Category: Blog

If you ask for a list of documents important to a foreign education application process, the personal statement and your school transcripts usually top it, but just as equally important as your letters of recommendations (LoR)!

The LoR is an external validation of what you’ve done and demonstrated in your resume. This helps Admissions Officers holistically assess your profile from another perspective. This is especially since the truth about a candidate’s involvement in a project cannot be bent—it’s the recommender’s responsibility while endorsing a candidate for admission. For undergraduate admissions through the Common App portal, most universities request for one counselor LoR and one-three subject LoRs.

The counselor LoR offers an overarching description of you to the committee, highlighting major accomplishments that set you apart from other applicants. It describes you as an individual and more than just a learner, while detailing your impact on the community, and shares your future goals. On the other hand, the subject teachers’ LoRs are supposed to highlight your growth in a specific subject (usually relevant to the major you’re applying to). It demonstrates your caliber in the subject, mentions your best work which had an impact outside the classroom space, and your strengths as a learner, which would make you an asset academically to the university.

Schools usually collect this information through brag sheets that act as a quick reference guide with all the details and achievements for someone trying to get to know you better. Make sure to highlight your strengths, demonstrate growth through specific instances from your classroom and school experiences, and provide evidence for your projects. Feel free to also highlight your application theme and strategy in the brag sheet. This would help your counselor and teachers draft stellar LoRs on your behalf.

Other than these required LoRs, the portal also allows for you to submit external LoRs—from mentors, internship supervisors, heads of NGos, or any other notable individuals who will be able to speak for your work with them. This serves as valid evidence of your community service, internships, and/or research work outside school, and demonstrates additional strengths outside school, while supplementing what your teachers are saying.

LoRs should ideally follow the PEE framework—Point, Explanation, Evidence. Mention one of your strengths or achievements, contextualize it further as to why the particular strength/achievement is significant, and provide specific examples or anecdotes that illustrate the point and explanation. This would ensure that you have a concise, persuasive LoR that conveys all the important details to the stakeholders of the admissions process.

Remember, the quality of an LoR can make a world of difference. For those seeking help in crafting their LoRs or navigating the application process for abroad education, consider consulting with professionals like Yashi Shukla, with over 17 years of experience in education abroad!

You can apply to undergraduate colleges and universities in two rounds: the early round and regular rounds.

The Early Round(s)

Applying early is one of the ways in which you can let your dream schools know that you’re enthusiastic about them! There are three common types of Early Rounds to consider—Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA), and Restrictive Early Action (REA). As a strategic choice, when you apply early, you also hear back early!

When you apply ED, you’re making a solemn promise to a school that you’ll attend no matter what—which makes them a little more inclined to say “yes.” If it’s a top-choice program, it’s definitely a strategic move to make. Some colleges, especially top selective ones, also offer a bump in the acceptance rate when you apply ED. If you get in, you’ll have to withdraw applications from everywhere, since this is a binding acceptance. Most ED schools will let you know their decision latest by December 15. However, the binding nature can complicate financial aid negotiations and it limits your flexibility. Deadlines typically fall around November 1. Some schools offer two rounds of Early Decisions—ED I and ED II. ED II deadlines are usually alongside regular decisions in early January, and offer the same advantages as an ED. This is also binding, which means you must withdraw other applications if accepted.

EA, on the other hand, is non-binding. You can apply to multiple colleges through this route, and still consider others if accepted. While this definitely does have a competitive edge at some colleges, it’s more of a sure-shot way to have acceptances and also understand your application strategy before you give your final high-school exams! Most schools will let you know their decisions by mid- to late-December.

Some colleges—like Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Yale—offer a Restrictive Early Action round, which is non-binding like Early Action, but limits the number of other colleges you can apply to early.

A common mistake to avoid during the early round is submitting application materials that don’t demonstrate a strong fit and genuine motivation for attending the selected school. Just applying early doesn’t highlight your enthusiasm—your materials should reflect the values of the school you’re applying to and prove how you’ll be an asset to their incoming class.

If you made the decision to apply early:

• Make sure to talk to your school counselor/college-counselor and teachers well in advance—they would have to sign-off on your ED application, and send interim transcripts and LoRs by the application deadline.
• Register for and take the SAT (and if required, English proficiency exams) early, around June, since this would be an important data-point to consider in your ED decision.
• Set up a system and calendar for tracking application timelines and deadlines.

