SANDI ENGLER Coordinator of Overseas College Counseling

1. SANDI ENGLERCoordinator of Overseas College Counseling GRADE 11 OVERSEAS COLLEGE COUNSELING PRESENTATION WELCOME • GÜNİZ DURMUŞ • Assistant Counselor & Summer School Advisor

2. The more you communicate with the Overseas College Counseling Office...the better we can help you ! • Dear Students – Please come to the office during breaks to ask questions, get advice and request appointments • Dear Parents – Please call Overseas College Counseling Office (ext.419) to schedule an appointment.

3. WHAT IS NEEDED TO APPLY TO A UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE OVERSEAS?

4. Good Grades ! • Universities and Colleges are very interested in the student’s grades in high school. This is the number one factor they consider while making admissions decisions! • They generally look at the average grade point for grades 9, 10 and 11, and then later at the first semester grades in year 12. • When looking at these grades they also consider the student’s track in the school.

5. What the admissions departments look at....an overview

6. The TOEFL Exam or The IELTS Exam • Why do I need to take it? Which one should I take? • Nearly every university around the world will require an English Level Placement Test. The two main tests offered are the TOEFL and the IELTS. • TOEFL – accepted by most universities worldwide. While every university decides on its own minimum requirement....many universities will accept an 80 iBT as a passing mark – very selective universities require above 100. • IELTS – primarily accepted by universities in the UK, Canada, Australia and by some universities in the USA. Many universities require a 6.0, very selective universities require a 7.0. • You should plan on taking a TOEFLor IELTS as soon as possible. Depending on your level of English and your future plans, you should definetely have tried at least one official exam by either October or December. • When and Where can I take it? • You can take the IBT – Internet Based TOEFL, at several places around Istanbul. It is offered on specific dates (about 3 times a month). To sign up go towww.ets.org. • You take the IELTS at the British Council in Istanbul. It is offered twice each month. You sign up at www.ielts.org.

7. UPCOMING TOEFL TEST DATES - 2010 October 17, 23, 30, 31 / November 6, 13, 14, 21, 27, 28 / December 11, 12, 18, 19 The dates indicated above are those that occur on the weekend. There are additional dates as well but we encourage you to take the exam at the weekend. UPCOMING IELTS TEST DATES - 2010 October 23 / November 4, 27 / December 4, 11, 18 IELTS exams are given only on Saturdays. Students will not be excused from school in order to prepare for or take any TOEFL or SAT or IELTS exams.

8. SAT Exams SAT I – This exam measures both English and Math SAT II – Subject Tests (each subject test covers a different subject) • Needed for entrance to most American Universities or Colleges • May be needed for YÖK • There is no minimum score for the SAT tests...the better you do, the better your chances are for being admitted to that institution. • Most universities in the United States will require SAT 1 TEST results. Some of the more competitive universities will also require you to take 2 or 3 SAT II subject tests. • When the first official exam should be taken depends on each individual student’s situation. Student with very good grades who are considering applying to very selective schools should consider taking their first SAT this November, December or January. Most other students should take the first exam in January, however, a few students may be advised to wait until May. Exams are taken at Robert College. You must sign up prior to the registration deadline at www.collegeboard.com.

9. SAT TEST DATES Test Dates Registration Deadlines October 9, 2010 registration closed November 6, 2010 October 8 December 4, 2010 November 5 January 22, 2011 December 23 May 7, 2011 April 8 June 4, 2011 May 6

10. How much does it cost? The price per year for university tuition + housing and meals USA $25,000 – $55,000 (average about $45,000) UK £20,000 – £25,000 CANADA $20,000 - $35,000 CA $

11. Scholarships and Financial Aid Very Limited Realistically only the very best students academically – or in terms of talent Even of those students – very few will receive offers with enough aid Students must be willing to look at universities where aid is an option No guarantees. Dual Citizenship can help but not always.

12. How Admissions Offices review students who need aid “Need- Blind” Schools – only 8 for international students. Students who need aid are reviewed in a more competitive pool. Generally, the more aid needed the more competitive.

13. How will Enka’s Overseas College Counseling Office help us?

14. YEAR 11 • Fall Semester – Set up a schedule and plan for studying for and taking TOEFL / IELTS and SAT exams. • Students and parents will be informed about any necessary external exams that the student will need such as TOEFL and SAT. Wewill discuss these examswith students and help them to decide for themselves how they feel they can best prepare for such exams. • Attend university presentations and fairs. • Join in 11th Grade OCCO meetings.

15. YEAR 11 SPRING SEMESTER INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS • Wewill meet with grade 11 students on a one to one basis to discuss with them their ideas about possible career objectives, how they are doing academically in high school, what they want for themselves, what their parents want for them, and what kind of an environment might help them achieve their full potential in university and beyond. • In spring semester, we will meet with the students and parents as needed to continue developing their plans (generally between 3-6 student meetings and at least one parent meeting).

