UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS

Finding the Right Fit– and Getting In

-Catherine Boalch (catherine.boalch@americansection.org)

Website: boalchcounseling.pbworks.com

Student Destinations 2014- All Lycée

Destinations 2012 - 2014 – US Section

Subjects to Study• Most popular subjects, in roughly descending order:

• Engineering & Computing 20-30• Management

• Economics-Politics-International Relations 10-20• Medicine & Biomedical Sciences• Sciences (including prepas scientifique)

• Law 5-10• Languages-Literature-History• Art, Drama, Architecture, Music

The United States

Why Students Go

•Desire to re-connect with US roots

•Unique flexibility and breadth of studies-don’t need to choose right away

•Smaller classes, individual attention, stronger sense of community

•Opportunity to pursue sports at high level

•Richness of extra-curricular life

•Appeal of US campus experience: supposed to be the ‘time of your life’

Why They Don’t

•Cost – up to $65, 000 per year.

•Distance from home

•Time: four years instead of three for BA

•Lack of connection to US culture, values

•Not sure degree will be valued overseas

•Complexity of the admissions process

•Did we mention the cost?

Where They Go in the USLiberal Arts Colleges

• Smith, Wellesley, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Pomona, Skidmore, Wesleyan, Mt. Holyoke, Macalaster, Claremont McKenna, Bard

Private Universities

Duke, Tufts, UPenn, Northwestern, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Yale, Wake Forest, UChicago, University of San Diego, Northeastern, Rice, New York University

Public Universities

University of California-Berkeley, University of Virginia, University of Michigan, University of Oregon HC

What Our Students Say: USA«I wanted to go to the US because I’m American and had never lived there; I wanted an

urban environment coupled with a campus feel. What I love about this school is that one can do anything. But you have to go out and grab it.» -Boston University, MA

«Classes are very engaging due to the excellent professors and small size. Assignments have more depth than at the lycée but I have more free time and I’m concentrating on subjects I really love. » --Vassar, NY

« I have about 18 hours a week of class, which is above average. Not only have my teachers been very fun and interesting people, they have also been extremely available. I can also shoot them an email late at night and they tend to respond straight away.” –Wake Forest, N.C.

“First semester I took Italian, Math, Russian literature, and Writing. This semester I’m taking history, economics, Italian again, and more math.” –Wellesley, MA

« The social life is very different, but I tend to think that you make it what you want it to be. For example, the frat parties were never something I enjoyed... so I figured out other ways to have fun on the weekends. It's all about meeting the people you feel comfortable with, and I think it's possible here. On the other hand, this led me to spend more time with international students, and my best friends are from France, Turkey, India, Israel, Russia ..” –Tufts, MA

The U.K.

Why Students Go

•English-language plus proximity

•Universities’ reputations

•Focused courses in their area of interest

•International campuses, appeal of London

•Price compared to US: £9,000 per year

•Time – Master’s in 4 years

•Easy application process

•Well, everyone else is doing it …

Why They Don’t

•Don’t know what they want to study

•Desire to study multiple subjects

•Desire to explore new ones

•Lack of connection to UK culture

•Lack of individual attention

•Few class hours in some subjects

•Price compared to everywhere else

•Stress of conditional-offer admissions

Where They Go: UK

London• Imperial College (civil engineering, computing, • electronic engineering, biomedical engineering) • King’s College (biotechnology, biomedical science, • liberal arts, international politics)• University College London (human sciences, civil engineering, electronic engineering)• LSE (law, accounting-finance)

EnglandOxford (human sciences, Cambridge(law, HSPS, Spanish & Russian, )Bristol

(neuroscience, medicine, economics, biochemistry), Manchester (life science), Surrey (electronic engineering/computing), Kent (biomedical science) Sussex (medicine), Exeter (flexible honours), Southampton (computing), Essex (dual law degree w. Nanterre)

Scotland and Northern IrelandAberdeen (biomedical science), Dundee (biomedical science), Queens University Belfast

(biology)

What Our Students Say: UK«Bristol is one of the top ten universities and has a very good economics

program. It’s quite demanding but it’s what I wanted. A lot of students are international.»

«The environment at Exeter is very friendly! I am overall very pleased. My course is not challenging at all compared to the Lycée. I find myself with a lot of free time and I’ve joined many clubs and societies. It does take people a while to get used to you if you’re foreign but English people are very nice.»

