University of California Admissions 2017

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cover-photo How to tackle tricky personal insight questions ASAP, even as you’re overwhelmed with SAT or ACT preparation. What to do for the best outcome?

Introducing UC Admissions Premium Package

  • Two one hour in-depth brainstorming sessions
  • A sum of three turns of editing of 4 essays!

How The Package Works

Step 1 : Fill out the order form and make your payment. Step 2 : Schedule your preferred timeslots for the consultation session. Step 3 : After the first session, an essay outline will be sent for you to draft your work. Step 4 : Send us your first drafts and schedule your the next session. Step 5 : Second session will work on the fundamental weaknesses. Step 6 : Two more revisions on the four essays until 11/28 23:59 PT. ​

Who should try? No matter if you are a transfer student; or an upcoming freshman

  • If you have doubts on how to express your exceptional background concisely 
  • If you have written a draft, but would like to PERFECT it 
  • If you are not sure which of the 8 questions you ought to pick 
  • No idea where and how to begin with

The UC Admissions Premium Package will definitely suit your needs!

Why TopAdmit?

  • Our Goal: Provide more resources to students who have limited access to college application counseling resources.
  • The Aim: To assist students to effectively express themselves, giving them equal opportunities to the best education by conveying their achievements.
  • We Guarantee: Your writing meets its fullest potential. If you are buried in application essays, TopAdmit is here to help as your best essay editing choice.

Original price : $2000 Apply before OCT.31 : 15% discount!

FOR MORE INFO: http://www.ucessaycoach.com/

Obtain a scholarship easily!

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scholarshipOften the main reasons that you forgo your overseas studies plan is due to the expensive tuition and= fees. Especially in the U.S and UK, where private schools dominate, enrollment in a prestigious school involves even higher costs. Therefore, an important strategy for you to realize your dream of studying abroad will be to use your edge to obtain a scholarship!

Before discussing the scholarship strategy, you should be aware where to find information about scholarship availability or education grants at a college or university. As a matter of fact, the most important source would be the Admission page! Regardless of the different webpage designs or setup of each school, you will basically find such information on the admission page for it is where information is provided regarding the registration, application process and any help you need before applying.

Other key words you may use during research is “financial aid/fund”, which will normally be seen in the application section if such aid/fund is available. You don’t have to worry that very few schools provide scholarships. Let me tell you, America values talents. Therefore financial aid is available at most renowned schools. But please be aware that such financial aids may be provided under different requirements and circumstances, it may not necessarily be the full amount, or it may be in the form of a subsidy for your living costs or tuition. Some will have to be applied together with your application during enrollment, some will be applied after your admission is confirmed. Clear descriptions concerning such matters should be provided on the admissions page. If you are not well informed or have some concerns, remember to contact the person in charge of registration. You should write courteously, and elaborate what you are concerned about. According to my experience, given the time differences, you will get a reply overnight!

If you have checked the in-need-of financial aid option in your application, you may request for financial aid. If the school doesn’t require you to provide additional materials, then you basically don’t need to make any extra preparations, however, it would be a good idea to emphasize in your PS or resume in response to the features of the faculty or department (as described in detail below) about requiring financial aid. If you need to submit other materials, you should consider the following strategy more carefully in order to find out how to show yourself in response to the preference of each program.

If you are applying for an undergraduate program, then you stand a better chance of obtaining a scholarship than a research institute program. Especially some first class universities place a great amount of resources on undergraduate students, so you will have less difficulty in getting financial aid if you are in need. Whereas doctorate programs, which focuses on a single area of studies, where doctorate students are usually able to obtain full scholarships under a good research projects, a research institute on the other hand, normally offers limited chances of scholarship (mostly partial scholarships). The main source of income is the opportunity of working as assistants to improve your abilities while making some money. (Though such income can basically cover most of your expenditures. And detailed terms of scholarship and your responsibilities are stated clearly on the admission page).

Now let us talk about how to best present yourself to persuade the school to invest in you!

A. Write an impressive Personal Statement!

1) Demonstrate a clear structured plan of your life

Like what we talked about PS last time, many people feel that the personal statement is to show yourself to the best of their ability. This is the right approach, but to some extent it is not. Think about how those impressive ads are created, do you just remember their best parts and messages? Focus, completeness, clarity and liveliness are their common features. Therefore, the key part of your job is how to narrate the joys and sorrows, highs and lows of each story and experience vividly. How to describe that you have discovered what you are looking for, your destiny after going through such pains and hardships. Remember, you don’t have to tell everything, the key is to impress with each paragraph written.

2) Focus on your specialty

Don’t overdo it. The most challenging but valuable part of the essay is writing appropriate and engaging content. I mentioned under point number one that you need to impress by showing how special you are. But now I say to stay focused on writing content relevant to your specialty major, which means that you should not highlight only features of your personality blindly. Personality does impress, but it does not contribute to your chances until it perfectly matches the program’s features and requirement. In a perfect PS, you have to make the adcom committee feel your strong motivation, have them moved by your passion and your story, and have them convinced that you are fully prepared to complete your studies under that specialization.

B. Extra-curricular practices and work experiences

Famous schools in the U.S. value the quality of their students not only in terms of academic performance but also their expectations of a well-balanced personal development. As mentioned previously about higher probability for scholarships in a research institute, more chances are given to working assistants. Therefore, it is especially important to prove that you can implement into practice the knowledge you have learned.

