadian Universities我的意见:加拿大大学
Waterloo◦ Great if you’re interested in non-
medicine, highly lucrative professional◦ Accounting, Engineering, Software
Toronto◦ Great for research, humanities◦ Best-known
Business schools:◦ University of Western Ontario: Ivey◦ Queens: Commerce◦ York University: Schulich◦ Toronto: Rothman
McGill◦ Good, smaller well-rounded school◦ Fewer research opportunities
LifeSci schools:◦ Queen’s, McMaster
Making the decision to attend
Considerations, and:◦ Compare aid offers (and inform schools)◦ Special programs/scholarships◦ Visit during visiting days
◦ Atmosphere is important◦ Consider also visiting during low-season (January, February)
Talk to students, alumni, faculty, admin◦ Friends, classmates can help a small bit too
CollegeConfidential.com
Advice on CollegeConfidential
Financial Aid Don’t worry: No one left behind in many schools
Cost: Max $58,000 for 1 years and increasing
Income◦ <40~60K = (Nearly) Free◦ Between 60K and 100K = Cheap (no
more than usual Canadian universities)
◦ > 100K = larger percentage of tuition
Princeton Harvard MIT0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
Average Aid Given (USD)
Evaluation of Need Financial Aid is purely based on your need of funding, not your merit
You submit:◦ T1 forms◦ CSS Profile (CollegeBoard)
Offers are calculated using set formulae◦ See online calculators◦ # of children, etc. are considered◦ Can ask for more in some cases
Need aware and need blind
Need blind:◦ College does not consider how much financial aid it will have to give you
when making acceptance decisions
Need aware is the opposite
NB/NA is largely based on endowment◦ Policy could change over years
Need-blind is fineUNLIMITED
Yale
Harvard
MIT
Princeton
University of Pennsylvania (Canada!)
Amherst
Dartmouth
University of Chicago
LIMITED – DOES NOT ALWAYS GIVE ENOUGH TO SATISFY FULL NEEDS
Cornell
Great need aware schools
Brown
Columbia
Williams
Stanford
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Merit Scholarships “What’s so good about the Ivy leagues? No merit scholarships and crappy sports?”
– A CC’er
Non-ivy leagues offer merit based scholarships
Full ride for 4 years plus possible summer/research benefits
Best for:◦ Students with large family incomes ◦ Athletes
Merit Scholarships Morehead Cain
Duke Robertson
Duke Scholarships
UWSL (high school nomination)
Johns Hopkins Engineering (2)
Outside the US (discussed in choosing college section)
And more…
After University (Yale)大学以后(耶鲁学生)
http://oir.yale.edu/detailed-data
23%
5%
16%
16%
14%
9%
16%
研究生 / 博士 Graduate studies
法学院 Law school
医学院 Medicine
教育 Education
商业 Business/Finance
政府 Government
其他 Others
After University (Yale)大学以后(耶鲁学生)
Top employers:◦ Teach For America◦ JP Morgan◦ McKinsey & Company◦ National Institutes of Health◦ Bain and Company◦ Epic System Corporation
SAT SAT I: Reasoning
Very important◦ Goal: >2200/2400
Low scores will not prevent you from getting in if your other credentials are great
Reading Math Writing
25% 690 690 690
75% 780 790 780
Harvard
Reading Math Writing
25% 650 720 660
75% 760 800 760
MIT
Reading Math Writing
25% 660 660 670
75% 760 760 760
Amherst
Reading Math Writing
25% 690 700 700
75% 780 790 780
Princeton
How to Study Grade 9 and 10:
◦ Read, read, and read◦ Great for reading and writing, and interesting
Use the books, do lots of questions
◦ Contingency: do SAT classes
Study vocabulary: small investments of time can pay off
Schedule Grade 11 and 12
◦ Do SAT I: late grade 10 or early grade 11
◦ Redo if needed(score choice)
SAT II◦ Get the books◦ Finish before grade 12◦ Best: Do three at once◦ 800s much easier to get
◦ Aim for 800
Grade 11 start
Grade 12 end
SAT I: November
SAT I redo: December
SAT II (Chemistry): January
SAT II (Math II, physics):November
SAT I: October (best)
SAT II (Math II,chem): April
SAT II (phys.): May
专业兴趣和职业方向, 是否申请奖学金或助学金 是否美国居民,国籍和种族 各种语言及熟练程度 父母姓名住址,年龄,职业,所上的大学或研究生学校;兄弟姐妹姓名年龄以及在哪里读书
统一申请主表 – Future Plans ,Demographic and Family
在学校名次以及学校同年级总人数 SAT , TOFEL , IB/AP 考试成绩和考试日期 列出目前在学的课程,注明是否 AP 或 IB 等特殊课程 9 年级以来获得的奖项,按国家级,省级,地区级或学校级几大类分别标注
统一申请表Academics
学校升学指导老师的姓名,电话和邮件地址 学校毕业班总人数 学生在学校的排名以及排名方式 毕业生升入四年大学的百分比以及进入两年制大学的百分比 学校有没有开设 AP/ IB 课程 学生选课的难易程度,分为五个等级
统一申请表学校专用表格学校情况
认识学生有多长时间 描述学生时所想到的第一个词 评价学生,分学业,课外活动以及个人品质三方面,标准为 1% ,5% , 10% 至低于平均等七类
学生有没有违纪或犯罪行为 你推荐该学生的愿望是非常强,强,一般,保留或不表示意愿 学校升学指导老师的推荐信
通用申请表学校专用表格学生情况
老师姓名,电话和邮件地址 认识学生时间和对学生的熟悉程度 形容学生所想到的第一个词 所教课程是在哪一个年级期间 列出课程的名称以及课程难度,注明是否 AP , IB 或强化课
统一申请表两位老师表格:关于老师的信息
给学生在下面各方面排名。排名顺序有 1% , 5% , 10% ,很好,不错,平均水平或低于平均水平
Academic Achievement
Intellectual Promise
Quality of Writing
Creative/创意 Productive class discussion积极有效参与班级讨论 Respect accorded by faculty
Disciplined work habit
通用申请表老师专用表格:老师对学生的评价
Maturity
Motivation
Leadership
Integrity
Reaction to setback
Concern for others
Self-confidence
Initiative, independence
Overall
通用申请表两位老师专用表格:老师对学生的评价