Daeil Overseas Studies Program (DOSP)

The 2007-2008 school year common application is online.

Go here to fill it out the common application.

This is targeted for the seniors, but it may be good for you to look at it now.

The counselor recommendation can be an asset to your college application because it is the opportunity to state information that is not included anywhere else in your application for admissions. In order for your recommendation to be thorough and also a fair representation of who you are, it will be helpful for me to me if you answer the questions below. I will use this information along with information from other sources to compose your college recommendation. Please remember to provide DETAILED information.

1.    What personal characteristics do you possess that distinguish you from others? (Remember that you should be comparing yourself to US students of your age)
2.    What unusual personal experiences have you had compared to other people your age?
3.    What are you goals for yourself during the next 10 years?
4.    Please give specific and detailed examples of your extracurricular activities since last spring. List any offices or other leadership activities that you are now or have been involved in. Include summer activities also.
5.    Describe the extent and nature of your international experiences. What have you gained/learned from your overseas experiences?
6.    Other information about yourself that you think I should know.
7.    What areas of study have you enjoyed in school so far?
8.    Which high school courses have been difficult and why?
9.    Are your grades an accurate reflection of your abilities? If not, why?
10.    What do you enjoy doing during the school day?
11.    What are your greatest strengths? (Academics as well as personal qualities)
12.    What are your weaknesses? (Academics as well as personal qualities)
13.    List five adjectives that describe who you are.

I’ve adapted this from a college counselor at Korea International School (Thanks Keith).

Not even the prestigious Harvard University is perfect. Don’t be depressed if you don’t have to have an Ivy League education to make a significant impact on the world. You just have to be unique and passionate.
According to 02138 Magazine  in their article title The Rejects you can find a list of some very interesting people including:

• Warren Buffett - Investor and Philanthropist
  
• John Kerry - United States Senator, Former US President Candidate
  
• Lee C. Bollinger - Current President of Columbia University
• Ted Turner - Founder of TBS and CNN
• Tom Brokaw - Journalist
• Matt Groening - Creator of the Simpsons
• Scott McNealy - Chairman and Founder of Sun Microsystems

I hope this inspires you to study hard and smart even if you don’t get into a first tier school.

Test of English as a Foreign Language or TOEFL is a test designed for English Fluency. It was originally designed for students who wanted to study in the United States. The TOEFL Test is recommended for those students who are not fluent in English. Generally ESL students or international students, where English is not their primary language, should take this test.

The point of the test is to check if you could understand what goes on in a student’s life on a US college campus. It’s obvious if you can’t speak, read, hear, and write English that you shouldn’t attend the school.

Each college is different, but to many of the first tier college representatives I’ve spoken to said the TOEFL is not necessary as it does not prove anything if you score above a 600 on the critical reading portion of the SAT Reasoning test.

If you are still not confident in my advice you can either speak with the admissions officers yourself by emailing them or by taking the expensive and hard to reserve test in Korea.

Listed below is the rough equivalents of the internet based (IBT), computer based (CBT), and paper based (PBT).

The general consensus for Ivy League universities requires above the following, it is NOT necessary to take the TOEFL exam to get a perfect on the exam.

IBT: 105 / 120
PBT: 260 / 300
CBT: 620 / 677

If you need help studying for the exam if you have decent English fluency just purchase a cram book or just search on the internet for free TOEFL studying resources. Don’t go to those unnecessarily expensive cram schools.

Here is another college information website.

I don’t know how much of the website I trust. I also don’t really trust “teenagers” with no face on the internet. Who knows how accurate the information maybe, but it may be a good place to get advice and bounce ideas off of people.

Once again I strongly encourage you not to believe everything you hear (read).

You can click on the link below.

http://collegeconfidential.com/ 

Number2.com is another SAT / ACT / GRE prep program. What’s nice about this one is that it is completely free. Once again I haven’t personally used this service, but I wanted to get it out there.

Eventually I’d like students to review these programs below.

http://number2.com/

Now that the regular AP exams are over I’ll be posting more frequently. As we begin

Let’s start from the top.

Why should you go to college?

This is not an exhaustive list, but only just some of the more prominent ideas.

• Economically – On average college graduates earn more than those of high school graduates - Check out Fortune’s Top 20 Employers
• Learn new things- learn to critically think, open your mind, experience new things
• Four years of your life that can leave you with great memories
• Professional career training

Feel free to add any of your own in the comments- why are you going to college?

As a counselor, I am always on the look out for good resources.

DOSP has just purchased five books for resources for you guys. You are welcomed to borrow them. If you are interested come talk to Paul.

• The Ultimate College Acceptance System - Danny Ruderman
• Fiske Guide to Colleges
• Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College
• College Essays - The Princeton Review
• Real College Essays That Work

I’ll be reading these books and posting more information on this website as well as sharing information in class. I’m looking for those little nuggets of gold that will be worth sharing to you.

Zinch dot com is an interesting new website, we’ll see how it evolves with college admissions.

Here’s a blurb from their site:

Zinch exists to extract the wealth of potential in today’s high school students. Through Zinch, students are empowered to showcase their greatness to colleges and universities as an invitation for recruitment.

I encourage you to sign up and try it out and definitely sign up for their scholarship programs.

http://zinch.com/

Here’s an additional College Counseling website that you can use as a resource.

The site describes itself as:

International Counselor is a free site supporting international students, their parents and counselors seeking higher education opportunities and information.

http://www.internationalcounselor.org/