Successful applicants for good universities or challenging programs must be very strong academically. However, solid work experiences and extra-curricular activities will help you make a difference. Meanwhile, detailed, specific and impressive descriptions of your growth out of those experiences will greatly increase your chances to win a scholarship

C. Maintain contact with professors and the school

At the research institute each person has his or her mentor professor. For many projects, whether or not you can get a scholarship is at the discretion of the professor. On the official website for the program application, you can see who your future mentor professor is and the area he or she is specialized in. If you are really passionate and ambitious about the program, you are recommended to spend some time reading the works of your mentor and express your enthusiasm by writing and email and discussing with him or her what you are interested in.

As you demonstrate your wisdom, humor and passion in your communications with the professor, and the professor comes to understand who you are and gets along with you, you surely have a much bigger chance of winning a scholarship.

D. Avoid hot in-demand programs

If each specialty provides the same number of people with scholarships, you have a better chance to win if there are fewer applicants under your program. But never choose a less popular program that is neither in your interest nor to your liking just because of the chance for a scholarship. I just want to tell you that the current hot programs will not necessarily mean a hot career in the future. Why not choose a less popular specialty if you like it? Perhaps it will be in-demand in ten years. Find the main theme of your life, choose what you love most, and your passion will drive you through the end. In case you don’t have any specific preferences, then consider your financial strength, area of studies and interests, and you may find some less popular programs which offer scholarships as a good choice.

Of course, there is no 100% guarantee that you will win what you are striving for, to some extent luck plays a part. Nonetheless, make sure you stand a higher chance by preparing yourself better when pursuing studies overseas. As it is evidenced by the law of attraction, when you are fully determined, you win support from all! I wish you good luck in your entry into a first class school!

Conquer TOEFL by yourself! Part I

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WHAT IS THE TOEFLtoefl

TOEFL is an English aptitude test designed by the American nonprofit educational institution ETS, and it is an ability test especially targeted for those who are non-English native speakers and have not attained a degree in a classroom where English was the primary language of instruction. Initially, TOEFL was separated into three distinct types, including the PBT (paper based test), CBT (computer based test), and the iBT (Internet-based test). Presently, most universities accept the iBT, and in most countries, test takers can only take the iBT, in which the test is given online, and the total score is 120 points.

In a general sense, a score of 80 in the iBT is the minimum requirement for exchanging or applying to an overseas university, and 100 is the lowest entry requirement for graduate studies (nevertheless, better schools will have higher requirements). However, what is worth mentioning is that the results of this test are only valid for 2 years, and the duration begins on the test date (for instance, if your test was on March 10, 2015, your scores would be valid until March 10, 2017). Hence, when deciding when you will be needing the TOEFL and scores, you need to decide whether you will be in line with the expiration date (and also remember that this test is not something that you take once, and you’re done with for life!).

Furthermore, since in recent years the local online forums and cram schools have gotten more and more skilled, and they strategically answer and systematically crack the test questions, there have been more and more students who receive very high scores. This has prompted the US institutions to raise their TOEFL requirement for entry on an annually basis. This is what we call an unsustainable effect that hurts those that come after us.

Registration method

Since iBT is Internet-based, registration for test is done online. First, you need to register for the TOEFL test on the Ministry of Education’s website (http://bit.ly/1fJiIqI)

The online registration process contains the following four steps:

    1. Register to become a member, and construct your personal file (just as you would for other account setups).

Attention to name (Chinese and English), gender, personal ID number, document number, and date of birth. Please double-check to make sure they are correct, as these basic important information cannot be changed later on. As for the other needed information, I believe that those who have established an account would understand, and so I will not repeat.

2. Pay for your test fee online. 

There are many forms of payment accepted for your iBT test which includes: Credit card, e-checks, Paypal and e-checks. The forms of payment NOT accepted are: cash or demand drafts, post-dated checks, receipts of bank checks, and UNESCO coupons. Also please pay special attention that only the British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Japanese Yen and Euro currencies are accepted. In addition, here’s a list of important fees related to the test:

toeflfeetable

 

3. Register for a test. 

Normal registration period is up until 7 days prior to the test date, and if you register within 7 days from the test, you will need to pay an additional fee for late registration. What’s worth pointing out is that, you need to be very selective about your testing spot at this stage. However, January and July through September are the hottest time for testing, and in a big city, it is difficult to find an ideal testing spot if you don’t register four to six months prior to the test. At this point, you may choose to take the test in a different city (or if you have a chance to participate in exchange program abroad, you may also take the test there).

Often times, there are several different ways for testing spots to be released:
A) NEEA will release a large bundle of testing spots several months before the test, which may include spots in the upcoming six months. (Mostly before October)
B) Several days prior to the test, there will also be a release of testing spots in different provinces and cities. But whether a particular city will release a number of spots on which date and time remains unclear.
C) To cater to the large number of test-takers, NEEA may spontaneously decide to host more test sessions. But this also remains undecided.

Therefore, the most important thing would be, to plan for your test date early after you have established the score you need, and to schedule a testing spot six months before you take the test!

4. Fill out background information questionnaire. 

After you finish this part, you will have just made an important first step toward taking the TOEFL test! In my own experience, most people are plagued with laziness, and although we know that we must take the test, it is hard to focus until we actually have to do it. Usually, it isn’t until a test-taker has finished registering that he/she becomes motivated and starts planning out a schedule for studying. Hence, why not register early and make up your mind early so that you can attain the best date and testing spot, and have sufficient time to study toward getting a good score!