Quan K. Lam, Ph.D. (Main Lecturer — Mathematics) College Options "What things Admission Officers look for"

1. Korea Winter Camp
Lecture
Education
January 2016

2. College Options

3. College Options
1. Four Year Universities
2. Two Year Colleges
3. Boarding Schools

4. Four Year Universities
Advantages
1. More choices of classes
2. Final destination
3. BA/BS degree
4. More research opportunities
5. More top notch professors (may not be
teaching oriented)

5. Four Year Universities
Advantages
6. More resources –
● Study abroad opportunities
● Exchange programs
● Internships
● Student–run clubs
● Honor societies
● Off campus service projects

6. Four Year Universities
Disadvantages
.
1. Expensive
(about $45,000–$65,000 Tuition Only)
2. More competition
3. Larger gap from high school
4. Harder General Education courses
5. Require TOEFL/SAT
6. 3 S’s: Study – Sleep – Social

7. Two Year Colleges
Advantages
.
1. Inexpensive (about $8000)
2. Less competitive environment
3. Easier General Education courses
4. Serve as a stepping stone – Bridge
between high school and universities
5. Host families
6. Easier to learn English

8. Two Year Colleges
Advantages
7. AA degree
8. Another chance for good universities
9. More chance for Study–Sleep–Social
10. Accessible without TOEFL/SAT
Intensive English Program
11. TAG (Transfer Admission Guarantee)

9. Boarding Schools
Advantagesg
1. Better social experience
2. More personal attention
3. Greater chance to attend top
universities
4. More rigorous course selections
5. Better chance to be proficient in English
6. Easier for international students to
assimilate

10. Boarding Schools
Disadvantages
1. Expensive (about $40,000 in tuition)
2. May not be right for young students
3. More peer pressure
4. At least 2–3 years of residence
requirement

11. What Admission
Officers Are
Looking

12. 1. Passion
2. Impact
3. Challenge
4. Likely to succeed
5. Mature/Independent

13. 6. Willing to share and to receive
7. Do things right vs
Do the right things
8. Well rounded students vs
Well rounded class

14. Activities That
Enhance
Admission Chance

15. Skills Admission Officers Value
1. Communication (Verbal and Written)
2. Team Work
3. People Management
4. Time Management
5. Set Priorities
6. Multi–tasking
7. International Experience
8. Handle failures

16. How to Acquire These Skills
1. Publishing articles or books
2. Making written and verbal
presentations
3. Managing Projects
4. Managing people working for you,
with you, and people whom you
work for

17. 5. Managing deadlines
6. Knowing which task is more
important than others.
7. Knowing which project should be
done first
8. International Competitions

18. 9. International Conferences and
Exchanges
10. International Travel and Summer
Camps

19. Education Differences

20. Asia – Treat both high school
and college students as
high school students
US – Treat both high school and
college students as college
students

21. Asia – Promote memorization of
facts and formulas,
speedy calculations,
formula applications,
Study for examinations
US – Promote creative thinking,
logical reasoning,
taking risks,
Study for curiosity and passion

22. Asia – What to do
How to do it
US – What to do
What would happen
Why do it
Why not do others

23. Asia – Emphasis on getting the right
answers
US – Emphasis on asking the right
questions

24. Asia – Promote competition
US – Promote sharing and working
together as a team

25. Asia – Promote uniformality and
conformity
US – Promote diversity and
uniqueness

26. Asia – Promote tradition
US – Promote new techniques and
improvement
Explore areas no one had
touched before

27. One of the most important
parts when filling out a
university application is the
Personal Statement or
Essay. One can see the
Education Differences by
study those Essay topics.

28. ESSAYS – Talking vs.
Writing.

29. Sample Topics
– What matters to you most and why?
– Why choose our school?
– Name one thing you regret you did and wish
you could do it over. What would you do
differently the second time?
– Name one thing you wish you have and why?
– Recount an incident or time when you
experienced failure. How did it affect you,
and what did you learn from that
experience?

30. Sample Topics
– Name one major flaw in your character and
explain how you plan to change it.
– Identify three of your major weaknesses. What
is your plan to improve them?
– Reflect on a time when you challenge a belief
or idea. What prompted you to act? Would
you make the same decision again?
– Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem
you’d like to solve.

31. Sample Topics
– Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or
informal, that marked your transition from
childhood to adulthood within your
culture, community, or family.

32. An essay that many admission officers
thought was one of the best admissions
essays they'd ever read. The topic was
“Why Did You Do It?”
She wrote this essay about how she goes to France for
three months as a foreign-exchange student. Some kid starts
teasing her and picking on her, and she was, like, "It was
annoying, but he's 15 years old. He's just a boy."
Until one day he spit apple chunks into her hair. So she
was pissed. She had just washed her hair. And being an Indian
woman, she made a comment about how difficult and how
thick her hair is and it's very difficult and time-consuming to
wash.

33. So he spit in her freshly washed hair, and that was not going
over well with her.
So she took a banana from the cafeteria and she let it
rot. And the next time she saw him, she smushed it up in his
face. She's telling this story — the readers are hysterically
laughing —. They were thinking this is the nicest girl they've
ever met, she's adorable. They can't believe she did that.
She wrote about how she is very tolerant of other
people. She herself looks different from other people. She's
traveled all over the world; she's very open-minded. But the
one thing she will not stand for is bullying, especially after
her hair has been messed with.
The point is, students pigeonhole themselves and write
about topics they think are what colleges want to hear. Just
tell a story about something. It can be as silly or serious as
you want it to be.

