How We Get Our Students to Top Universities?

David Jeon, our 2018 graduate who is now majoring at Biochemistry neuroscience in University of Toronto (QS #28), has been back in China for his summer vacation.

As one of our top students, David well performed in his IB curriculum. Besides, he also played the important role as caption of basketball and students band. He was also accepted by New York University (QS #43) and Simon Fraser University for college application.

What’s his secret of college application? Let’s see what he said.

BIS

How was your learning experience in school, start from PYP all the way to DP?

David

As a PYP student it was an enjoyable time rather than something related to academics.

Starting from M2 I started to get involved in many academic and extracurricular activities such as sports, MUN, band etc. I was personally motivated to study in order for my future and my personal goals. Things got different starting from M5. I had to plan ahead and had to spend more time on academics to maintain my scores.

During DP, things got more complicated and challenging, however, I had enough support from my teachers and my parents. I personally think that IB did play a big part for my success in my school year.

BIS

As a Korean student, how do you balance your mother tongue and English learning?

David

I started learning English when I was very young, and I cannot emphasize more the importance of English proficiency. To succeed in any academics (even local schools in China and Korea), English is the basics of basics and also the key to success in IB. Furthermore, as a university student having an extra foreign language is a great advantage therefore being good at English and also having another 3rd language is a big step forward for any student for their future career and opportunities.

BIS

Why did you choose IB? How does IB program help with College Applications?

David

IB is a worldwide acknowledged program and having a IB diploma is a huge benefit compared to GPA. IB definitely prepares students for their university life. Because most contents covered in university is partially or mostly taught in IB. For me IB was a big contributor for my success since it helped me adjust very well to the rigorous university life.

BIS

How’s your university life?

David

I am currently studying in University of Toronto and it was tough at the very start. But I got used to it very quickly. No drastic changes happen but students must learn how to manage their time wisely to do well in university, and that’s where IB helps a lot.

After adjusting to university life, I got an A-average. I must say scheduling well and studying in an organized manner was the biggest change that allowed me to get better. It is obvious but to be a top tier student you cannot lack or layback when it’s time to study, and IB prepares students to foster that habit.

BIS

You were involved in many extracurricular activities. How did you value these activities?

David

Since our school is an international school it gives a lot of opportunities that will help university application. Activities such as sports, debating, musical performance and language learning gives an enormous advantage over other students that only focus on studying. I am the case where I just had a decent grade but had a variety of activity experiences and I personally think that my extra performance besides academics help me a lot for my university application and acceptance.

BIS

Please give some advice to current students and parents.

David

Academic wise, I think everybody knows that endeavor pays off. But I have to say extracurricular activities are way more crucial than you might think. So I would say keep up the study and try to grasp more opportunities for activities that will help you in the future.

The University of Toronto (UofT, or UToronto) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario,

The University of Toronto has educated three Governors General of Canada, four Prime Ministers of Canada, four foreign leaders, and fourteen Justices of the Supreme Court. As of March 2019, ten Nobel laureates, five Turing Award winners, 94 Rhodes Scholars, and one Fields Medalist have been affiliated with the university.

 

Our 2019 graduates have received the following acceptances.

USA

Carnegie Mellon University (2019 US News #25)

University of Pittsburgh (2019 US News #43)

Fordham University (Scholarship $18,500)

Penn State University

Rutgers Camden College of Arts and Sciences (Scholarship $10,000)

SUNY Binghamton University (Provost’s Scholarship $40,000)

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

West Virginia University (Scholarship TBD)

UK

University College London (2019 QS #10)

University of Southampton

University of Bristol

University of Manchester

Canada

University of Toronto (80,000 CAD Scholarship) (2019 QS #28)

University of British Columbia (10,000 CAD Scholarship) – (2019 QS #47)

York University (2,000 CAD Scholarship)

Hong Kong, China

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

China

Shanghai Jiao Tong University