Exciting updates from Academy 2017 careers season

The Academy careers department continues to be a bustling and happening space, with diverse university fairs, external visits, and recently, positive incoming news about acceptances and scholarships for the current IB grade 12 cohort.

Two additional university fairs in February 2017 featured 15 U.S. institutions and our first Spanish visitor, IE University, with campuses in Segovia and Madrid. Introductory workshops and individual counselling sessions were offered to students from grades 10 and 11. Since August 2016, an amazing 80 universities from 10 countries (US, Canada, UK, France, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, Singapore, UAE and India) have personally visited the Academy.

Our dedicated University Counsellor, Pragati Pandey, attended a workshop for counsellors at the US Consulate last month, and networked with university admissions representatives, to develop case studies and refine our application processes. “It was a very insightful workshop because we got to know how admissions decisions are made for specific regions, especially Asia,” explained Pragati. “It was interesting to see that China, India and South Korea are not considered to add diversity to U.S university campuses, a challenge which we need to accommodate.”

Theresa Urist, Global Director of University Counselling for the Aga Khan Academies, visited Hyderabad towards the end of February. Whilst on campus, Theresa led multiple sessions for students and faculty, addressing grade 10 students on goal setting and planning for meaningful summer activities. For grade 11, she held multiple sessions to introduce our updated Academy University Counselling Handbook, a new 54-page guide outlining the college admissions process for international students. Lively and interactive university essay writing workshops were conducted for all grade 11 students, as well as sessions on resume writing.  For Academy Senior School faculty, Theresa delivered a training session on writing effective letters of recommendation for student university applications. She also met individually with many families of our IB Diploma students who are well on their way in the university planning process.

“I am pleased that students are starting to hear such promising news from university admissions offices, and am confident that we will continue to hear good news through the spring,” said Theresa.

Academy grade 12 students have so far gained over 150 acceptances to universities in China, UAE, Singapore, India, UK, Canada and USA. Admissions have been granted to the following: in UK, University of St. Andrews, Kings College London, Hult Business School, University of Nottingham; in US, notably Purdue University, Minerva Schools at KGI, Rutgers University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Ithaza College, University of Massachusetts, Amherst College, Drexel University; in Canada, at University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, Waterloo University, York University and University of Alberta; National University of Singapore; NYU, Shanghai and Abu Dhabi campuses; as well as Ashoka, ISBF, and OP Jindal Universities in India. Furthermore, there have been close to 50 scholarship offers worth approximately $ 2 million.

Sakshi Gala, who has been offered a place at NYU Abu Dhabi on a full scholarship, writes: "When people think of the Middle East, they probably imagine exotic food, beautiful mosques and cultural richness. When I was invited to the Candidate Weekend at New York University's Abu Dhabi campus, I experienced all these things and more. As a premier institute in the US, NYU's Abu Dhabi campus offers students a wide range of learning experiences all over the world - from Buenos Aires and London to Tel Aviv and Shanghai - at their study sites. Being accepted with a full scholarship will give me the opportunity to learn from some of the best faculty in the world as well as gain an unparalleled undergraduate experience." Congratulations Sakshi and the other Diploma Programme students!