Preparing for College

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Welcome to ISB School Divisions

High School

Middle School

Upper Elementary School

Lower Elementary School

Chinese Program

College Philosophy
About this Page
Things to Consider
Search Universities by Course or Major
Career Room
Special College Section
Ready, Set, Go!
Grade 10-12 Task List
College Visits
To Gap or not to Gap
Other Useful College Links
Finding a University Home Page

College Philosophy

Due to the diversity of our student body, the philosophy of the counseling department is to work closely alongside each student with their individual college plans. Whether it is course planning through high school or the college application process for universities around the world, our counselors work closely with students to determine the best course of action to help them realize their post secondary goals. Since this time is one of huge anxiety, the counselors work specifically with the student. Our goal is to help students find the best fit in the college selection process. It is our desire to find the best university for each individual student, where they can find individual, academic and personal success. Since this is perhaps the first time a student is choosing where they want to attend, we feel the responsibility lies with the student to follow the process from start to finish.

The High School counselors take the college counseling aspect of their job very seriously. We work with students and parents to understand the complications of attaining a seat in university. Given that more that 80 % of our students are bound for United States universities a large amount of time is devoted to the specific requirements of the US application process. Our counselors have sent students to universities around the world and with a combined experience of over 45 years we have successfully met the needs of students with a wide range of needs, goals and expectations.

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About this Page

The International School of Beijing prides itself on the quality of post secondary institutions our students attend. ISB counselors are members of the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and comply with the NACAC Statement of Principles of Good Practices.

We have developed this webpage to help students use a number of web based tools to help them in the college search process. We hope you find it helpful as you search through the many options available. This is not a comprehensive list, but it does contain the many sites we have found useful in our work with students over the years.

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Things to Consider

Before embarking on the search for the "Perfect" College or the "Right" College we would like you to take a few moments to research the following links to websites we consider important tools for the search process:

The Education Conservancy – Founded by an ex-counselor and college admission representative, Lloyd Thacker started this foundation to bring a new perspective to the college admission process. Since its founding in February of 2004 colleges and high schools have taken his calling to heart. His book Colleges Unranked was and is an instant success.

Colleges that Change Lives – Don't let "prestige" determine your college choice...

Colleges of distinction – If you'd like to expand your lists of college possibilities beyond the traditional Ivy League and name-brand schools, check out this site. The percentage of students admitted to graduate school from the most selective colleges is dwarfed by the percentage rates for these 40 schools.

CampusDirt.com – This site was developed to help college bound students get beyond the glossy brochures and scripted campus tours to get an inside look at life as a college student

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Search Universities by Course or Major

Career and College Library

Everyday the High School Counseling Office is inundated with more mail than we can manage. It is not that we are popular; it is that colleges from around the world are sending us information related to their schools and specific programs they wish to highlight. We also receive college handbooks to assist students and their parents in finding the “right fit” college or university. There are also some test prep materials available for the standardized tests our students take in the Junior and Senior years. Finally, we also have a collection of DVD college view books and a multi-media setup for viewing these. All of this information is housed in the Career Library (Room 2207) of the High School Counseling Office. All of the books or materials maybe checked out with the secretaries in the HS Counseling Office.

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Special College Section

Below is a list of websites with articles to help you make an informed decision about college. We would like to thank Scott White and the Montclair Public Schools, New Jersey who compiled this list.

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Ready, Set, Go!

Here is a list of sites we use to help students. Each student has an account with both MyRoad.com and Family Connection. Each of these programs work in specific ways to help guide students through the complex planning process. MyRoad.com is US specific in terms of college information, but there is a wealth of material to assist students in determining career plans, degree offerings, and personal inventory. Family Connection also has a wealth of information and is used by the high school counselors in tracking applications. One of the most useful tools aside from college selection is the Scattergram section. Scattergrams look at the past four years of ISB admission to universities and colleges around the world. With the use of GPA and SAT scores students can see their individual potential in the admission process at specific post secondary institutions.

Terms You Need to Know

Grade 9 students are also referred to as freshman students.
Grade 10 students are also referred to as sophomore students.
Grade 11 students are also referred to as junior students.
Grade 12 students are also referred to as senior students.

PSAT – Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test
SAT – Scholastic Aptitude Test
ACT – American College Test
TCCi Naviance - Family Connection – Internet based college resource
My Road – Internet based college resource
Common Application - one college application used for many universities/colleges
Early Decision - Contractual early admission plan for some U.S. based colleges
Early Action - Non-contractual early admission plan for some U.S. based colleges
Single Choice Early Action - Non contractual early application but a student may not apply to any other university under and early plan. See Harvard and Stanford's admission policy as examples of this new policy.
UCAS - Universities and College Admission Services for the U.K.
IB - International Baccalaureate Program
AP - Advanced Placement Program

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Action Plan for Grades 10-12

The following is a task list of college preparation items with suggested general dates for students in Grades 10 – 12. We hope you find this information pertinent as you work on the process of preparing to apply to university.

