Tips DCB Counsellors Learned from Top US University Admissions
The university counselling team has recently attended a number of workshop-discussions led by American admissions officers (AOs) in order to best understand how selective universities and liberal arts colleges read applications from China. The counsellors will be using this information to help provide strategic advice to all students who are applying to the United States of America.
In August, Orteg Dakaj and Jeffrey Harmon attended a workshop with admissions representatives from Stanford University, the University of California-Berkeley, Bowdoin College, and Bard College. Through an interactive workshop, the AOs provided a glimpse into admission committees – how they read, evaluate, and ultimately make decisions on an application.
In early September, Julie Pankratz attended a workshop for counsellors hosted by Johns Hopkins University, and all three counsellors attended talks by Amherst College, Williams College, University of Pennsylvania and Brown University.
All the representatives stressed that successful applicants need to be both competitive (does the student demonstrate a likelihood to succeed academically based on transcript, predicted scores, and standardized testing?) and compelling (does the student demonstrate genuine passion and engagement in ways that will benefit their future communities?). Students voice for themselves the qualities and accomplishments that they believe make them compelling through essays and interviews. Teachers and university counsellors provide their own perspectives on how the student stands out in letters of recommendation. Importantly, all evaluations are made within context, meaning a competitive applicant looks different depending on where they come from, their own personal background, and their stated interests.
Selective universities and colleges are flooded with competitive applications, and oftentimes the distinction needed to become compelling boils down to a human question like, "Would I want this applicant to be someone's roommate?" Therefore, all students should think about how they can extend their interests beyond themselves to foster community and collaboration.
Dulwich College Beijing
University Counsellors
北京德威大学升学咨询部门负责人
Julie Pankratz
Head of University Counselling
Julie received her MA in English Literature from the University of Ottawa, Canada. She had previously received a BEd (Hons) from Sheffield, UK. Julie worked in the English Department before transferring full-time to university counselling. She studied for her Certificate in College Counselling at UCSD. Julie very much enjoys working with students on their university applications, wherever in the world they are planning to study.
Julie毕业于加拿大渥太华大学，英语文学硕士学位。此前她获得了英国圣菲尔德大学教育专业荣誉学士学位。Julie曾在学校里教英语，后来转为全职大学申请顾问。她拥有加州大学圣地亚哥分校颁发的咨询资格证书。Julie非常享受指导学生申请大学的工作，她很高兴能够帮助到计划到世界各地学习的学生们。
Jeffrey Harmon
Jeffrey graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.A. in Global Studies and East Asian Languages and Cultures. At university, Jeffrey was heavily involved in student life and also joined a multidisciplinary research team investigating the experiences of international Chinese and South Korean students as they transitioned to university life. Jeffrey moved to Beijing in 2013. Before coming to DCB, Jeffrey worked in a premier education consultancy in Beijing and at an American-style boarding school in Suzhou.
Jeffrey毕业于伊利诺伊大学香槟分校，获得全球研究和东亚语言文化学士学位。在大学里，Jeffrey积极参与学生生活，还加入了一个跨学科研究小组，调查中国和韩国留学生大学生活过渡的经历。Jeffrey于2013年搬到北京，加入北京德威前先后在苏州的一所美式寄宿学校和位于北京的一家高级教育咨询公司工作。
Orteg Dakaj
Orteg has nearly 15 years of international admission leadership experience at various universities in the USA, including graduate admission and study abroad program management. He has also taught at the university level, served as Principal Designated School Official (PDSO) at Marymount College in Manhattan and been an active member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators since 2004. Orteg holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Science in Education (MSEd) with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction. Fluent in five languages, he has travelled extensively to over 80 countries and calls New York home.
Orteg 有近15年在美国地区大学担任国际招生领导的工作经历，其中包括研究生招生和留学项目管理等领域。他曾教授大学课程、担任玛丽蒙特曼哈顿大学指定学校官员（PDSO），并于2004年成为国际教育者协会（NAFSA）成员。 Orteg同时拥有工商管理硕士（MBA）和教育学硕士（MSED）双学位。他精通五种语言，游历过80多个国家，是个资深“纽约客”。
学校升学咨询团队近期参加了一系列由美国大学招生官员（AO）主导的研讨会，就综合大学及文理学院在中国地区的录取进行了富有针对性的探究。学校咨询老师将利用所获取的有效信息为申请美国地区院校的学生提供战略性建议。
八月，学校升学辅导咨询老师Orteg Dakaj和Jeffrey Harmon 就参加了由来自斯坦福大学、加利福尼亚大学伯克利分校、鲍登学院和巴德学院的招生代表主持的宣讲会。通过与大学招生官员（AO）互动，他们深入了解了学校从阅览、评估申请，到筛选和做出最终录取决定的全过程。
九月初，学校升学咨询部门负责人Julie Pankratz 出席了由约翰·霍普金斯大学主办的咨询教师培训；与此同时，三位咨询老师还参加了阿姆赫斯特学院、威廉姆斯学院、宾夕法尼亚大学和布朗大学举办的座谈会。
从成绩单、预测分数和标准化测试来看，学生是否显现出学术成功的可能性？）和有说服力的投入度（学生是否表现出真正的热情、积极参与帮助所在社区的发展？）学生需要通过论文和面试阐述自己引人注目的品质和成就；学校老师和大学升学咨询老师则通过推荐信从他们的视角突出学生个体的过人之处。重要的是，所有评估都随地区、个体背景以及兴趣方向的不同而异，没有统一的参考标准。
很多顶尖大学院校会收到众多强竞争力的申请，而很多时候大家最后会考虑如“我想让这个申请人成为别人的室友吗？”这样的看似平常的问题。因此，所有申请者都还应跨出个人兴趣，想想你将如何更好地与人协作，如何更有效地促进学校社区的发展。