College Counseling Handbook Kang Chiao International School - Linkou Campus No. 55, Xinglin Rd., Linkou Dist., New Taipei City 244, Taiwan (R.O.C) If you have any question, please contact Counseling and Language Center or send emails to [email protected] 2020. March 1 Contents I. Introduction II. What Colleges are Looking for III. Curriculum Planning ◆ Courses to take in High School ◆ GPA ◆ AP courses and others (College Prep) IV. Resume ◆ Resume introduction ◆ Honors ◆ Summer and winter programs ◆ Volunteer service/extracurricular activities V. Test ◆ TOEFL/ IELTS ◆ SAT/PSAT / ACT ◆ AP VI. Getting Ready to Apply ◆ Application documents ◆ Letters of Recommendation ◆ Types of Admission ◆ Transcript ◆ Financial Statement, passport and miscellaneous VII. Interview ◆ Admission Officer/Alumni/ Third Party Agency 2 ◆ FAQ VIII. After Admitted ◆ Confirm /Pay the deposit ◆ Student Visa Application Additional Resources Sample Resume & College Application Essays Application Essay Prompts SAT Registration step by step General Information I. Introduction This handbook is aimed at helping IP students and parents to understand the college admission process. The process takes a lot of planning and decision making and this booklet will provide you with comprehensive information and road map to guide students through the college application. Rather than focusing only on the ranking, study abroad is like moving house or changing jobs, so please do not make any impulse decision. You should take consideration of multiple influence factors, such as the local economy, health care service, community safety, and learning environment, etc. The “top-ranked universities” may also not be the best choice because of the weather conditions or locations. This handbook is only a theory based on the application experiences of 1200 KC students who studied in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan from 2012 to 2020. The college counseling at Linkou Campus runs through Grade 9 to Grade 12. We will provide: Individual and Group Counseling ● Workshop for Students ● Individualized Interview ● Meetings with Parents ● Hosting college fairs for students every semester Students have a lot of chances and paths for college applications. The most important among all is to take concrete actions in order to reach the goals. At the same time, students' motivation and hard work are crucial as well. The information on this handbook is only for general purposes. because each individual has different needs. The main purpose is to make each student take the initial move and explore different activities. In addition, each college has its own requirements, and students, parents, and counselors plays different roles in making plans and decisions. Therefore, students, parents, and schools should work together throughout the whole application process and communicate with each other. Responsibilities of the student ● Maintain GPA ● Complete the Interest Assessment and Career Interest Aptitude tests ● Request recommendations letters from subject teachers ● Take the standardized test: TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, SAT Subject Test, ACT, etc; Send official scores from the test organization ● Apply to colleges through application website and keep track of the application process ● Attend college counseling and university workshops. 3 Responsibilities of the parents ● Complete parent questionnaire ● Communicate with your children about the college search process ● Communicate with College Counselors ● Provide financial statement for college application purpose ● Attend school workshops Responsibilities of the College Counselor ● Guide students through the college admission process ● Provide ongoing guidance ● Write official school letter of recommendation ● Submit official documentation ● Invite college admission officers to come to our school and host relevant lectures ● Host school workshops for parents II. What Colleges are Looking for The result of each year’s college application is based on the number of applicants worldwide; whether the university admissions office strategy and number rate have changed, this year’s students’ learning ability and exam status, as well as changes in political and economic conditions in various countries all have the possibility to affect the result. It can be said that it is unpredictable. It’s like an arms race; we don’t know the result until it happened, but we can ask ourselves to fully prepare, and achieve the best preparation within four years. Today, overseas colleges are looking at a complete set of (Holistic review), including: Academic Record Engagement Outside the Classroom ● Grades ● Extracurricular activities ● Rigor of curriculum ● Community service ● Rank ● Work experience Test Scores Institutional Priorities and Hooks ● Exceptional talent ● TOEFL/ IELTS ● Recruited athlete status ● SAT/ACT ● Socio-Economic and geographical ● SAT Subject Tests ● Underrepresented race or ethnicity ● AP/IB ● Legacy connection