« I liked Warwick’s openness and campus atmosphere, and that there is a significant amount of international students. The lecture halls have several hundred students so contact is limited and there’s very little supervision. The incredibly high number of French students makes me feel like I never left the lycée»

« I'm very pleased with the course so far. It is fast-paced and A LOT of reading is expected. I have 13-14 hours of lectures/seminars per week, which is above the norm. The professors are excellent, extremely knowledgeable and generous with their time. You are really left on your own in the British system, which surprised me after coming out of such a structured and disciplined education at the Lycée. Overall, King's is a great place. The academics and atmosphere are wonderful. London, though expensive, is always abuzz!»

Where Else They Go

• Canada

• McGill (engineering, management, sciences, arts)

• Concordia (engineering, management, liberal arts)

• U of Montreal (architecture)• U of Toronto?• U of British Columbia?

• Switzerland

• EPFLausanne (science)• EHLausanne (hospitality)

• The Netherlands

University of Maastricht (liberl arts, business, medicine

Erasmus University Rotterdam (management, liberal arts-sciences, communication-media

Hotel School the Hague

• Ireland

• Trinity College Dublin (medicine, history of art-Spanish)

• Royal College of Surgeons (medicine)

What Our Students Say: Canada• «I chose to come to Canada because it was a place I had visited and I liked that I can

keep up both my French and my English. I am very happy with the engineering department at Carleton and with my social life here; making friends was easy. Ottawa is a nice city that is not too busy. One may not be used to walking in 20 cm of snow or eating dinner at 5 p.m. but one quickly gets used to that. »

« I really like that McGill has a campus in the city. McGill was also appealing because you have more flexibility in your studies than in France. The professors and classes in the management program are interesting and challenging. Classes are large but professors are accessible. The social life is fun. It is very competitive and thus a lot of pressure on students. You have to work hard and be motivated and interested. »

« The cold was hard to adapt to and living so far away from home. The coursework is challenging-- I have become addicted to coffee since starting at McGill. »

How To Research Your Choices• Vist our Wiki! boalchcounseling.pbworks.com for background information, news

articles, world rankings lists, application deadlines, admission requirements

• Talk! To former students, to me, to your family and friends, on social media– with caution

• Travel! Go to Open Days, plan trips over vacations– ideally not their vacations, meet with admissions officers, attend College Fair in Paris, other presentations.

• Read! College guides, alumni surveys, articles, websites to get a ‘feel’ for campus ambiance. Rankings give an idea of reputation but often based on graduate-level research, not quality of undergraduate experience.

• Read more! Study courses carefully and think hard about what is the right fit for you. Talk to professionals in various fields. Explore summer/online courses/stages

• Choose! Limit your choices to 8 non-French schools; be realistic yet aspirational. Your profile is unlikely to be an equally good fit everywhere and you’re unlikely to prepare an equally competitive application to the US and UK. Don’t wait until April and hope the schools will make the decision for you. This rarely occurs.

How to ApplyUSA:

‘Early Decision/Action’ Deadlines Nov. 1 or 15, 2015Regular Deadline Jan. 1 or 15, 2016

Required: Transcript, school report, two teacher references, SAT/ACT test results and possibly SAT subject tests, essays and supplements

UK:

Oxbridge, medicine Oct.15, 2015 All other courses Jan. 15, 2016

Required: statement of motivation, predicted grades and school report

(includes relevant teacher comments). LNAT, TSA, UKCAT. Offers conditional

Canada: Jan. 15 or Feb. 1, 2016 (will vary)

Required: Online application, last 4 bulletins

Application Timeline for 1eresMarch-April 2015

Prepare SATs Meet with counselorDecide summer plans

May-June 2015

Ask teachers for references, commentsBring bulletins to counselor for translation, predicted gradesTake SATs and Subject TestsSubmit preliminary list of college choices

Application Timeline for TerminaleSept-Oct 2015

Submit rough drafts of personal statements, college essaysTake or re-take SATS as neededSubmit Oxbridge, EA/ED applicationsEdit preliminary list of college choices

Nov-Dec 2015

Last chance to take SATs, Subject testsComplete personal statements, essaysOxbridge interviews, ED/EA alumni interviews.Submit final list of college choices

Jan-Feb 2015

Submit Canada, Netherlands, Ireland applicationsAlumni interviews for US applications, Imperial-medicine interviews for UK