The Princeton Review today published its annual list of “Best Value Colleges” that identifies America’s top undergraduate schools offering excellent academics, generous financial aid, and/or relatively low cost of attendance.

The Princeton Review “Top 10 Best Value Public Colleges for 2012” are:
1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill NC)
2. University of Virginia (Charlottesville VA)
3. New College of Florida (Sarasota FL)
4. State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton NY)
5. University of Wisconsin (Madison WI)
6. College of William and Mary (Williamsburg VA)
7. University of Florida (Gainesville FL)
8. University of Georgia (Athens GA)
9. University of Washington (Seattle)
10. University of Texas at Austin

The Princeton Review “Top 10 Best Value Private Colleges for 2012” are:
1. Williams College (Williamstown MA)
2. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore PA)
3. Princeton University (Princeton NJ)
4. Harvard College (Cambridge MA)
5. Rice University (Houston TX)
6. Pomona College (Claremont CA)
7. Washington University (St. Louis MO)
8. Yale University (New Haven CT)
9. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena CA)
10. Hamilton College (Clinton NY)

For more details see here: http://www.princetonreview.com/best-value-press-release.aspx or check out the searchable database: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/best-value-colleges

As I often tell my students choosing a university or college is not just about academics and/or ranking. You are also choosing a new life somewhere. Hence it was interesting to see this new list.

Two pre-requisites have been established to identify the cities evaluated in this exercise. The first is that each city must have a population of over 250,000, the second that it must be home to at least two ranked institutions. Current calculations suggest that 98 cities in the world qualify on this basis.

The criteria for these rankings can be found here.

Registrations closing soon!

Universities and Careers Guidance
FOBISSEA Job Alike Workshop (JAWS)  – preliminary agenda

Date: April 30 to May 1, 2012

Place: The International School of Penang (Uplands), Malaysia

Address: Jalan Sungai Satu, Batu Feringgi, Penang 11100, Malaysia

What is it?: A series of peer led workshops exploring issues to do with university and careers guidance as well as providing the opportunity to share common experiences and to discuss job-related issues – download promotional flyer

Cost: There are no workshop fees applicable. Participants pay for their transport, airport transfer and accommodation fees only. An optional dinner on Monday 30 April is approximately RM100.

Registration deadline: Friday 15th March 2012 – download registration form

Contact person: Nic Klar – nicholas.klar@uplands.org

We would like to invite members of FOBISSEA schools to share this collaborative experience and contribute to the development of Universities and Careers guidance in FOBISSEA schools across the region. During the two days there will be some discussion prompts and facilitated sessions as well as opportunities to share ‘challenges’ you may be experiencing in your own schools.

We welcome short presentations from colleagues across the region who are willing & able to share their expertise within a specific area of Universities and Careers guidance. Below is listed possible topics offered. We would like each participant to offer one presentation if possible. Through this workshop format it should be possible for a smaller group of like-minded professionals like ourselves to share our experience, skills and knowledge rather than expensive key-note speakers.

Some proposed topics (at this time):

“Incorporating planning for University into an International Life Skills Curriculum”
“Setting up a Sixth Form”
“Applying to North American universities and colleges”
“Writing a Personal Statement (UK)”
“Writing a College Essay (US)”
“Looking for Alternatives – Universities in Asia”
“Guidance on Australian university entrance”
“Getting into London Universities & Oxbridge”

Presentation:

John Broadbent (IFF/ISCO Regional Director for SE Asia and former Head of Careers at Alice Smith School) will deliver a keynote worshop, “Careers programs and continuity into university applications”

John will also provide a presentation on Futurewise – a personalised careers guidance and planning service.

Expected outcomes:

1. For FOBISSEA Universities and Careers Advisors, Heads of Sixth Form, Pastoral/Year Heads and others to have the opportunity to share knowledge, skills and experiences with other professionals who are undertaking similar roles in different schools;
2. To share best practice, knowledge, skills and resources;
3. To establish links that will allow us to work collaboratively in future;
4. Discuss job related issues;
5. For the workshop to ultimately benefit our students, the individual, as well as the school itself

Schools currently represented:

Harrow Thailand
BIS Vietnam
Tanglin Trust Singapore
St Stephen’s Bangkok
Kinabalu International School
Bangkok International Preparatory
International School of Penang (Uplands)

Accommodation:

We recommend staying in one of the following hotels in Batu Feringgi

Bayview Beach Resort • Hard Rock Hotel • Parkroyal Hotel • Holiday Inn • Lone Pine Hotel • Golden Sands Hotel • Rasa Sayang

The Parkroyal and Holiday Inn are within easy walking distance of the school. There are other numerous budget inns within Batu Feringgi if you are seeking something more cost effective. You can also choose to stay in Georgetown. It is approximately RM30-40 (US$10-13) for a taxi to the school.

Rasa Sayang in Batu Feringgi

Draft Itinerary/Agenda:

If you have any areas of expertise and/or suggestions you would like to share with the group, please let us know as we are happy to amend the agenda.

Sunday 29/4 arrive – own arrangement to hotel – free evening
We suggest you take the opportunity to visit the famous local night markets in Batu Feringgi and hawker stalls.

Monday 30/4 – Pick up from hotels between 8.30-9.00 – shuttle to school

• Meet and greet
• Tour of school
• Session 1
• Break
• Session 2
• Lunch
• Session 3
• Break
• Session 4
• Open session/evaluation
• Finish approximately 4.30pm
• Shuttle back to hotels

Informal dinner at one of the local resorts (optional) – time and place TBA (RM100)

Tuesday 1/5 – Pick up from hotels between 8.30-9.00 – shuttle to school

• Session 5
• Break
• Session 6
• Finish approximately 12 noon
• Shuttle to hotels

Own arrangement for lunch and to airport

Happy New Year. We are back after a very busy application season.

As you would well know from previous posts our Year 13 students have been busily sending out their university applications around the globe prior to Christmas. The result is that Santa brought many of them good news over the break. Before applications have even closed our students have already received offers to many excellent universities including Bristol, Nottingham, Warwick, Bath, Exeter, Manchester, Loughborough, Southhampton, Queen Mary, Kings College London, Leeds and Liverpool, as well as Hong Kong University (ranked No. 1 in Asia) plus Purdue University and Florida Institute of Technology in the US. Some have also received substantial scholarship offers. Congratulations to those students and keep up the good work! We are sure there are still many good offers to come.

British universities send decisions at different times. If UCAS receives an application by 15 January 2012, students will hear from all their choices by 10 May 2012. If they receive an application after 15 January 2012, students will hear back by 19 July 2012. Decisions from universities and colleges can be seen on the online Track service. We encourage our students to use Track and also see the important dates page on www.ucas.com/students/importantdates

Shortly we will begin working with our Year 12 cohort and we look forward to working with students and their families. More news to come.