Connecting and Interacting with Visiting Speakers – On Foreign Universities and College Admissions

During this academic year, students of Jyotirmay International School have enjoyed the company of some very interesting visitors from various walks of life in our Global Connect sessions and interacting with them opened up new vistas of understanding and knowledge. The visiting speakers made fascinating contributions, and with so much to be shared this first post in the mini-series will be covering speakers who informed us on foreign universities and college admissions.

Ms. Madhoor Wale, a Grade 12 student of International Baccalaureate pursuing History, Literature, Visual Arts, Biology and Math at United World College in Dilijan, Armenia, shed light on education in foreign universities. Having gone through the entire process of admissions, applying to Arts as well as Liberal Arts colleges in various countries, she could share the technicalities of admission processes besides her experiences as a student.

With a well organised speech, Madhoor spoke at length on choosing subjects, how to apply for Financial Aid and Scholarships, the Global Citizen Programme, travel grants and Commonwealth scholarships. She also spoke to our students on how to handle rejections and to distinguish between “who you are” and “your success”. She emphasized that students should handle University rejection letters with panache and realize that the University is not rejecting you as a person; they may sincerely believe that you can do better in another setting and this may not be the best fit for you. Madhoor’s convictions came from the heart: her message was “love what you want to do, and then get there and do it”!

Another student speaker was our very own Shreyas Kamat, Grade 12, A levels programme under Cambridge International Examinations, who added a special flavour to his talk with his recent first-hand experience with applications to foreign universities. With the help of a graphic organizer, he outlined the various requirements necessary for admission applications to foreign colleges, citing practical examples.

With his keywords being “passion” and “truthfulness to oneself”, Shreyas came across as a young specialist! His advice to the children was to “look at the college the way the college looks at you – in a holistic manner”. He urged them to “just go out, explore, try new things and take initiatives…the world is not looking at just how we score, but a lot more than that…”, no wonder our students were all ears.

In another talk on admissions to foreign universities, we were very fortunate to have Ms. Dierbhle O’Reilly, Global Officer from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland who briefed the children about the college and the undergraduate courses offered. She also spoke about its infrastructure, including hostel accommodation and costing. Ms. O'Reilly shared soft copies of the material and college brochures with our school and distributed bookmarks with college details to the children.

The school also invited Mr Aryapriya Ganguly, Professor, Admissions & Students Affairs, Indian School of Business and Finance (ISBF) which offers University of London International Programmes (LSE), to brief our students about the courses offered by them. He informed students about the eligibility and admission processes which are based on iMET (ISBF Maths English Test – ISBF's entrance exam) and personal interviews.

Their degrees are recognised globally, including Indian universities of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. ISBF students have also successfully transferred to LSE and other leading universities in their second year of study. More importantly, their graduates have been offered International and Indian placements at prestigious banks and KPOs.

Very briefly, the ISBF is a pioneer institute, committed to import and provide international quality education in India. It's vision is to transform the way we approach education and the academic tone is set by the rigour followed at the University of London and London School of Economics and Political Sciences. The courses currently offered in the three-year undergraduate (Hons) degree programmes at the ISBF are:

·       BSc Economics

·       BSc Economics & Finance

·       BSc Economics & Management

·       BSc Business & Management

Other visitors at Jyotirmay International School also introduced our students to various fields as possible future career choices. Our next post in this mini-series will highlight these esteemed speakers. Needless to say, our children had a wonderful time making new discoveries.