The Regular Round

This is the most common application deadline. Submissions are on or around January 1, with decision notifications in late March/early April. It is a non-binding deadline that allows you to send applications to several schools and is best for students who require more time to refine their applications or improve their scores.

Unsure? Overwhelmed? Don’t worry! The study abroad consulting team at Yashi Shukla Consulting, with over 17 years of experience in education abroad, has the expertise to guide you through this grueling process of applications! Contact us today!

As a parent, it’s difficult to often trust anyone else with your child’s welfare. Study abroad counselors are those guiding your child through one of life’s most important, and more often than not, difficult decisions. How can you then work best with your child’s college counselor, so as to ensure the best possible experience for them through this difficult, strenuous process of college applications?

• It’s important to treat your child’s consultant as an ALLY—as study-abroad mentors, they’re almost second parents to the kid, and they also have the child’s best interest at heart. It’s the counselor’s job to give you real information about the likelihood of your child’s admission possibilities based on their grades. It’s NOT judgment, but fact. Please take it in that sense.
• Don’t wait for a crisis to meet the counselor. Use their time effectively to convey any important information about the child, and take invitations for meetings seriously. Respect their time, as much as you respect any of your child’s teachers’. While they might be providing a service, they ARE professionals. They don’t need to be constantly reminded, or be contacted outside business hours.
• The education consultant knows what they’re doing. They have access to current information and trends, connections to colleges around the country, and the responsibility to do what’s best for each mentee. Enter this relationship with a positive attitude—don’t question their knowledge. Definitely ask questions if you’re unsure about something, but respectfully.
• Help the agency and the student coordinate, but also ensure that your child is taking ownership of their activities. It’s neither your’s or the counselor’s responsibility to do the child’s work for them—it’s the child’s application, and they MUST be held accountable for it right from the beginning. Remind them of deadlines, help them prioritize tasks, proofread and provide suggestions, but they must do their own work and stay ahead of their tasks.
• Don’t pressurize the child into your dreams. This also means, in all honesty, don’t hover over your children, even if they’re applying to YOUR field. This makes it difficult for the abroad-education counselor to provide the right advice or lead them down the path that’s best for your child. Guide them, but let them find their own way. It’s imperative to their success.

Having a good relationship with your child’s college counselor goes a long way toward smoothing out the rough pavement on the road to college. You’ll be glad to have had the support at the end!

As a high-school student interested in education abroad, you must have heard from your college counselors  or high-school counselors about the daunting admissions process. It’s a long, often frustrating process with one of the most difficult questions you have probably ever asked yourself—how do you know which college is the right fit for you?

Some of the best abroad education consultants will tell you that college tours are one way to show your interest in a college before or during the admissions process, alongside discovering the answer to this question. It’s also a foolproof way to get real information about resources, facilities, and college atmosphere, and a chance to talk to someone who is already there. More often than not, these tours are led by a student, who can directly respond to your questions about student life.

Here are some things you MUST check on a campus tour to make the most out of it:

● Academics:

• How popular is here on campus?
• How accessible are the faculty on campus for office hours?
• How big are classes? Are classes lecture-based or discussion-based?
• How satisfied are you with academic advising?
• Are professors available for research with students?
• What are the attendance policies like?
• Do students use any on-campus tutoring programs or writing centers?
• What kind of labs and research centers are available and accessible to undergraduate students?

● Campus Life:

• What is it like to be a first-year on campus?
• What kind of support is available to international students?
• What do you do when you’re not in class?
• What kinds of things are there to do in the school’s hometown?
• Which clubs and organizations are popular? Is there a club on campus?
• How’s the food ?
• Is it easy to get around campus? Is it disability-accessible?
• Do most students live on campus? How are the dorms?
• How safe is the campus? What measures are in place to protect students and staff?
• What resources are available for students to access in case of safety emergencies?

● Student Body?

• What makes the student body unique?
• Do students of different races and classes interact easily? Are the cliquish?
• How do student politics work here?

● Career Services:

• Are internships available? How do you find them?
• Is Career Services helpful?
• Does the school have a co-op program ?
• Are there opportunities to build leadership skills on campus?
• What options exist for service learning in the community?
• Do employers recruit students on campus?
• How easy is it to find summer jobs and other kinds of work through the school?

