Report from College Counseling
EVERY YEAR, students challenge
me with something new. This
year, which saw the emergence
of the new SAT and the “writing”
option on the ACT, was no
exception—but the new standardized
tests were not the
challenge. Both testing companies
were more than generous
with detailed information about
the changes and how to prepare
for them. My colleagues in college
admission offices were also
very forthcoming about how
the new tests would be used—
or not used, as four prominent
colleges dropped their standardized
test requirement.
No, this year’s challenge has been
building for a while. Putney students
are applying in ever greater
numbers to colleges abroad. That
only used to mean McGill in
Montreal and Saint Andrew’s in
Scotland. Maybe the American
University of Paris. No more.
Japanese students are applying to
universities in their home country,
encouraged by a demographic
that makes the very selective
Japanese universities more accessible.
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 Joyce Vining Morgan |
Putney’s International
Student Advisor, Libby Holmes,
has had—by virtue of her office—
to fill out forms which may well
be in Japanese, but for which our
Putneyites have given us detailed
instructions. Colleagues in Japan
have helped me get some handle
on that system of admissions.
Putney students have applied to a
wide range of universities in
Canada, mostly in the Maritimes,
Quebec and Ontario but also in
British Columbia. I have managed
to visit a number of the universities
in the east, and to collect
a good number of prospecti
(a.k.a. catalogs) and guides.
Students talk about Australia, but
only one graduate is actually
studying there. And for the past
several years, students have been
applying to universities all over
the United Kingdom. Now the
good news is that the British
Council and the universities in
Scotland have organized tours for
the likes of me, and if we can
transport ourselves across the
puddle, they undertake to educate
us in their system of university
application and take us to visit
campuses. The bad news is that
we are still divided by a common
language.
In the United Kingdom, one
applies to a Course (of study, a
discipline, a.k.a. major) as it is
taught in up to six universities.
There are Joint Degrees (bidisciplinary,
a.k.a. dual major)
and interdisciplinary degree programs,
as well. The application is
read by university staff (faculty)
in the Faculty or College (school
or department) to which the
student is applying. Faculties and
Courses are not only ranked by
the news media but publicly
graded by a government system
of assessing the quality of research
and the quality of teaching.
Putney students are well prepared
for the independent study
expected of a student in the U.K.,
and for the seminars and tutorials;
lectures and exams take more getting
used to—as they do for
Putney students in American colleges.
If a Putney student knows
precisely what course of study to
pursue, the three-year British
degree is appropriate, and cheaper
(not to mention the cheap flights
to the rest of Europe). And a student
visa allows its holder to work
up to 20 hours a week during term
time, and fulltime during breaks.
So an adventurous Putney student
might do very well to wrestle
with the UCAS (the British
Common Application) and take
the Subject Tests and, sometimes,
the AP tests required by a system
geared to A-levels. The students
and I together have managed the
application procedure so far, and
even—with the advice of a British
artist/mother of a Putney student—
the portfolio, which is more
about process and presentation
that is common in the U.S.What
next? Well, one recent graduate
asked about the University of
Moscow. Believe me, it’s not the
state university in Idaho.
Joyce Morgan
jmorgan@putneyschool.org
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