FEATURENot too young to fly! WAVE College Application Guide AGYA POUDYAL and PRANAY SJB RANA
Are the woes of applying to foreign colleges getting to you? Are you behind schedule on deadlines, are you not at all able to write your essays and are your applications lumpy and funny-looking? Well, worry no more. For this month, we bring to you, WAVE’s all-purpose guide to undergraduate college applications in other countries. November is peak application season. This is the time when your applications should be just about ready, your essays all written, and your financial aid forms all ready and in order, your packages signed, sealed and just ready to be delivered. But if you are among the procrastinators or the clueless, the gurus at WAVE are to help you out. 1) Choosing a college or university Make no mistake, choosing a college is just as important as applying to one, especially if you’re applying to colleges in the US, UK, Australia, and the like. Finding colleges that match your academics, extra-curricular activities and essays can be a really lengthy and time-consuming process. Gopal Bhandari of Cambridge Institute says, ‘No matter to which country you’re applying to it is very important to choose a major that fits you. You might get into college in any major but if you don’t like the major that you’ve taken up then there’s no point.’ The first step is to identify your priorities and start of with college search sites like the Princeton Review’s www.princetonreview.com or College Board’s www.collegeboard.com. They let you search for colleges according to your area of interest, size of the college and population, college location, gender ratio, etc. Simply plug away at the parameters and hit the search button. You’ll soon have a list, but not a good list. Take your time to weed through the undesirables. On the other hand if you’re applying to Australia Narendra Man Shrestha of SRGN Education consultancy, says, “Even if you’ve just complete a diploma in a vocational school you’re eligible to apply for permanent residency.’ Vocational schools in Australia are cheaper than the universities and are relatively affordable to students.” For applicants to the UK, check out www.dfes.gov.uk/providersregister to search for registered colleges. What you should be looking for are: 1. Possible area of interest: In other words,
the subject you want to major in. Take a look at your college list, ticking off the ones that don’t qualify and come up with a half-decent list of at least 10 colleges. Your list should include 3 colleges that are your ‘high’ colleges, i.e., colleges that are above your academic strength but where you’d love to get in, 3 more that are your ‘mid-level’ colleges, these are ones that you are more your strength, and 3 more that are your ‘safeties,’ colleges that will be more than happy to take you, moron and all. For the UK, you are allowed to apply to 5 universities on one common form, the Universities and College Admissions Services (UCAS) www.ucas.com. Pick these universities well for there is no financial aid in the UK and you must be able to support yourself. Out of these colleges, make one your number one priority. If you’re applying to the US, this will be your Early Decision (ED) college. You will have to sign a form saying that you will attend the college if you get in. But remember you can only apply ED to one college, no more. If you happen to apply to more than one and the colleges find out, you’re blacklisted for life. Saviour sites:
Most educational consultancies are now being
flooded with students dying for lessons on the SAT, TOEFL and
IELTS. And why not? Standardised tests are the colleges’
yardstick and they determine how you compare to the rest of the
world. So it is only expected that students would seek help on
making the grade. “If you’re going to the US, you need to be able to speak and write good English. And it is not just the TOEFL, around 6000 colleges in US also accept the IELTS,” says Raju Sharma, Chairman of Reaction Nepal, another learning and test preparation centre. The TOEFL may have its American charm but if
the UK, Australia, New Zealand and other English-speaking countries
are your destination, you’re better off with the IELTS.
The British Council administers the IELTS in Nepal. TOEFL and IELTS will set you back by around Rs 9,000 approx. While SAT 1 costs around Rs 4,500($68) and each subject test will cost around Rs 520 ($8) plus a registration fee of Rs 1,300 ($20).. Most consultancies provide a gruelling three-month course on these tests. They courses are expensive and many just buy the practice books and slog through them, but if you need a teacher then there are tons to be found. The secret to scoring well is to keep things in perspective. Don’t let the tests intimidate you. Make sure you practice a lot.. For the TOEFL, the complimentary ETS book is probably good enough, but for the SAT tests, you can pick from a plethora of publications. The Princeton Review, Kaplan and Barrons are some of the best, with WAVE writers disagreeing over the best; one picks the Princeton Review, while another picks Kaplan. Go on, give it your best, and chances are that you’ll walk away with a great score.