Testing

PSAT – October Grade 10 and 11 students
ACT – April and/or October Grade 11
SAT I and SAT II

Grade 11

SAT I : December, May
SAT II: June if neede

Grade 12

SAT I : October
SAT II: November (Languages with Listening)

Career Exploration

Throughout the year in Grade 10 Mentoring students will use MyRoad.com to take a personality inventory called I.D. Me which will help students focus on possible careers based on their particular personality type. With access to the Occupational Handbook, students may further investigate details of each of these careers options. Grade 10 is an excellent venue for students to explore careers prior to entering junior year and the formal college search.

College Planning

Starting in early September, colleges and universities from around the world begin to visit ISB in order to introduce students to their institutions and programs. Students are advised of the times of these events and encouraged to attend. Students in grades 11 and 12 are strongly encouraged to attend these sessions.

Through Grade 11 Mentoring students will be introduced to Tcci, a web based college research tool in addition to many mini- information sessions setting students on the task of the college search process.

Grade 11 – Prep and Plan

September-May – Attend individual College Presentations
February – Grade 11 College Information Night
March – research and list up to 20 colleges of interest
March-May – Student/Parent Counselor College Conference
Spring Vacation – visit colleges if possible
April/May – narrow list through further research to 10 institutions
Summer – Visit colleges AND begin work on application essays

Grade 12 – The Final Stretch

August – September – Finalize college list
September – November – college application deadlines:
- Early Decision, Early Action – Due to your counselor one month prior to universities stated Early application deadline
- OXBRIDGE/U.K Medicine – Oxford, Cambridge and UK Medicine must be completed by September 1. Be aware Oxford and Cambridge have additional application materials aside from the UCAS online application
- Regular Decision – Due to your counselor no later than November 10
- Australia and Much of Europe: due during the Spring of Grade 12

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Visiting Colleges

The ISB Counselors strongly recommend families take the time over the summer to go visit prospective colleges. This is a valuable time to get a sense if the environment – academic and social, is appropriate. We encourage families to take the time and it can be a positive experience for all involved. When planning your itinerary, make sure that it is possible to manage. Determine where you want to go, take out a map and determine your route. Try not to visit more than two schools per day. It is possible to visit more, but schools become fuzzy as you rush around. Take the time to really visit a school. Make a notebook listing interesting or not so interesting points about each school. Take pictures as you walk around campus so that when you review there are visual hints to remind you of the school. Also, over dinner review each school – each one’s strong or weak points. Finally, involve the whole family and enjoy the time together.

If everyone does not have the time to make a trip of this sort, ISB strongly recommends Visiting Colleges. Robert Rummerfield moved on from being Assistant Director of Admission at John’s Hopkins University to begin College Visits. ISB students have taken his tours and found them both informative and pertinent to their college search. Click on the link above to get more information.

Many times we find ourselves too busy over the summer months to take time out to visit colleges. What with SAT Prep, summer courses or just plain visiting family there is not enough time to take a week or more off to visit colleges. Or perhaps a college comes along and you would like to see more of the campus but you live in China. Well, Campus Tours is a great way to check out colleges and universities from afar. Their virtual tours do not take the place of a real visit, but it certainly showcases all sorts of different and varied colleges and universities in the U.S. With more than 1,000 colleges to choose from, Campus Tours works specifically with institutions to provide compelling presentations to help you view a college as if you were on tour. This is a great tool when living abroad.

Finally, as we mention elsewhere, if you want to know the dirt on a campus, visit Campus Dirt. With comments from over 80,000 student and recent graduate respondents from over 860 colleges and universities, Campus Dirt provides current information on the ins and outs on issues like school spirit, nicest campus, safest campus, most helpful advisors and more. Campus Dirt provides information taking another view not represented in glossy brochures or marketing materials. So check out the website to add more information as you conduct your university search.

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To Gap or not to Gap

We at ISB would like students to take the appropriate care in making the decision to pursue a Gap Year in balance with entering college along with one's peers. There is much to be said about finding oneself before embarking on a college career as well there are important factors to consider before leaping at a Gap Year. One caution we at ISB would like to mention is this that students must be fully aware of the fact that the vast majority of their peers matriculate directly from high school to university. Those students are continuing the development of their academic skill set by keeping active with course work in areas such as English, math, social studies, science etc... Competition for places in university is extremely stiff so we want to make sure that the choices our students make advantage them in the application process. Taking a Gap Year can be a great adventure as long as it is adding a new dimension of challenge and learning. This should not be a "rest period" or a time off. We strongly recommend that if you are considering taking a Gap Year or a year off that you discuss options with your counselor.

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Finding a University Homepage

ULinks.com
Alphabetical listings, by state, and by specific categories like Protestant, women's, business, art/music, community, Ivy League, can be found here.

US Universities
Courtesy of Yahoo.com

US Universities
From the General Education Online Project.

Religiously Affiliated Schools:
Christian, Jesuit, and Jewish

Campus newspapers for many schools are available on-line.

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