EdTalk | Making the big leap from school to university – what could possibly go wrong?
- Dodge these common mistakes that often lead to unnecessary anxiety when it comes to university applications
Many parents who attended university recall an application process that, in retrospect, seemed to take care of itself. Surely this will be the same for their children? Alas, it was a simpler world then, with fewer choices and competing applicants per place. While I do warn parents about agencies that seek to ramp up their anxiety to sell their test prep or guaranteed place Ivy League place, I urge them and their children to be aware of the common mistakes that could jeopardise their future:
Leaving it all until the final year
Senior curriculum choices – for IB, A level, DSE, etc – are made two to three years before, and need to be done with one eye on higher education implications to ensure that possible subject prerequisites are considered. College does seem a long way off but ignoring this can mean one might not be eligible for a chosen degree later on.
The ‘I’ll come good in my final year’ approach
Parents will remember a time when the penultimate year was one when you eased off and then got your head down the following year for your final exams. The mistake here is failing to realise that the academic profile – including predicted grades – a university sees with your application is based on your performance in the penultimate year, not the final year. Applications are submitted in the first months of the final year and there isn’t any time to reflect academic progress in that year.
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