Original VDO: https://youtu.be/AiFLXVIqjFE
Brighton College Bangkok’s Headmaster, Nick Gallop, along with senior colleagues Carly Barber, Head of the Senior School, and Sophie Peat, Head of Sixth Form, recently convened to shed light on the university application process, how universities are ranked and grouped. Their valuable guidance and insight provide prospective university students and their parents with a comprehensive understanding of university rankings, groupings, and the application process.
In addition to this, this discussion also featured a series of essential tips for students and parents navigating the university application journey.
Consider Your Interests and Preferences: When choosing a university, prioritize your own academic interests and personal preferences over its ranking.
Look Beyond Rankings: While university rankings are important, they shouldn’t be the sole deciding factor. Focus on finding the right fit for your goals.
Explore University Groups: Explore prestigious university groups like Oxbridge, Russell Group, and Ivy League, but remember that the best fit for you may not always belong to these groups.
Academic Excellence Matters: Highly selective universities seek academically excellent applicants, so maintain strong academic performance.
Engage in Supercurricular Activities: Participate in activities beyond your standard curriculum to demonstrate your passion and commitment in specific areas.
Start Early: Begin thinking about university applications early in your educational journey, and seek guidance from educators and counselors.
Subject Selection is Crucial: Tailor your subject selection to align with your career aspirations, especially for competitive fields.
Prepare for Interviews: Be prepared for university interviews, as they can vary significantly. Practice academic and personal responses.
Parental Support: Keep an open and ongoing dialogue with your parents regarding your university plans, including financial considerations and location preferences.
Utilize Support Systems: Take advantage of the support systems offered by your school or college to make well-informed decisions about your university choices.
Regarding university groupings, the conversation touched on prestigious groups such as Oxbridge in the UK, consisting of Oxford and Cambridge, renowned for their historic academic rigor and examinations. The UK’s Russell Group, consisting of 24 universities, is known for its exceptional teaching and learning. In the United States, the Ivy League, originally based on athletics, has evolved into a collection of prestigious universities seeking academically bright and well-rounded candidates.
When discussing what highly selective universities seek in applicants, the panel emphasized academic excellence as a fundamental requirement. Moreover, they highlighted the significance of “supercurricular activities,” which refer to activities undertaken beyond the standard curriculum. In the UK, universities look for evidence of students engaging in subject-specific activities, such as conducting research papers or delivering TEDx Talks. In contrast, US universities value a more holistic approach, seeking candidates involved in community service, extracurricular activities, and sports.
The question of when to start thinking about university applications was addressed, with the panel stressing that it’s never too early to begin the process. Brighton College Bangkok initiates university-focused discussions as early as Year Seven, utilizing the Unifrog program to help students explore different pathways and envision their futures. Students make their first significant decisions impacting university choices at the age of 14 when selecting their GCSE subjects.
As students move into the Sixth Form, they further refine their choices based on career aspirations and course requirements. The importance of subject selection for specific career paths, such as medicine, was highlighted, underscoring the need for tailored guidance.
The discussion concluded with the topic of university interviews, which can vary significantly depending on the institution. Some universities emphasize academic challenges to assess applicants’ critical thinking skills, while others seek to understand the applicants’ personalities and motivations.
Brighton College Bangkok’s commitment to preparing students for a successful university journey shone through, with the school offering a comprehensive support system to help students make well-informed decisions and achieve their academic and personal aspirations. Prospective students and parents seeking more information on Brighton College Bangkok’s university application support are encouraged to contact the school or schedule a visit.
We are delighted to share with you the university destinations that our Year 13 pupils have received. In the UK, our pupils have received offers from prestigious Russell Group universities and all who applied have received an offer from a top 20 university. We are also pleased to announce that our pupils have accepted university places across the globe – from Thailand to the Netherlands.
University Fair
On Thursday, our Year 12 and 13 pupils visited the Greater Bangkok University Fair to meet with representatives from prestigious universities across the world. The fair had nearly 200 universities in attendance and all were eager to meet with pupils and answer questions in regards to admissions processes, course requirements and general questions about life at university. Our pupils got to meet representatives from their dream higher education institutions such as Durham University, Berkeley College, Penn State, Monash University, and many more.
Life in Our Sixth Form
BCUK
We have close ties with our sister college, Brighton College UK (BCUK). Each year our Year 12 pupils have the opportunity to visit BCUK and develop firm friendships with their UK peers. We liaise with the BCUK team regularly and arrange meetings with them for our pupils to discuss their university applications. Our pupils are also given the opportunity to participate in challenging competitions with their Brighton College UK and International School peers.
Leadership
We believe that leadership is an important skill for our pupils to learn in the Sixth Form so we give them a range of opportunities to develop this skill. Our pupils can take on main leadership roles, such as Head Boy or Girl and Head of the Pupil Council, or can volunteer to take the lead in CCAs, whole school assemblies or become student ambassadors in their subjects.
Events
Weekly, our Sixth Form pupils are involved in a wide range of whole school events such as assemblies, TED Talks, House events and subject events. However, the notable events in our Sixth Form are the Sixth Form Graduation, the Year 12 trip to BCUK, the Formal and university fairs with guest lecturers from institutions from across the world.
Alumni
After three successful years of Brighton College Bangkok Sixth Form graduates, we have strong relationships with our past pupils, as well as graduates from Brighton College UK. We regularly welcome back our BCB alumni to speak to our current Sixth Form pupils. Every BCB graduate also has access to Brighton College Connect, the online platform for all Brighton College alumni across the globe.
Academic
Our internationally recognised A Level curriculum is rigorous and prepares our pupils for university and beyond. With 90% of pupils achieving A*-B grades, our alumni are studying at some of the most prestigious universities in the world. We offer a choice of 21 different A Level subjects from Further Mathematics to Business, with specialised teachers, and this allows pupils to study their chosen subjects in depth.
BCB SCHOLARSHIP DAY
We invite applications to attend our 6th form scholarship event on 11th November 2023. We have a fantastic track record of adding value by supporting pupils in achieving outstanding results. Last year on average all pupils achieved 1.71 grades better in anyone of their subjects than forecast on entry testing. We have a strong track record of sending pupils to the best universities, not surprising when you know 80% of all grades received were at least A 47% at A*, really hard to beat!
Let us show you how we support pupils to do so well in our school where we encourage pupils not only in their academic endeavours, but also to be part of a wider community, where they are encouraged to be the best version of themselves.
Register: https://forms.gle/6bRfahUaiZ5uCupP8
Contact our Admissions team for more information:
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +66 (2) 136 7898
Line@brightoncollegebkk