16. MAKING A LONG LIST Wewill help students create a long list of possible universities. While creating this list we follow our philosophy which believes in finding the best match for each student. The best “matches” will be those universities that can take them from where they are at when they graduate from Enka and create an environment in which they can make the most of their university studies. This does not always mean the most well known universities or the most prestigious ones, or the ones that their fathers or mothers feel is best for them. The universities they choose to apply to should be both “goodmatches” plus realistic choices. Students are encouraged to make realistic choices. By this we mean that students and parents are counseled to choose higher education institutions in which the student academically could keep up and do well.

17. SUMMER 2011 • Students will investigate the schools on their long list and try to narrow down their lists. • Students will write a good draft copy of their personal statement and activity sheet.

18. YEAR 12 Late August –Early September Make Final List • Early in the year students and parents receive guidance while they finalize their lists of which schools to apply to. • The number of universities on a students long list will depend upon to which country they are applying. Our recommendation is the following: 1.) Students applying to the USA choose between 8-10. 2.) Students applying to Canada choose between 6-8 3.) Students applying to the UK choose 5 – 6 schools • Of this list we make sure that the student has a variety of choices: a few universities in which we are fairly confident that they could receive an acceptance (safety schools), several that they are likely to get an acceptance from (target), and a few (reach) schools - those that may be a real challenge to get an acceptance from but from which they have a slight chance and from which they could academically succeed.

19. YEAR 12 October And November Filling Out The Applications • Students are given guidance as they prepare and fill out their applications as well as write any university essays that may be needed. We provide feedback to the students, however, their ideas and writing must be entirely their own. December Sending The Applications • Once the applications have been sent to the universities, generally in December and January, wehelp the students follow through to make sure that the universities have everything which is required for them to make an informed decision.

20. YEAR 12 Spring SemesterGetting Your Offers And Making Your Choice Beginning in February and up until mid-April, students receive acceptances from many of the universities on their list. It is ourobjective that each student has at least a few choices to choose from. Most students end up with somewhere between 3-6 acceptances. Students are then encouraged to make their own choice about which of those acceptances would be the best for them to take. While weinform, counsel, and do a great deal of listening to students and their parents, werefrain from saying – “this is the best school on your list”…or “you should choose this school”. If wehave done my job well, and if every school on their original list was a “good match” for that student, then they now have sitting before them a handful of great possibilities and the ultimate choice of which to take is theirs. Students are then informed about how to apply for their study visas, given an orientation about what to expect from university abroad, and once graduated they become Enka Schools Alumni.

21. If we are interested in applying overseas what must we do now? • Students and Parents – fill out and sign the OCCO (Overseas College Counseling Office) Group sign up form. • Check the OCCO Visitors Calendar and get your OCCO Out of Class Permission Slip for each university visit. • Sign up to take a TOEFL or IELTS exam. • If you plan on applying to the USA, begin (or continue) preparing for the SAT exams.

22. University Visits Throughout the fall you will be invited to attend some of our meetings with university visitors. The list of which universities are visiting will be posted in the school on the Overseas College Counseling Bulletin Board. Students must get their OCCO Out of Class Permission Slip for each university visit.

23. COLLEGE FAIRS • CIS Higher Education Day • Saturday, October 2nd • 13:30 – 17:00 • Istanbul Hilton Hotel

24. Universities visiting Enka Schools

25. NAVIANCE

26. Using Family Connection On-line Resource for Planning & Advising Overview for Parents

27. What is it? • Web-based resource that supports course, career, and college planning. • Specific to our school. • Linked with Counselor’s Office, a service that we use in the counseling office.

28. How is it accessed? • Family Connection is on the Web • http://connection.naviance.com/enka • Parent accounts • Student accounts

29. How do you register? • Each parent and student receives a code • Use code to create a personal account • Codes are random and alphanumeric for security reasons • Codes can be used only once • On your first visit, enter the code in the New User box, then follow on-screen instructions • On subsequent visits, sign in using the Returning User box

30. How does it help? • Shared resource linking home to school • On-line tool for collaboration among counselors, students, and parents

31. What can it do? • Share plans • Complete surveys • Compare colleges • Links to selected third-party resources • Track deadlines

32. Main Page

33. After Sign in

34. Useful Web Sites • Enka Schools Blog site • www.enkaokullari.k12.tr/blog • Enka Naviance / Family Connection Site www.connection.naviance.com/enka • Collegeboard – for SAT and College Searches www.collegeboard.com • TOEFL - English Exam www.toefl.org • IELTS - English Exam www.britishcouncil.org/tr • Common Application www.commonapp.org

35. THANK YOU Sandi Engler Güniz Durmuş September 23rd, 2010