Debbie McDowell
debbiem@isb.ac.th
Good news! Ms Gordan, who will be taking Ms. Shrestha’s place during her maternity leave, will be on campus starting Tuesday, 23 November, and will be available to meet with students in person! Many students have started connecting with Ms. Gordon virtually as she has already begun reviewing essays and applications as well as submitting documents to universities for seniors. We are excited to have Ms Gordon on campus and on our team!
ISB, in conjunction with other international schools in Bangkok, will be hosting the first ever Virtual Thai University Fair on 30 November, 2:30-4:30 pm. The early list of universities that have confirmed their participation include 50 Faculties. The preliminary list of universities/faculties can be viewed here. A final list with table assignments will be made available closer to the time. Pre-registration will be required for students and parents to participate. A school email will be required to register for this event. Official sign up for the event is here. As a parent, if you do not have a school registered email, please list your child’s email on the form. If you are interested in attending this Virtual Thai University Fair, please register by November 24, 2021. All sessions will be delivered via the Aimeet platform, so if you wish to join the event via a mobile device please download the Airmeet application in advance of the fair via Airmeet’s mobile app on both iOS and Android, should that be of convenience. We hope to see you there!
A note about virtual fair etiquette: There are many reasons for students to attend a university fair. One is to learn more about a university to which the student may be interested in applying. Another important reason is to show demonstrated interest in a university–to let the university know that the student is keenly interested in attending that institution. A great way to do that is to connect with the university admissions representative who may be reading their application. So it is important that students and parents make sure that they have their cameras on while they are in a breakout room with a university rep. Not only is it common courtesy but it gives the university admissions officer a chance to actually have a conversation, not just speak to blank boxes on a screen. ISB students are required to have their cameras on during a virtual university visit and/or fair! Please keep this in mind the next time you join a virtual university visit and please have this conversation with your child.
Seniors met with a university counselor on Wednesday during Senior Seminar. A great deal of information was passed along to the students. Please remind students that they can review the presentation by looking at the slide show, which is posted in their Google Classroom, again. Topics covered: details about the UC and UCAs applications, a review of how to complete the Thai university transcript requests and information about applying to Thai universities, and a reminder about upcoming deadlines. Students who will be applying to universities in the second semester, with deadlines after 1 February, were instructed to set an appointment with their university counselor in January to set a plan and timetable for their applications. Please note: Requests from parents regarding transcripts and documents will not be processed. Only transcript requests submitted through the online system by students will be accepted.
The next big deadlines that the Seniors must be focused on are 23 November for all transcript requests for applications due before 15 February, 30 November for applications to the University of California and California State institutions, and then 1 December for all students applying to the UK through UCAS. Please encourage your child to submit well before any deadline.
Juniors should have finished and submitted their Mission Statement on Wednesday 17 November. This was an assignment from last week’s Jr Seminar. Please ask your child if he/she turned that in and for them to share it with you. In addition, students were provided with a Priorities and Preferences University Research Spreadsheet that lists many Elements of Research. Students were given the assignment to review those elements of research and record their ideas/preferences/priorities about each category on the spreadsheet. Then, the second part of the assignment is to interview their parents about their ideas/ preferences/ priorities and record those on the spreadsheet. This assignment is due on 21 November. There are also columns for students to put in universities they are considering and make notes about how the university matches with their own and their parent’s preferences and priorities. This is the most important part of the university research process. If this work is done well, the student will find university selection and essay writing to be much easier! So, please have conversations with your child about the Priorities and Preferences they have about universities to which they are considering to apply.
Virtual university visits: The university counselors are hosting many virtual visits with universities from around the world (7:15-7:45 am, 12:50-1:15 pm, and 3:00-3:45 pm) for ISB students and parents. Be sure to check the Virtual University Visit list for university presentations that are scheduled exclusively for ISB students and parents (highlighted in yellow). In addition, there are many other virtual events available for any students interested in gaining more information about particular institutions so please check the Virtual University Visits list on the ISB University/College Counseling website for loads of information!
Want to find out more about the University Counseling program at ISB? Please visit the ISB University Counseling website.
Ms. Debbie McDowell (she, her, hers)
Head of University Counseling