lead guitarist of a rock band and you
love to spend it’s it’s your passion
this is all you care about is this rock
band okay but you’re in need of a new
keyboard player so what do you do you
look for a keyboard player you have a
lot of applications and how do you
choose the right one for your Bend do
you just look at how good they are at
keyboards how many certificates they had
I don’t think so right
you also want to know what kind of music
they like if they fit your bend if you
know the bass player plays a riff do
they catch up on that can you guys hang
out together afterwards so you’re gonna
look for what we call fit right it’s not
just gonna be their very proficient of
course that’s very important but you
also want to know that they’re gonna fit
into your into your Bend and now in on
the other side let’s say that your band
is disbanded and you have to look for a
new band so what’s gonna be what’s gonna
be that the things that you look at are
you just gonna look at how high they are
on the Billboard charts or how much
money they offer sure that’s important
right but probably there are many bands
who offer around the same amount of
money you also want to know is that is
the music that they’re playing the kind
of music that I can get into do I feel
comfortable with this Bend again it’s
it’s this concept of fit right so
strangely enough that’s related to the
US and how they approach education and
how they approach what students
universities accept and also from the
part of the students what universities
they choose to go to the concept of fit
is central to this and this is a very
different philosophy than most people
are used to and so today I’m going to
talk about the the u.s. university
system and how it might be different in
many ways from what you might think it
is
I’m gonna talk about three aspects first
of all the education itself and the
approach to education and the philosophy
behind it
second of all the process of applying
and getting into the school that you
want to get into and third of all the
value the concept of the value of the
education there so to start with the
philosophy itself thinking about for
instance the British system you choose
the course ahead of time you study for
three years and you usually just want to
get into the best school that there is
for that particular course it’s fairly
simple and it’s very effective and of
course this schools named after
Cambridge is one of the best
universities in the world in the u.s.
it’s the philosophy is a little bit
different at the center of the u.s.
education system is something that they
call liberal arts so you might have
heard of this or maybe you’re thinking
what’s liberal arts is that you know am
I gonna be painting at the school or
something that’s not the case
liberal arts is an idea that you’re not
just gonna study one subject you’re
gonna take many different subjects you
do have one major but you only typically
choose that major in your second or
third year of college and you’re also
taking a lot of courses outside of your
major if you’re studying economics
you’re gonna be also studying history
and some physics maybe if you’re doing
engineering even you have to do some
writing courses so it’s a much more
broad-minded approach to education and
for and if you look at a school like
Harvard for instance they don’t even
have an undergraduate business program
because they they believe so much that
they don’t want you to just approach
education as something that it’s a
certificate to get into a job but as
something that’s gonna enrich you in
many different ways so that’s that’s the
central difference between the u.s.
education system which has this broad
approach this holistic approach and many
educational systems around the world
that tend to just focus on one course
and and that’s what you do and also when
you’re actually at the school the
environment is very different you’re
usually part of
campus right so you’re part of this this
this village where every college student
is there ten thousand twenty thousand
people on this little island of academia
right in the rest of the world that’s
not usually the case either you might
live with your parents you might live in
an apartment and then you go to the
University and you can zoom education
there but you’re not part of this very
immersive kind of village so that’s also
very different and it’s really for four
years you become part of this community
in a way that you wouldn’t elsewhere
that’s something that is is very
different I think from other other parts
of the world the second aspect I want to
talk about is the application process
itself this is also very different let’s
go to the UK again as an example you
write a fairly straightforward personal
statements again just about your course
so that you want to study you send in
your grades that’s about it right maybe
a letter of recommendation also and for
Oxford and Cambridge an interview
medicine has a different process but
essentially it’s it’s quite
straightforward
and again it’s the higher you score the
better your chances and and that’s about
the only parameter in the u.s. again
this concept of fit becomes really
important and so they look at a lot more
aspects of who you are not just as
somebody who wants to study X Y or Z but
somebody who has a broad range of
interests who has a broad range of
passions and somebody who can fit into
the school to which they are applying so
what are the different aspects of
getting in that that they will look at I
would like to call this gate g8 EE those
are the main aspects that will be
important that stands for grades
activities tests and essays so grades of
course is fundamental to any higher
education institution you have to show
that you can actually take on the
academic work so that’s one of the first
things that that the admissions officer
and the US will look at the second thing
is activities and this is where it
starts to become a little bit difference
in the UK for instance for your personal
statement you also have to talk with
your activities but it’s usually related
to the major so you might have done an
internship that’s related to the
engineering major that you want to
pursue and you’ll talk about that but if
you were into let’s say ballet and you
want to do economics it might be hard to
talk about that in the u.s. that’s
precisely what you should be talking
about it’s not just about you have done
things that are related to the major or
the course that you want to do you want
you want to show that you have passions
that aren’t necessarily academic in
nature but that show that you’re more
than just your grades that show that you
are a complete person again there’s a
holistic approach to education the third
aspect is test scores
aside from medicine in the UK and and
some other parts of the world usually
grades will be the main factor in
accepting students and the u.s. you have
to take some more tests you have to take
either the a CT or the SAT that’s the
main test and then you also will have to
do things called subject tests for some
of the more top schools the a CT or SAT
is originally supposed to be an
intelligence test it’s not really you
can study for it but it covers
mathematics and an English broadly and
so you have to show that you are at a
high level in that the subject tests are
tests that cover specific subjects so
that’s the third thing that that these
schools will look at and then the last
thing that’s where they really get to
know you as a person where this concept
of fit becomes the most the most
important the most appropriate these are
the essays you won’t just has to have to
write one personal statement you’ll have
to write a lot of essays usually around
three for each school that you to which
you apply and there’s no limit on
application so if you apply to 10 12
schools you might have to write 30
essays it’s a lot of writing but this is
what admissions officers in the u.s.