These essays give you a chance to communicate to the college who you really are. Many dread the essay and spend many hours toiling over because it actually is an opportunity to show colleges how well you can think and express. The Common Application will offer you five options to choose from, with the last one being, ‘Topic of your choice.’ So go on, write about anything, anything at all. But before you turn on your computer and have at the essay just keep the following in mind: 1. Make sure your essay is legible. Write it in English and not in Spanglish or Neplish. And if you are addicted to MSN or SMS language then God help you. Unlike your friends, colleges aren’t impressed with acronyms like FYI and LOL. Also keep in mind your typing is perfect, no LiFE 4 mE iS…. 2. Write on a topic that means something to you. and not on a random topic that you thought of at 4 in the morning. That way, you’ll reveal more about yourself. 3. Have a distinctive style. Read this as ‘Don’t copy off others.’ College people are smart and will know if you rip off someone else’s essay 4. Don’t write something creepy. Don’t give out an impression that you could be a potential Seung-hoi Cho (the Virginia Tech shooter guy) or the next Charles Manson. Don’t expose your flaws; build on your strengths instead. 5. Choose a deviant topic, or have a deviant style. Since there are many like you, colleges get tired of reading the same topic written in the same style, so pick an unconventional topic and write it in a quirky style. Something that even those admissions officials will mark as being original. (Tip: use your identity and communicate who you are onto paper) “Complete your essay in five easy steps: brainstorm, outline the topic, make a draft, edit it and then get feedback on it before you finalise it,” says counsellor Ajay Khadka at the Universal Language and Computer Institute. If you’re applying for colleges in the Australia or United Kingdom then most often, you don’t need to worry about the hassles of writing an essay, although some colleges might ask you for a statement of purpose. Here too make sure you write for yourself. The bottom line to writing a good essay is not writing to impress but express. Don’t simply throw in those huge SAT words that you memorised. They stick out like sore thumbs. Keep the essay simple but strong. 4) Paying your way
Financial aid is intended to bridge the gap between how much your family can afford to pay and how much the college actually costs. For without it, there’s almost no way you can afford the exorbitant fees charged by private colleges. In a nutshell, financial aid can consist of grants and scholarships, college-employment and loans. A lot of assumptions are made on who is eligible for financial aid and how limited it is, but the fact is that private colleges there have truckloads of money to give out. Most Ivy League colleges will give you whatever you ask for; the problem will be getting in first. So do the top 50 tiered liberal arts colleges. If you have compelling applications backed up with strong recommendations, essays and achievements chances are that you will be noticed and considered for aid. “Usually grants and scholarships are provided on the basis of academic merit. Some scholarships are need based and sometimes if you get really lucky you might also be considered for loan,” says Hari Sharma of Edwise Education, a study abroad consultancy at Putalisadak. Working on the financial aid application is the toughest part of the application process. The best way to get a head start is to go to Google hit ‘International Student Financial Aid Form 2007-08’ and download the PDF form that appears. Now, go talk to your parents find out how much they can afford to pay. Be aware that most Nepali incomes don’t count as lavish in the US, UK, or Australia. Fill it in properly, with consultation with your family, and family lawyer, accountant, or Charted Accountant if possible. Then back up your claims by including your parent’s statement of income, your bank balance certificate, your income tax forms, and property evaluation. There’s also another supplementary form called the Certification of Finances. This is basically an agreement between the college and whoever’s paying for you, that they will continue to do so and how much they’ll contribute. If you plan on paying from your bank account, you’ll need a bank official’s signature Also, one last point, you’ll have to renew your financial aid every year. You’ll have to fill out the form each year, so no use faking it once. You might slip up on any of the four years. Before making decisions on financial aid it is good to consider some important points. • Consider the average cost of attending
the college including tuition, books, personal expenses room and
boarding and travel expenses.
Now that you have your application and other forms ready you need to package it well. The old cliché about not judging a book by its cover doesn’t hold water here. You need to make your application look perfect. Presentable packages work but if your application is something eye-catching, something different, then it arouses interest. And please select a folder that’s plain brown or white, no cartoon prints, you don’t want the admissions officers to think you’re ten. Place your documents in separate files. All your documents should go into appropriately labelled manila envelopes. No binding or staples. It’s bad enough that the admissions officers have to go through thousands of documents, make it easier for them by just paper-clipping them together. Print out a neat label on your computer to indicate what’s inside each envelope. The label should have the name and address of the college, in case anything gets misplaced. Make sure you include your name somewhere too, on each envelope and on each document. Finally, you can place all your files into another big manila folder and seal it right up. Write the address on it in clear and huge letters and your own name and address somewhere in the corner or behind. “Packaging is a very important step because at the end of the game you wouldn’t want an email notifying you of a missing application material. To avoid the stress and anxiety concerning it later, it’s better to be cautious of what should go in and what shouldn’t,” says Prachan Karanjit, Study Abroad Coordinator at Orbit International Education Consultancy. Also, make sure the forms match up. You don’t want to send Harvard’s forms to Princeton now, do you? Also make sure that you don’t send forms where they’re not needed. If a college doesn’t need you to send in your SAT scores then its best not included. But if they encourage it, then please do. Materials to be included in the package may vary according to the colleges. However, here is a general checklist: • Common Application forms if you’ve
not applied online.
Months of gruelling counselling sessions and hours of preparing are finally over. You’ve found a college that appeals to all your basic instincts. You’ve taken the tests, written your essay and filed your applications. You’ve even done the packaging but there still is one last errand that you’ve got to do before you start dreaming about partying at NYU. And that is running to your local Fed-Ex, DHL, or post office for express mail and overnight delivery to ensure that your applications reach colleges in time, and in one piece. These services are a little heavy on your wallet but send your package by regular snail mail and watch as it takes ages to arrive, only to have been eaten by moths, stepped on by gorillas and chewed on by rats at some point in the journey. 1. Express Mail Service: This is the government’s express delivery service and very professional with their service. They charge around Rs 1,500 for a package, according to the weight, and will deliver within a week. Guaranteed! 2. DHL, UPS, FedEx: These international courier services are the most reliable, but they’ll also bleed you dry. One package will set you back around Rs 2,000, less if you can procure a student ID (FedEx – Rs, 2000, DHL – 1,500-2,000). But this is only for documents under 500g. For more, you have to pay extra. Also, if your package contains something other than paper (CDs, videotapes etc.), this will cost you around Rs 500 extra. But they do guarantee delivery within 3-4 days. 3. Overnight Express, LinkEx: These smaller ones are less reliable. They cost less, you can bargain it down to Rs 1,000 in some cases per package, and they’ll deliver it there within a week. These services have linkups with DHL, UPS, or USPS when they get to other countries, but sometimes, some of the packages can mysteriously vanish, never to be seen again (although that does happen very rarely). Now the deed is done. All you can do is wait, bite your fingernails to stubs, tear your hair out by clumps and have numerous panic attacks awaiting your decision. But even if you don’t get in, don’t worry, there’s always another time, and another place. And for those who do get it, congratulations and good luck. Just make sure to get yourself back to Nepal after you complete your four years overseas. All the best from WAVE, and happy application. |