Personal Qualities ● Donation potential ● Letters of recommendation ● Essays ● Interview report Colleges expect students can challenge themselves academically. High Schools often offer Honors Classes, Advanced Placement (AP) courses, or International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Strong performance in courses indicates that students can do college-level work quite well. Selective colleges really want to see students can take advantage of the challenging courses offered in the high schools. III. Curriculum Planning ◆ Courses to take in High School One of the most important part in applying college is handing in your four years transcripts starting from 9th grade to 4 12th grade. Colleges rate students an estimated 60-80% based on academics performance. In this case, we strongly suggest students to take the most difficult courses such as Honors and AP classes if you can handle, with a goal of obtaining A’s or B’s. Most advisors would probably agree that a B in honors, AP, or IB class is better than an A in an easier one. It is unlikely that any college will even accept a class with a D grade or worse. Generally, colleges like to see the consistent progression in English, Math, Lab Sciences, and Social Studies plus a non-English (Chinese) language. Colleges would like to see students continue to improve their grades in order to achieve better. It is generally better to take several years of one language, rather than to try a year each of several. And now you'll ask questions like: "How do I improve my four years of academic performance?" By taking the following steps that you can control, you may easily maximize your grade potential: Such as minimizing absences, sitting near the front of the class, doing all homework, participating actively in class, taking good notes, and getting to know your teachers. Be sure teachers know that you care about your grades. Kang Chiao International School Graduation Requirements The School's Graduation Requirements are designed to meet accreditation standards and entry requirements into a wide variety of top colleges worldwide. To be eligible for our KCISEC high school graduation, a student must complete the following minimum requirements: Earn a minimum of 26 credits Attend 8 semesters of high school in grades 9 to 12(no student can graduate early) Before graduation, you must complete a course with basic credits stipulated by the Ministry of Education Note: If the ninth grade is not enrolled in Kang Chiao, our school will recognize the other schools’ credits as the official version of the school transcript International Program Students Minimum Credit Requirements: ● English -- 6 credits ● Math -- 3 credits ● Science -- 3 credits ● Social Studies -- 3 credits ● Visual and Performing Arts -- 1 credit ● Chinese Literature -- 3 credits ● PE/Health and Swimming -- 4 credits ● Required Electives -- 3 credits Our school adopts the Carnegie unit; 5 lessons per week for one course. One school year counted the course as 1 credit with 2 lessons a week and 0.5 credits per academic year. ◆ GPA (Grade Point Average) GPA stands for Grade Point Average. It is a standard way of measuring a student's academic achievement at school; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted. Kang Chiao International School calculate GPAs following a standard 4.0 scale for standard level courses, for example, an A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1. Some advanced courses, such as Honors courses, Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, we calculate weighted GPAs, A counts as a 4.5 instead of a 4.0. For example: A = 4.5, B = 3.5, C = 2.5, D = 1.5. Details are listed as follows table: Grade Percentage Regular Honors/AP A+ 97-100 4.3 4.8 A 93-96 4.0 4.5 5 A- 90-92 3.7 4.2 B+ 87-89 3.3 3.8 B 83-86 3.0 3.5 B- 80-82 2.7 3.2 C+ 77-79 2.3 2.8 C 73-76 2.0 2.5 C- 70-72 1.7 2.2 D+ 67-69 1.3 1.8 D 63-66 1 1.5 D- 60-62 0.7 1.2 F 0-59 0 0 With the GPA conversion table, we are able to find the GPA for each course. Then we can use the below formula to calculate the cumulative GPA for a whole school year. GPA=sum of (Credits*points) / total credits. For example, G10 Student K study below courses (including two semesters) and the scoreboard listed below: Course Credit Average GPA Bio 1 83.5 → 3 Chinese 1 88 → 3.3 Computer 1 90 → 3.7 Fine Arts 1 87.5 → 3.3 *Honor Geometry 1 95 → 4.8 LA 1 85 → 3 Literature 1 90 → 3.7 PA 1 77 → 2.3 PE 0.5 93 → 4 Swimming 0.5 70 → 1.7 History 1 84.5 → 3 Cumulative GPA = (1*3.0+1*3.3+1*3.7+1*3.3+1*4.8+1*3.0+1*3.7+1*2.3+0.5*4.0+0.5*1.7+1*3.0) / (1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+0.5+0.5+1) = 3.295 roughly equals to 3.3 College Prep Course (Advanced Placement) and others Kang Chiao International School Linkou Campus offers students below academic path options to 6 study: ● Honors Course: Provide higher-level students with elective honors courses, it does not have a college-level standard; it is a higher-level high school level course.