spent three-quarters of the time that
they’re evaluating you they spend it on
these
says this is where they get to know you
as a person and whether they think that
you fit into this school so they know
your test scores they know your grades
they know how good you are academically
but there’s also there’s 1020 other
people for that same spot who also have
these qualifications that’s why they
look at these essays and they’re also
quite different from anything you might
have had to write before you have to
write personal essays about your
experiences about things that have been
important to you throughout your life
something that’s been difficult for you
from which you have grown for instance
maybe you were a superstar in soccer
football sorry football and then you you
broke your legs and you have to really
re-evaluate who you were and then you
became really involved in you know music
or something that it can also be
something a lot more personal for
instance maybe you had a friend who had
an eating disorder that’s a very that’s
a very delicate subject right if you
handle that well it can also show
maturity it can show growth these are
things that you could never dream of
having to address in most university
applications right you also have to
write essays for each school
individually so there’s one essay I was
just describing is the main it’s called
the personal statement that you send to
every single school mostly in the u.s.
you also have to write this individual
essays for each school and there you
have to address this concept of fit even
more minutely so you have to maybe talk
about why do I want to go to this
particular school and it’s not enough to
say they’re ranked high they’re very
good at computer science you have to say
they have a basketball team which is
which has the spirit that which I really
love and I love basketball you have to
say they have a curriculum that’s very
unique where you get to choose every
course that you want to do is open for
you to choose and there’s no
restrictions and
that’s what I like because that’s the
philosophy that I believe in so you have
to really explain to them that you
understand what the university stands
for and that you can connect with that
and that you can contribute to that and
that’s why these essays are so vital and
you have to approach them very seriously
the third thing I want to talk about is
the value of the US education system
which is very again slightly different
from from other systems around the world
as you might know it’s extremely
expensive sometimes you have to spend
seventy thousand dollars per year u.s.
dollars on everything included so the
tuition housing etc so that’s two
hundred fifty thousand dirhams so you
might think that’s that’s insane why
would I ever want to do that but again
you tend to get a lot more back for that
again first of all there’s this entire
academic village concept so you don’t
just have the classes but you have this
entire campus full of opportunities and
activities that you can engage in but
there’s also a lot more funds available
for other things a universe the the
total pile of money that the university
has is called an endowment and in the UK
there’s only two schools that have an
endowment of over over 1 billion dollars
Oxford and Cambridge in Canada there’s
one Toronto in the u.s. there is over 70
so there’s a lot more schools that have
a lot of money to provide you with
research opportunities to offer
counseling services to help you in many
different ways Harvard for instance has
over 30 billion dollars this also this
money will also be used for scholarships
so even if you think that maybe it’s
it’s totally out of my reach if you
target the universities correctly you
can actually find some that will give
you merit-based scholarships so that you
can still go there for a reasonable sum
of money
and again make use of that that very
different very unique educational system
so those are the three aspects I wanted
to talk about I hope you learned a
little bit and I just wanted to also
open this up to questions does anybody
have any questions about this entire
their question they they do so that’s
exactly what they would they would be
looking at so you have you know again
the first thing is your grades and your
test scores and that is important but if
you have made your own machine and
that’s something that’s that’s really
impressive
right and that’s wouldn’t show up in
your physics grade and that’s precisely
what first of all there is a list of
activities that you can write about in
in the application where you can that
can be your number one activity and then
the the the admissions officer will know
straightaway that this is amazing this
person has created their own machine at
age 17 18 you know and second of all if
it’s relevant to an essay then you can
also put it in there if it’s if it’s
very important to you and it fits in of
course so again the idea is to have an
impression of the student not just as a
list of numbers but as something much
fuller and something that you just like
the thing that you just you just
described it’s precisely what they would
a very good question yeah what do you
what do you do to make your application
stand out many people think that you
have to be well-rounded so you have to
do like I have students coming to me and
they say well I’ve never done this I
don’t do a sport so what do I mean what
I have what I do I pick up a table
tennis or something that’s not the case
you have to choose things to about which
you’re passionate and it’s much better
to have you know two three things that
really stand out that you’ve been
committed to for a long time than to
have twenty things that you’re very
perfectly involved in there’s two main
things that are important in an activity
and one is achievement and the other is
commitment so if you’ve done something
for many years and you’ve really grown
in that activity then that makes it a
really really impressive activity you
just mentioned internships I’d be really
careful with those because if you do
like one two week internship even it’s
even if it’s related to the major that
you want to do it’s it often comes
