If you read my blog about the ideal time to start preparing for college applications, you must be on course to apply for Early Action or Early Decision already. Most universities have their (first round of) EA/ED deadlines on either 30 October or 1 November.
Source: Reddit
Very often, students complain to me that they don’t know where to begin when attempting to write personal statements or statements of purpose. The essay question, word count, university expectations and importance of the essay in the college application together tend to weigh on the students’ minds, distracting them from finalizing and writing about the main theme of the essay. Additionally, some find it hard to put their thoughts on paper, while others have too many ideas and are not sure which to focus on.
Planning to go to university in the Fall of next year? Then the current months (June-July) might be the last chance to do some serious thinking, research universities, and shortlist them, in case you haven’t already. In an earlier post, I had mentioned academic and personal factors affecting the choice of universities, as well as studying prospective universities. In this post, I’ll list most of those factors, and answer the first question that parents and students always ask me – “Where to begin?!” Canada According to Statistics Canada, the average undergraduate tuition fees for 2014-15 for Canadian students are CA$5,959. For international students, the tuition fees range from CA$15,000 – CA$27,240 (University of Toronto), as per AUCC. Apart from college and department ranking, as well as tuition costs, another important factor to consider while choosing a college is its location.
Why is location important? A University’s location usually tends to decide its tuition fees and cost of living. Students often inquire how they should prepare for standardized tests such as SAT and TOEFL. They ask how much time they should spend on studying for each test, and wonder if joining classes would help.
It is understandable that not every 16-18 year old knows exactly what they want to do in life. Hence, when college application time comes, it is very common to see furrowed brows on the faces of students and parents alike, wondering which major to declare on the application forms. Quite a few wonder if choosing “Undeclared” as an option is a good idea.
If you think about it, it does not really seem like one. Most universities have 2 application deadlines, an early one and a regular one. Quite a few students don’t realize that the early deadline consists of 2 types too:
They may sound similar, but are actually very different. Many times, parents ask me what the best time is to start preparing for a college application.
2 months prior to the application deadline? 3 months? 6 months? It really surprises them when I say, “2 years!” Students often ask me which guides to buy for particular exams. While there are a plethora of books out there claiming to be THE ideal guide for each exam, I personally prefer the ones written by popular developers such as Barron's, Princeton Review, Kaplan and McGraw-Hill.
The following is my list of best prep guides: |
About this BlogBlogs answering most frequent queries and doubts regarding University Admissions as well as Resumes and LinkedIn profiles will be posted here. Archives
May 2016
Categories |