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For most families

The focus should be what are in their control

Take this year’s admission

As an opportunity to grow and learn

Spend time to support, encourage and 

trust each other

---- The Truth About College Admission

By Brennan Barnard & Rick Clark

1

很多家长都会觉得申请季中使不上劲，着急又焦虑。其实这一切都源于信息的缺乏，实际上家长可以从许多渠道了解到大学申请的信息。比如多参与学校举办的家长课堂，青苗升学指导办公室会定期举行家长课堂，为家长们介绍不同国家申请流程和前期准备。

我们也鼓励家长们多参加大学展，大学展上家长们可以跟大学在华招生代表进行直接的沟通，从而获取珍贵的一手信息。同时许多大学也都有自己的微信公众号，他们会定期更新大学招生的信息，并开展针对国际生的线上分享会。与其默默担心焦虑，不如与孩子一起成长，积极参与到升学信息的收集与整理当中来。

Many parents feel powerless when it comes to college application. This is because of the lack of information. In fact, there are many ways for parents to collect such information, for example the parent’s workshop regularly hosted by the BIBS Guidance Counselling Office.

We also encourage parents to attend as many college expos as possible, from which they get to directly communicate with the admission representatives from overseas universities. Some universities publish admission information through their WeChat accounts and hold online seminars. Parents should learn and grow together with their children, and proactively participate in collecting and organizing college admission information.

2

“尊重孩子的决定。”我相信家长们其实都是这样想的，但是实际做起来往往不那么容易。作为各个行业的精英，家长们确实拥有丰富的社会经验和职业资讯，并且总会理性地分析各个行业未来的发展趋势。在面对孩子选择专业的事情上，难免会有这样的情况，比如自己觉得孩子选择的专业只是一时兴起，并不真正适合，或者觉得孩子选择的专业未来发展前景堪忧……

这时候我觉得倾听和沟通很重要，您一定要耐心倾听孩子为什么作出这样的选择，他为什么觉得自己适合学这个专业，他又为了这个专业之前做过哪些探索和努力。也许听完孩子自己的阐述，您不仅仅会赞同他的选择，还会惊讶于您的孩子已经悄然成长为一个有主见有担当的大人了。

‘Respect my children’ can be easy to say but hard to do. Our parents, being successful in their own career, usually have second-to-none understanding on the future trends of their professional field. But when it comes to picking college and major for their children, it can be difficult to tell if a decision is right for the future.

The key is to listen and communicate. Parents must listen to their children’s reasons, and understand how much exploring and efforts they have devoted to support their decision. Perhaps you will not only agree, but also realize that your little ones have become grown up with their own minds.

3

分享一个有趣的数据，在University League 2022英国大学排名里，仅次于牛剑排名第三名的伦敦政治经济学院LSE，学生满意度排名却是第91名。大学排名在第四名的圣安德鲁斯大学，学生的满意度排名是第一名。而学生满意度排名第二位的阿伯里斯特维斯大学却是在英国排名第58名。

由此可见学生的满意度未必和大学排名成正相关。因此我建议家长和孩子在讨论大学选择时，除了考虑综合排名榜外，还需要综合考量很多重要因素，比如学科排名、课程设置、本科生科研机会、实习机会、职业证书、地理位置、社群影响、安全、对国际生提供的支持等等。

Interesting fact: among the University League 2022 UK ranking, #3 university LSE right after Oxford and Cambridge, only ranks #91 on the student’s satisfaction list. While League #4 University of St. Andrews, ranks #1 in student’s satisfaction. Aberystwyth University, which ranks #2 in student’s satisfaction, only ranks League #58.

University ranking does not necessarily match student’s satisfaction. Therefore, besides university ranking, parents and their children should also consider subject field ranking, curriculum setup, undergraduate research opportunity, internship opportunity, vocational certificates, location, social influence, safety, and support to international students etc.