across as perhaps you know your parents
arrange that for you or something or you
got it through connections and then
maybe you were getting coffee for two
weeks or something you know if you spend
the whole summer volunteering in let’s
say India or something you you you teach
young children who don’t have as good
access to education as you have had in
the past that’s much more impactful and
that’s that shows more passion and and
it’s much more valuable than doing a two
week internship or something like that
but the main thing is that you choose a
few activities that you can really excel
in and about what you’re passionate and
they don’t have to be related to the
major you want to do or anything as long
that’s also a very good question they
there’s many things that you can do to
to still get accepted to very good
universities or you know to the
university that you want to get into the
first thing is that for these
standardized tests if you have you know
a condition that you can prove then you
actually will be given more time to do
that test so there’s there’s a few ways
that you can you can get around that and
then you you know the the testing will
take account of that secondly there is a
section in the applications called
additional information which is designed
specifically for these kinds of things
most people will leave that blank or
maybe have just a few mentioned a few
things they haven’t been able to mention
in their applications but yeah if you’re
if you’re sufferer you know if you are
struggling with autism for instance then
that’s a hugely important factor in your
life and if that hasn’t been able to
make it into your applications then you
put that in or even if it has you should
put it into the additional information
section and the admissions officer will
take account of that and if you’re still
and so so don’t again look at you as a
complete person and if they’re convinced
that you can still excel at this school
in a way that’s that’s you know taking
account of your condition then you will
still be accepted and even if you when
you get to the school there are many
resources for special needs students so
for instance when I was studying I used
to take notes on a carbon paper for
people who who couldn’t take notes
themselves and so it would be scanned in
and then they would be able to also be
so when applying to university the
university probably gets hundreds of
applications that are just unique in
their own way have their own spin on
them so would you say that luck is an
take part of
and you did your best
yeah do they value diversity that’s
another good question
they’d they definitely do it’s it’s one
of the kind of unspoken secrets in the
UK they they they read your application
anonymously in the u.s. they don’t and
and that is something that they look at
it’s one factor it’s not decisive
I mean it’s it’s not the only factor
they look at if you are from a minority
that that they bet they would like to
have you still have to get the grades
that they would expect etc but there’s
if you’re an applicant from Togo or
something not a very big country in
Africa probably there’s a high chance
that the school would never have had
somebody from Togo at their school if
you’re if you’re a good candidate you’re
quite likely to get into that school
just for that very reason they would
then they can say we’ve had an it we’ve
had somebody from Togo here now he
represents let’s say 115 countries you
know so that is a factor and then if
you’re from a country that has a lot of
applicants let’s say from China or from
India you are actually at a bit of a
disadvantage because of that because
they have so many people from that from
that region in those countries applying
that you know they they will not accept
as many and even for most international
students it’s slightly harder to get in
because they don’t have as many spots
for them there’s a lot of difference
there’s a few different factors that are
like that for instance if you’re a
student athlete you might get into a
into a course into a school that you
otherwise wouldn’t get into but just
because the coach wants you to get into
the team or if you’re what’s called a
legacy so you’re maybe your parents went
to the school then you also have a
higher chance but the diversity factor
is part of that yes
can you tell us more about financial aid
works sure there’s two types of
financial aid
the first one is need-based aid and the
second one is merit-based aid so let me
just go into those very briefly
need-based aid is based on as the term
suggests how much you need to aid so the
the issue with that aid though is that
it’s mostly available for American
students so if you have an American
passport they can you can apply to that
if you don’t then it becomes much much
more difficult there are this is also
where we’re how wealthy the school is
comes into play if if you are applying
if you’re a very very strong student and
you’re applying to let’s say the IV’s
and stuff which which are extremely
difficult programs get into they have a
lot more funds available for students
who need that who need it so for
instance Harvard they’ll meet all the
all the demonstrated they’ll meet all
the demonstrated need of all of students
who are applying so if you’re in that
position even if you’re international
students then you will get the aid
however for most schools and especially
for state schools University of
California comes to mine or the
University of Texas then that eight is
really only available for four American
students and so that’s that’s a bit
difficult to get merit-based aid is not
based on me but on how much you deserve
to get the aid so well let me explain
that a little more clearly if the school
really wants you to come to their school
and they know that you probably have
other offers or maybe higher rank
schools then they’ll say okay we’re
gonna cut let’s say thirty thousand
dollars per year off of your tuition
price and so that’s again certain
schools would do that more often than
other state schools again don’t do that
because they have fewer funds available
and they’re mostly available for the
state students but if you know where to look