College Preparedness in an Increasingly Competitive World
Applying to top universities is more competitive than ever. Nearly half a million international students were studying at institutions in the UK in 2017-18 and the number of students from Hong Kong and mainland China studying in UK higher education has more than doubled in the last decade. One in eight students at the University of Manchester is now from mainland China alone. Adding to competition for places is the fact that many international students are concentrated in a small number of disciplines: business, accounting, finance, economics and engineering. The situation is mirrored in the US where colleges have seen the number of applications they receive exponentially increase, resulting in admit rates at the most selective institutions fall to below 5 per cent. A precarious political situation in Hong Kong is likely to increase oversees applications from local students in 2019-20 further still.
Students are told repeatedly that to stand a chance they must ‘stand out from the crowd’, putting pressure on our already over-scheduled and stressed young people, who are also facing joining a workforce that is experiencing fundamental change at an unprecedented rate due to the Fourth industrial Revolution. It is no wonder then, that schools in Hong Kong and globally are reporting record levels of serious depression and anxiety amongst their student bodies.
The question for families then becomes, ‘How can my child differentiate him- or herself from other applicants by making their profile more attractive while preparing for a world of work that is in flux and likely to remain unpredictable? An impossible task? The answer might be simpler than you imagine.
A 2017 study by ACS Schools (at which I completed my IB Diploma, coincidentally) and the IB surveyed over 100 university admissions officers in the UK and the US about applicants’ higher education readiness. 49 per cent said that students are not prepared for successful transition from school to university.
When asked which factors impact students’ ability to thrive at university, they answered as follows:
Source: ACS Schools
The results show clearly that in both the UK and the US the deficiencies in students’ skills is in their ability to think and learn independently, and in not being able to manage time and workloads effectively. While these figures may seem disappointing, they also represent an opportunity, especially for IB Diploma students.
The skills that universities are describing some students as lacking are precisely the skills that are developed in the IB Diploma through the Theory of Knowledge course and the Extended Essay. Do well in these two components, and write eloquently about what you have learnt through them in your personal statement / essay(s), and you have already shown the admissions teams reading your application that you are more college-ready than most of your competition. If you need to interview for your place, you can focus the conversation around your Extended Essay topic or your TOK essay and demonstrate your mastery of the content, as well as key skills such as critical and creative thinking, organisation and time management.
This fact is not lost on admissions officers who expressed their views as follows:
“I’d say that the IBDP encompasses elements in its curriculum like the Theory of Knowledge that help prepare students for the style of study they will need at university. They need to have academic rigour, combined with being able to think critically and creatively.”
“An ideal system has to provide necessary skills in research and information finding, critical thinking, independent study, as well as academic skills in their chosen subjects. The IBDP Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge are elements in that qualification that address these areas.”
Far from being additional to the main curriculum areas such as Literature and Mathematics, Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay need to be understood as central to the unique benefits that the IB Diploma offers to students in terms of academic skills development. This is reflected in the IB Diploma diagram placing them at the centre, and the fact that the IB refers to TOK and the EE as ‘the Core’.
Source: IB
Yet, these Core components are also the two most challenging aspects of the IB Diploma, effectively demanding undergraduate level content and skills mastery from high school students. Simultaneously, few schools provide dedicated lessons to develop the skills students need to succeed in the EE, and schools often teach only the IB-prescribed minimum number of hours for TOK. As such, students can often benefit from support outside of school to make the most of the educational opportunities afforded by TOK and the EE.