This past week has been an exciting week for those considering applying to the United States for university, as well as for those already in the application process, as we welcomed three speakers from top universities to speak.
This included Dr Anne de Luca, Katie Chaszczewski and Mark Butt from Harvard, Chicago and Emory universities respectively. With Harvard on Monday and UChicago and Emory on Wednesday, both of these events had a tremendous turn out from students in Year 7 to 13, as well as from parents. It was incredibly enlightening to hear about the details of all of these universities as well as having the opportunity to ask questions to the UK application admissions officers about the ins and outs of the process of applying.
Dr Anne de Luca shared with us all the amazing opportunities at Harvard university, such as the competitive sports, the various clubs and societies on offer, and the possibility to also take courses at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) due to their partnership program. It was also fascinating to hear about the more intricate details of the oldest university in the United States such as that first year students all live together in ‘The Yard’ and eat in the same hall to form a community and get to know their classmates.
Katie Chazczewski then opened the second event and it was wonderful to hear about her multi year long connection with NLCS before she told us all about UChicago. It was so interesting to hear about the different form of education available in the US, Liberal Arts, and how this art of thinking shapes the students that attend the institution with an incredible breadth of knowledge. Ms Chazczewski also stressed the importance of freedom of speech at the university, the research opportunities and careers program to ensure the UChicago students are sent off with amazing opportunities for the future.
Finally, Mark Butt then told us all about Emory, located in Atlanta, Georgia. It was equally fascinating to hear from these two universities back-to-back and compare the similarities and difference of these prestigious institutions, helping students to decide if they resonated with the ivy-covered walls of UChicago or the red roofs of Emory. It was helpful to hear about the importance of the location of your chosen university, especially the role this plays in the case of Emory as the city of Atlanta is a partner in the educational and professional journey for those who attend. Mr Butt also shared details about the education system there, such as the majoring/ minoring process, noting again the strong belief in liberal arts and the key idea that your education reaches beyond you, into leadership, service and what you put out into to the community.
The speakers were then followed by impressive questions from the very engaged students, helping each other to get the most they possibly could from the talks as we then learnt more about the early/ regular decision applications and the core curriculums. We are all now extremely looking forward to the numerous other US university events to come in the next few weeks including speakers from USC and Barnard College.
Lauren, NLCS News Team