4

全球疫情影响的这两年，海外大学申请也新产生了一些趋势。其中最明显的一个就是多国联申。大家抱着“鸡蛋不要都放在一个篮子”的想法，于是申请的国家从一个变成两个再变成多个。

作为升学指导，我们理解并且也同意学生们应该打开更多可能性。同时却也想提醒家长，学生们申请季不仅需要兼顾和保持学业，也许还在努力冲刺更高的语言分数。当时间和精力有限时，研究和确定好真正适合自己和真正愿意去的学校，比起广撒网式漫不经心的申请，有的放矢也许才是更高效的方式。加减得当也是申请季的一项策略。

There have been many changes to overseas college application in the last two years due to COVID-19, one of which being multinational joint application. It’s not smart to put all the eggs in one basket, hence applying from more than one or two countries.

As a guidance counsellor, I totally understand and encourage my students to purse more possibilities. But in the meantime, I must remind our parents that during the admission season, students must not only catch up with their subject learning, but also try as hard as possible for higher language scores. No one has unlimited time and energy, so instead of looking at all options, it’s important to find out the most suitable colleges with clear goals and targets. There will always be gains and losses.

5

很多家长会觉得大学申请季可长可短，鼓励孩子早早提交申请，最好早申拿到一个满意的结果，之后就可以完全放松了。作为升学指导，我还是建议学生和家长们做好长线申请的准备。

首先早申请的学校有限，ED绑定的只能申请一所，EA也不是每个学校都有这样的选择。实际上更多的选择还是在常规申请阶段。

其次，早申截止日期一般在11月初，还有学生没有取得一个满意的语言成绩，标化成绩或学校成绩尚有提升空间，往往常规阶段才是发力点。事实上我也是见证过很多学生反而是在常规阶段拿到了更满意的录取。所以我建议家长们一定要调整好心态，鼓励孩子在申请季不要早早放弃，应该尽可能不断付出，为梦想持续努力。

同时值得一提的是，英国学校发的是有条件的录取，最终是否能去到这些学校还要看5月份大考的成绩，学生们拿到录取后也不能放松学业。申请季是一段长且煎熬的路，但是努力过，彩虹终会出现！

Some parents believe in applying early, so they can get it done early, and relax. But I advise students and parents to be ready for a long battle.

First of all, early application options are very limited. ED binding allows one college only, and not every college has EA. The majority of options are still at the regular application stage.

Secondly, early application usually ends in early November. At that time some students may still find a lot of room to improve before they have satisfying language score and subject field results. From my experience, many students received very good enrollment results in regular application. Parents should stay calm and rational, and encourage your children to keep fighting for their dreams.

It’s worth noticing that offers from UK universities are conditional, subject to student’s big exam result in May. Application season is long and tough. Students must work hard till the very end of it.

6

前面说了那么多，相信家长们也可以理解，申请季对学生们来说是压力非常大的一个阶段。在繁重的学业下同时又要完成许多申请材料的准备，这个时候学生们非常需要家长们的理解和鼓励。我们可以定期地帮助孩子放松，创造一些家庭共度美好时光的机会，这时候只是放松和娱乐，不谈申请与学业，从而减轻他们的压力。

同时，随着录取结果的相继发放，家长们一定要明白，一个大学申请成功与否有许许多多的因素，而大部分的因素是我们无法控制的事情，简单举例来说，您无法预测同样申请这所学校的其他学生都有着什么样的学术背景、活动和特长。不是所有结果都会尽如人意，即使收到拒信时，我们也要给予孩子充分的理解、安慰和鼓励，不要打压他们。

As we can see, college application is not easy. Preparing all the application documents while keeping busy with school, students demand understanding and encouraging from their parents. It’s not a bad idea to relax from time to time. No application, no homework, no exam, just to take the pressure off.

Parents must also realize that a successful enrollment subjects to many conditions, many of which are out of our control. For example, you won’t know other applicants’ academic background, activities, and strong suits. In case your application gets rejected, may sure your children receive nothing but understanding, comforting, and encouraging from you.

7

Throughout the application process, I highly recommend parents to maintain frequent communication with the college counselor. At this time, the college guidance department is like a bridge connecting students and the university. For universities, college guidance is the teacher who accompanies and witnesses the growth of students, knows the most comprehensive information about students, and is also the official representative of high school. Therefore, the university will trust the school's guidance counselor very much. Not only does it value the recommendation letter of the guidance, but also when the university is reviewing the student application materials and encounters any questions, they will contact the guidance counselor for verification as soon as possible.