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The Talking Point: What Every Parent Of Ambitious Students Needs To Know

In most Asian countries, parents often play a vital role in making college decisions and preparing their children in the pursuit of an education abroad, becoming highly influential in every step of the way.

Frequently, however, parents are blinded or fail to have real conversations with their children — they don’t seem to know much of their child’s dreams and aspirations. But that’s not the case of our client from the Philippines, and her parents. Before we tell her story, let us share the good news that she has recently secured an admission to Rice University in the United States (U.S), and will be starting as a freshman this Fall 2021! Our client and her parents reached out to AddedEducation exactly a year ago, expressing her interest in pursuing a degree in the U.S. As of this year, she has made us proud as she is all set to chase her dreams in the U.S. Coming back to how parents can be essential influencers in their children’s lives, we got in touch with her mother who shared her experience with us. Read on to find out more.

What Led You To Choose AddedEducation To Help Your daughter?

Our daughter was keen to continue playing football in university and we wanted to see if she had the potential of using her football experience in school as an added leverage in getting into a highly-selective institution. College sports recruitment and using sports as a leverage was completely Greek to us, and we wanted professional advice on how to navigate the complex system. We liked that AddedEducation was in the same timezone with an office based in Manila. It meant that there could be face-to-face meetings, which ideally, would add a more personal touch had it not been for the pandemic.

How Would You Describe Addededucation’s Support Throughout Her Journey? Could You Share Some Specific Examples?

AddedEducation gave her a clear roadmap right from the very beginning, coupled with tasks and deadlines of what needed to be done. Regular meetings were also scheduled to keep her on track. While AddedEducation worked directly with her, we as her parents were always free to join in or set a separate meeting with her counsellors. For the sports recruitment, Added Sports helped find football camps that aligned with her school holidays which she could register for. They guided her on how to initiate contact with coaches, helped her prepare for calls with coaches and advised how to stay in contact with them. AddedEducation also aided her in putting videos together to send the coaches and speaking to them to get feedback on her potential.

AddedEducation was also instrumental in helping build and enhance her profile.

AddedEducation was there for our daughter from the beginning all the way to the very end. She had felt very comfortable in communicating with her counsellor, Jessica, for any question she had throughout the application process. There was a sense of reassurance that Jessica was just a text message away if she ever needed help. Jessica gave practical advice and was hands-on with her during the last stretch of the application process, she was her sounding board for essay ideas and gave good suggestions on how to polish her writing.

As A Canadian Citizen, Was Canada Always A Back Up Choice For You? Did You Feel That If Nothing Worked Out, We Could Still End Up In A Great Canadian University?

Yes, Canada had always been a back-up, and if she was not able to get into a college of her choice in the U.S, then Canada would be a great alternative – especially in terms of value for money.

What Is Your Advice To Other Parents Thinking About Sending Their Kid To Colleges In The U.S, U.K, Canada, Etc. Aiming For The Top Ranked Programs?

Although our daughter did a good job of doing her initial research of universities prior to finalizing her college list, we had underestimated the crucial importance of some strategies involved in making that final selection. Research, research, research. It’s great if your child gets into his/her first choice college or Ivy league but, if he/she doesn’t, that research put into all the other competitive schools make all the difference. It’s overwhelming, so start early.

She also benefited greatly from speaking with Alumni or current students from colleges that she was interested in. Ask the school’s counselor to connect you with others who have graduated from your high school, and those majoring in courses that you are interested in. Speaking with other parents who have gone through the college application process before was also helpful.

Rice University Client’s Parent If you too need help with crafting your own personal journey to College, reach out to us!