However, please do some basic research about the school before you go on a campus visit; do not depend on the guide for ALL the information. Carry some water and snacks with you; tours can get slightly overwhelming. Don’t hesitate to take pictures, as long as you take permission from the tour guide. While your excitement is valid, please don’t interrupt the tour guide while they’re speaking, and wait for the right moment to ask questions. Usually, there is time allotted at regular time intervals during the tour, or at the end, to ask questions. Follow-up the tour with an email, thanking the university and the guide for their hospitality!

Don’t forget to have fun, and Bon Voyage!

My mom finds a baffling delight from drinking from glass, hotel-grade water dispensers. Even when three-day-old lemon rinds float in stale water, drinking from the dispenser remains luxurious. Last year for her birthday, I saved enough to buy a water dispenser for our kitchen counter. However, instead of water, I filled it with handwritten notes encouraging her to chase her dreams of a career.

As I grew older, I noticed that my mom yearned to pursue her passions and to make her own money. She spent years as a stay-at-home mom and limited our household chores as much as she could, taking the burden upon herself so that my brothers and I could focus on our education. However, I could tell from her curiosity of and attitudes toward working women that she envied their financial freedom and the self-esteem that must come with it. When I asked her about working again, she would tell me to focus on achieving the American dream that I knew she had once dreamed for herself.

For years, I watched her effortlessly light up conversations with both strangers and family. Her empathy and ability to understand the needs, wants and struggles of a diverse group of people empowered her to reach the hearts of every person at a dinner table, even when the story itself did not apply to them at all. She could make anyone laugh, and I wanted her to be paid for it. “Mom, have you ever thought about being a stand-up comedian?”

She laughed at the idea, but then she started wondering aloud about what she would joke about and how comedy shows were booked. As she began dreaming of a comedy career, the reality of her current life as a stay-at-home mom sank in. She began to cry and told me it was too late for her. I could not bear to watch her struggle between ambition and doubt.

Her birthday was coming up. Although I had already bought her a present, I realized what I actually wanted to give her was the strength to finally put herself first and to take a chance. I placed little notes of encouragement inside the water dispenser. I asked my family and her closest friends to do the same. These friends told her other friends, and eventually I had grown a network of supporters who emailed me their admiration for my mom. From these emails, I hand wrote 146 notes, crediting all of these supporters that also believed in my mom. Some provided me with sentences, others with five-paragraph-long essays. Yet, each note was an iteration of the same sentiment: “You are hilarious, full of life, and ready to take on the stage.”

On the day of her birthday, my mom unwrapped my oddly shaped present and saw the water dispenser I bought her. She was not surprised, as she had hinted at it for many years. But then as she kept unwrapping, she saw that inside the dispenser there were these little notes that filled the whole thing. As she kept picking out and reading the notes, I could tell she was starting to believe what they said. She started to weep with her hands full of notes. She could not believe the support was real, that everyone knew she had a special gift and believed in her.

Within two months, my mom performed her first set in a New York comedy club. Within a year, my mom booked a monthly headlining show at the nation’s premier comedy club.

I am not sure what happened to the water dispenser. But I have read the notes with my mom countless times. They are framed and line the walls of her new office space that she rented with the profits she made from working as a professional comedian. For many parents, their children’s careers are their greatest accomplishment, but for me my mom’s is mine.

YSC Team’s Comments

This essay is in response to an interesting question a student asked me two years ago –  does the essay HAVE to be about me?

My response was, and remains: ultimately, yes. But the story through which you portray yourself? Maybe not.

Here, Zoya narrates this tale of how she inspires her mother to pursue her dreams of independence. By recognising her mother’s strengths (“empathy and ability to understand the needs, wants and struggles of a diverse group of people”) and her challenges (“her struggle between ambition and doubt”), she creates a support network for her mother by collating 146 notes of inspiration from her family and friends.

What do we learn about Zoya?

The very ability she identified in her mother – the empathy, and the ability to understand the needs, wants, and struggles of a diverse group of people. The drive to take any step required to help them address their challenges. The emotional maturity (beyond her years) required to understand and inspire. And hope. In people, in the universe, in herself, to achieve their dreams.

