Ms. Shivangi Sharda, the founder of Headway – Career and College Consulting, came to CMR NPS as an expert speaker. The main focus of the talk was to guide the students through defining their education goals and help understand the application process for those applying to universities abroad.
She spoke in-depth about how studying abroad is beneficial in many ways, such as;
- The universities options are many.
- In universities abroad, the main focus is practical learning.
- Universities abroad give a more holistic education rather than just conceptual knowledge.
- The selection of subjects can give students a more interdisciplinary line of education.
she informed that most Indian students after completing their Grade 12 prefer to go to countries like the U.S., Canada, Germany, the U.K., Singapore, Australia, etc. According to her choosing a destination for higher education depends largely on the flexibility and range of subjects, the length of the program, the budget of the program, scholarships available, and work opportunities. While choosing subjects for the course, one must understand and answer three questions to themselves; a) What will I study? b) Is specific training needed? c) which career path do I want to be a part of?
Ms. Shivangi Sharda further explained the differences between the education systems of the US, UK, and Singapore. The difference is as follows:
- The length of the course in the US is 3 to 4 years, in the UK the length is 3 years and in Singapore, it is 3 to 4 years.
- American Universities are more flexible in terms of their subjects selection process. They give their students a year to finalize their decisions. They as stated before believing in holistic education. The universities in the UK and Singapore are more strict. They require the students to decide their subjects before or while applying for the course.
- Teaching styles in the US are more class discussions based and real-world understanding. In the UK it’s more lecture-based, self-study and research. The Singaporean universities are a hybrid of the two teaching styles as seen in the US and UK.
Ms. Shivangi also gave a little insight into the financial aid the three countries provide. According to her, the US gives out more scholarships, followed by Singapore and the UK. In Singapore, scholarships are given only to exceptional students unlike in the US, wherein they see your financial background or see if you are meritorious enough to enter their scholarship programs.
She mainly focused on the standardized tests, ECA Profile, and essays required to submit while applying to colleges in the US, UK, and Singapore. In the US the standardized tests that colleges recommend are the SATs, ACT, IELTS, TOEFL, and APs. In the UK and Singapore, the standardized tests that colleges recommend are IELTS and TOEFL. The two countries also look into the academic performances in the grades 9th to 12th, (board marks and predicted grades.) The ECA Profile is one where your extra-curricular activities are mentioned (resume). The essays are mainly surrounding the topics of “Why you want to join XYZ college?” and other creative supplements.
Overall, the students had an in-depth and analyzed idea of what they should focus on while thinking of where and how to apply for their dream colleges. We would like to thank Ms. Shivangi Sharda for coming to CMR NPS and imparting her knowledge on Career and College counseling and help students choose the best of what they’ve got.
