University counselling week for students, staff and parents

The Academy's university counselling department held group sessions for all on the university search process during the week of 26th February - 2nd March. The sessions were held by Theresa Urist, global director of counselling for the Aga Khan Academies. Theresa also had interactions with students and parents of grades 10 to 12. ““Being able to meet individually with students and parents is always a highlight of my visit,” she says.

Several group sessions were conducted on the format and the importance of taking prerequisite exams for university admissions like the SAT, ACT, IELTS, TOEFL etc. for our grade 10 students. A workshop was conducted on the importance of internships, summer programs, job shadowing, and getting opportunities through networking.

The primary focus was on preparing grade 11 students for university applications beginning in July 2018. “Critical aspects of university application are grades and transcripts but there is a lot beyond that as well,” says Pragati Pandey, university counsellor at the Academy. There was also a workshop for the students on writing personal statements which included discussions on why the universities needed them and how they used them, and on how to make them interesting. The emphasis was not only on identifying relevant experiences for university admissions but also on writing  good personal statements. Another important aspect dealt with creating effective resumes.

Theresa also met with DP teachers over two sessions to discuss writing letters of recommendation to universities. “The tone of these sessions was lively and productive,” she says, “as teachers actively sought to write the most compelling recommendations they could.”

The university counselling department believes it’s important to include parents in the university search process, for their guidance and support. To facilitate this, Theresa had numerous individual sessions with interested parents and students face to face and via Skype for parents for whom travelling to the university is inconvenient.

Students, staff and parents learnt about the process and the documentation involved in university applications in an overall fruitful week for the career counselling department. “Having the opportunity to work with our DP1 students as they embark on this important process is one of my favourite aspects of the work I do,” says Theresa.