And all this through the humble metaphor of the watercooler; a seemingly mundane object. But observe the initial paragraph that personally sets up the context for her mother’s American dream. It’s the level of specificity and personal connection that AOs enjoy. Rule of thumb: if you don’t feel it as much as Zoya in this essay does, don’t write it!

Through the story of her mother’s dreams, Zoya gracefully highlights her own! Kudos!

Madison, “Essays that Worked,” JHU Insider

“If you had to choose one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

Having had this question asked of me many a time, I realize that such an inquiry must be considered practically. The correct answer would keep me happily sustained for the rest of my years, whereas the wrong choice could leave me tormented until I wither away from monotony. If I chose macaroni and cheese, per se, I’d be trapped consuming glutinous pasta, tacky milk-fat, yellow dye No.5, and copious amounts of sodium, forever. But if instead, I call upon my contentment understandings and assess my options accordingly, I may arrive at an indefectible conclusion. And after much deliberation, I believe that I have come to such a response: potatoes.

These tubers are the perfect sustenance due not only to their nutritional qualities but, most notably, to their remarkable versatility. Potatoes may be prepared in a myriad of dishes.

Creamy mashed-potatoes come first to mind, with their fluffy hills of whipped-bliss gracing one’s tongue so delicately. The thought of golden tater-tots follows; deep-fried potatoes cooked perfectly so as to create a slow crunch when chewed. Then are characteristic french-fries—shoestring or steak, skin on or off. Baked-potatoes, latkes, hash-browns, gnocchi—all respectable meals. And one mustn’t forget potato-chips when searching for alight snack.

Oh potatoes, how I love you. And when asked what to eat exclusively for the rest of my life, I will enthusiastically respond “potatoes!”, for by picking one, I choose an abundance.

To a casual onlooker, this question may appear inconsequential in its hypothetical nature, but as they say; you are what you eat. My inclination towards the varied is not contained to my food habits—it is a recurring theme throughout my life. I regularly switch from my mom’s house to my dad’s. I’ve moved twelve times. I have a fifteen-year-old sister and a two-year-old brother. I’m a dog and a cat person.

This variation tends not to leave me with an aversion to commitment, but a disposition towards diversity. I am interested in many things. So one must understand how I have struggled, faced throughout my education with the question, “If you had to choose one subject to study, one occupation to pursue, one thing to do, for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

I love to play viola; I get a rush communicating without-words to my quartet members in order to convey a musical message. I am at my happiest reading a good book; their complex stories captivate me and I aspire to write a novel of my own. I want to make laws that improve my country; all people should have a shot at the American dream. I am passionate about protecting the environment; reducing our effect on global-warming is of the utmost importance to me. I want to help those in need; people still don’t have access to clean water and I want to use my privilege to help change that. I strive to become fluent in Spanish; traveling the world is a dream of mine. Recently, I have discovered that I really like to code; I’m sure in the coming years I will explore things I didn’t know I was interested in.

I don’t have an answer to what exactly it is I want to do for the rest of my life. I love English and political science, but I have yet to find such an all-encompassing response as potatoes. What I’ve realized though, is that I don’t have to sacrifice all for one. From each of my interests I learn things that contribute to who I am and shape how I see the world. Eventually, I will focus my path. And when I do have an answer, I will go forth with the knowledge I’ve gathered from each of my varied interests; and I will never stop learning.

YSC Team Comments:

This essay was an extremely funny take on the versatility of human interest – challenging the idea of a “focussed” path. For a liberal arts school like JHU (where this essay was successful), this essay demonstrates the student’s commitment towards learning for the sake of learning. By choosing a rather unique metaphor (not one you’d expect in response to the question of “what do you want to do with the rest of your life,” this essay simultaneously highlights the student’s openness to new ideas/concepts, and also creative thinking. It leaves readers—AOs included—with a rather new insight (or maybe a new approach, I must say).

It does not shy away from acknowledging that this journey isn’t a linear one in any way – diversity in interest could also mean “quick to bore of something new,” a negative trait in a college essay. However, it displays this in a more positive light, changing the focus from an “aversion to commitment” to “a disposition towards diversity.”

The humourous narration sustains the reader’s attention till the end, and the circular ending provides a satisfying closure. This highlights the role of craft in making-or-breaking a CAE!