34. Berkeley’s essay topic #1 for 2015
– Describe the world you come from. For
example, your family, community or
school – and tell us how your world has
shaped your dreams and aspirations.
(Pick one and be descriptive. Keep your
response relevant; focus on events that
happened in the three or four years of high
school.)

35. Berkeley’s essay topic #1 for 2015
– What are the challenges or opportunities you
find in your community?
– Do you identify with one or more cultures?
Can you speak more than one language?
What has that allowed you to do in life?
– What is a typical day or week in your life, and
how do you manage to accomplish
everything?
– What is your school like? Describe the program
and why you enrolled.
– How are you challenging and enriching yourself
in school to prepare for college?

36. Berkeley’s essay topic #1 for 2015
– If you hold a leadership role: Did you apply or
were you nominated? What does that role
mean at your school or in your community?
How did you grow in this role?
– Do you have a major or career in mind? What
is it and why did you choose it? Are there
any courses and/or extracurricular activities
you have completed to get you started in this
area?

37. Berkeley’s essay topic #2 for 2015
– Tell us about a personal quality, talent,
accomplishment, contribution or
experience that is important to you. What
about this quality or accomplishment
makes you proud and how does it relate to
the person you are?
(Choose a topic that has not been addressed
in detail in another section of the application.
Keep the information relevant to your
personal experiences.)

38. Berkeley’s essay topic #2 for 2015
– Make a list of four things that describe
you (e.g., athletic, a leader, first in
my family to go to college, started
a club, own my own business, etc.)
– Now ask a friend or family member
to do the same thing.

39. Berkeley’s essay topic #2 for 2015
– Did anything overlap? Can you see
areas where you want to share more
information? If so, consider using
this topic to respond.
– What do you consider one of your
strengths?
– What activities, awards or honors do
you wish to discuss?

40. Common Problems Facing
International Students
Studying in the U.S.

41. 1. Homesickness –
The first six months
The first return home
The first set back
2. Peer Pressure
Money
Academic
Boys/Girls/Friends
Saying No

42. 3. Pressure from Home
Money
Grades
Boys/Girls/Friends
Daily Live
4. Freedom/Independence
No rule to follow

43. 5. Benefits/Responsibility
Get up any time vs
Late every time
Sleep at any hour vs
Not enough sleep
Eat anything at any time vs
Irregular eating habit
Spend money any way vs
No money
Study any time any way vs
Failing

44. 6. Friends
You are who your friends are
You eat what your friends eat
You do what your friends do
You go where your friends go
You gather with the same groups of
people your friend gather
Parents – Get to know your child’s
friends

45. Prepare for Overseas Colleges
1. Part time work and summer jobs
2. Encourage to attend more international
events
3. More household work – cooking,
washing dishes, washing clothes, dealing
with trash, cleaning up after yourself
4. Develop people skills – Do ordering in
restaurants, Grocery shopping, Store
shopping, Solving disputes, Agree/disagree
with others, Agree to disagree, Respect,
Tolerance

46. Prepare for Overseas Colleges
5. Financial management – Comparison
shopping, Budgeting, Needs vs Wants,
Plan B, Plan C
6. Not everything is perfect – Handle
obstacles, Handle failures, Learn from
failures, Learn from mistakes
7. Learn to handle success – Get others to be
happy with your success

47. Prepare for Overseas Colleges
8. Develop communication skill – Talk to
parents, Parents “talk to” not “lecture at”
students, Learn what can say and what
cannot say to friends and others
9. Set priorities – To do list, What to do first
and what can be put off, Task list in order
of importance

48. Prepare for Overseas Colleges
10. Learn to say “NO” – Learn when to say
“NO”, Learn when not to do what others
tell you to do, Learn when to do what
others think it cannot be done
11. Take risks – Accept risks that is within
your sphere of tolerance, Worst
scenarios, Grain of salt, Know where
your head is – over your head

49. Prepare for Overseas Colleges
12. Bad is bad, Good may not be good - Fool
you once, shame on him, Fool you twice,
shame on you, When it is too good to be
true, usually it is, No free lunch, You get
what you pay for, Who is your best
friend?

50. Prepare for Overseas Colleges
13. Maturity – Maturity is measured on how
you handle adversities. “Gossips” always
come back to bite. Be responsible to
yourself and family and others. Always
put yourself in other person’s shoes.
You should not treat others in ways that
you would not like to be treated,

51. Progress in Colleges
Year 1 – General and basic courses such
as English, History, Math, Sciences,
Languages, Humanities, Social Sciences,
Fine Arts. Explore interests by joining
academic and social clubs.
Year 2 – More general courses. Try out basic
and intermediate courses for your
intended major. Narrow your club
choices to those that interest you most.
Exchange programs. Summer internship.

52. Progress in Colleges
Year 3 – Declare major. Upper division
courses for your major. Courses for your
minor. Exchange programs and summer
internships. Initiate networking with
professors, alumni, companies, etc.
Year 4 – Advanced courses for your major.
Write thesis. Research assistance.
Internship. Prepare GRE, GMAT, LSAT,
MCAT if you are interested to go to
graduate schools. Explore various
networks if you plan to join work force
after graduation.

53. Things to Consider After Graduation
Student visa  Work visa
Working vs Attending Graduate School
Return Home vs Stay
Jobs you like vs Money you like
Legacy in Private Universities

54. Time to start your college
planning is when you are
in junior high school.