Blogs & Latest News

Career Counseling

So You Want to be a Doctor?

With the help of all the medical programmes on television, you may have thought to yourself that becoming a medical doctor may be the career for you. Over the next two blog posts I will take you through the steps, needed to achieve this goal, but as a regulated career, the requirements to qualify as a doctor differs from country to country. In this first article, I will focus on providing an overview of the steps required to train and work in the US,

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Supplemental Essays | The College Community Essay 2021-22
College Counseling

Supplemental Essays: The Community Essay

The community essay prompt is one of my favorites. As mentioned in many of my blogs, US colleges and universities are looking at crafting a community and that’s exactly why colleges ask this question. They want to know how you see yourself as part of a community – any community. You do not necessarily have to be in a leadership role, but you could be.

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Reading List
College Essays

Creating Your Own Reading List

Having been an English facilitator, I am often asked about book recommendations by students I work with and otherwise. On one hand, this question is straightforward. After all, there are so many books that most people enjoy reading.

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Should I Study Computer Science? Exploring Education & Careers
Majors

Should I Study Computer Science?

The field of computer science has seen a surge in applications from students wanting to study the subject for their higher education degree. In the UK, applications to study computer science have seen a year on year increase of 4%, a massive increase over such a short period, while in the United States the numbers of people graduating with a degree in the field has increased from 39,000 in 2010 to well over 88,000 in 2019.

This increase in interest is perhaps no surprise given the prevalence of tech in our everyday lives and the vast amounts of money that some technology companies have made since the start of the new millennium. So if you are thinking that computer science might be for you, or are just interested to know what all the fuss is about, read on.

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Career Counseling

“Who’s the text from?”

Over the past decade, I have experienced the concept of ‘multitasking’ become fashionably cool. I remember reveling in my multitasking skills as a teenager whenever I listened to EDM in the background while solving math problems.

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Exploring the 13 Reasons Why You Should Journal Everyday?
Study Skills

13 Reasons Why You Should Journal Every Day

As a counselor, I recommend students develop journaling skills that can be helpful to them in so many ways and situations. With the stressful situation that pandemic has put us all in, either through online learning or lockdowns that stretch to perpetuity, we are facing the need to share our thoughts but not finding the most effective tool to do that. Journaling is the answer to this dilemma.

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Perigueux-Hall-architect-images
Admissions

Housing at US Colleges and Universities

Upon accepting your college admission offer, the first thing you want to secure is your accommodation. For that, it is important to do some research into the different options available to you. Understand why you feel one would suit you better than the other based on your personal preferences.

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A Look Ahead at the 2021 Academic Year for Students | Ivy Central
College Counseling

What Will the 2021 Academic Year Bring for Students?

Twelve months ago, as the pandemic took hold around the world, students were graduating from high school into an uncertain situation. For many, the pandemic changed the world from what they had expected and for those preparing to start their university years, rather than leaving home and starting a new life abroad it has meant a year of online classes and spending hours in bedrooms at home. As a new cohort of students prepare to graduate, what will the new academic year bring?

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Five tips to help you get what you need to do
College Counseling

Class of 2025: The Bigger Picture

At the start of January this year I wrote a piece for this blog where I looked at what had happened in the early round of college applications for the class of 2025. Since the start of April colleges have been releasing statistical information for the whole application round, including the numbers of applications they have received and the all important admit rate. From this information, we are able to gain a better understanding of what has turned out to be a truly unique year.

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How to write a letter of continued interest
Admissions

Writing a ‘Letter of Continued Interest’

Congratulations on making it to some of the best programs in the US! We are sure most of you would have heard back from some of the colleges you have applied to. Given the record-breaking applications to highly competitive colleges in the US, this year has been an unpredictable one for most.

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Changes at the Common App

The Common Application has announced the essay prompts for the 2021-22 admissions cycle and for the first time in nearly five years there has been a change. Here, I will explain what the change is and its significance for students applying to college later this year.

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Exploring Types of Colleges and Universities in the US | Ivy Central
College Counseling

A Guide to the Colleges and Universities in the US.

Now is the time of year where those students who will be applying for college later in the year really start to think about building their college list. While every college is unique nearly all can be categorised into a type, often offering great advantages to their students. In this article, I will list some of the most popular types of colleges you should get to know as you narrow down the colleges and universities on your college list.

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9 Tips on How to Improve Your School Performance? Ivy Central
Study Skills

Improve Your GPA, 9 Tips to Boost Your School Performance.

In the last blog, I discussed Grade Point Average or GPA, how it is calculated and how it makes an important contribution to the profile you present to colleges at application time. If colleges consider your GPA to be important, then you should too. In this blog, I will show you how the key to academic success is not dependent on being smart, rather it is about being disciplined and efficient in your study habits. These 9 strategies will help you raise your GPA without getting stressed and working at all hours.

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