FALL 2014 Parent Newsletter

From Your University and Career Advancement Counsellors

As we inaugurate a new year of University Counsellor newsletters, we will continue to provide you,
our parents, with what we hope will be useful information and well-intentioned advice to help smooth
your journey through the college process.
While were grateful for your warm feedback, we also appreciate the opportunity to respond to parent
questions and concerns that the newsletter articles may raise. As you can see from the lead article,
for example, the issue of university prestige and how our students are affected will be an ongoing
theme in our newsletter this year and will undoubtedly raise some comments which were happy to
entertain and share with our readers through this forum.
By the way, if you want to reference back issues of the UC Newsletter, simply click on this link.
Additionally, our website is an excellent resource for parents looking for general as well as specific
information on the many aspects of the college process
And as always, please feel free to contact our University Counselling and Career Counselling staff
whenever questions arise. We are here to serve you as well as our students. Appointments can be
made through our fabulous administrative assistant, Ms. Brankie Wong at: bwong@cis.edu.hk
Your CIS University Counsellors
Sow Fun Dawson - sfdawson@cis.edu.hk
Robert Mansueto - mansueto@cis.edu.hk
Marc Marier - mmarier@cis.edu.hk
Your Individual and Career Advancement Counsellor:
Annie Yung - ayung@cis.edu.hk

Whats inside
UC Initiatives for the 2014-15 School Year Page 2
Matriculation Highlights from the Class of 2014 Page 3
Introducing Our New Individual and Career Advancement Counsellor Page 4
The Pressure for Prestige: A Continued Area of Focus and Concern Page 4
Parents Often Ask: What IB Scores Are Required to get into? Page 5
Liberal Arts: UK Is Increasingly Getting into the Act Page 7
Recommended Reading: The Price of Privilege Page 7
Articles of Interest from the Web Page 9
Introducing: Video Links to CIS Alumni Page 9
Final Word Page 9
Calendar of Nov-Jan UC Events Page 10
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UC Initiatives for the 2014-15 School Year

The news on the University Counselling front is related to the new initiatives and services that we
have been able to provide to our students and parents during the last two years. Additionally,
increased cooperation between University Counselling and both Student Affairs (particularly Heads of
Year) and the secondary Social/Emotional Counsellors has resulted in a much more coordinated
approach to addressing issues that affect our students such as emotional well-being, social and
parental pressure, competition, life balance, academic demands etc. This year we will continue to
gather information through various student, parent and alumni surveys in an effort to gain greater
understanding of the matters that are of concern to our students, and may in fact be having a
negative effect on lives, academic performance, happinessand subsequently their college/
university search and application process.
Other new initiatives for the 2014-15 academic year are outlined below.

Student Support
Health:
In addition to continuing the work focusing on matters of student well being, we will be exploring
the negative effects that an over-emphasis on university prestige can have on our students.
Our intention is to discuss this issue with the entire CIS community including our Board, parents,
students and staff. We will begin this process by looking at the messages we send to students
(both intentional and unintentional) surrounding prestige and the negative impact the resulting
pressure can have on their lives.
We will continue our work of actively promoting the concept of maintaining a healthy approach
to the college process, now in close conjunction with both Student Affairs and the secondary
Counsellors. Drawing from our own expertise, along with that of our Social/Emotional
Counsellors and the staff of Student Affairs, we will seek to heighten student awareness of the
negative effects of hyper-competition on their college process as well as the importance of
approaching this process in a healthy and positive manner.
We are also exploring ways of insuring that parents have a very clear understanding of our
university counselling philosophy while emphasizing the relationship between the university
process and mental health issues. Part of this exploration will include consideration of ways of
exposing parents of younger students (even down to primary school) to our approach in
university counselling.
Workshops:
Look for announcements on sessions that have been well received and will continue on topics
such as:
Letting Go or, successfully transitioning students to university and how to prepare for a childs
departure.
Explaining the college process to our Chinese speaking parents in their native language.
Helping Year 12 parents understand what to expect during Year 13 and adopting healthy goals
for themselves and their children for the college process.

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Transition to College/University

Matriculation Highlights for the Class of 2014

In collaboration with Student Affairs and the secondary

Counsellors, we are developing a year long (and
potentially multi-year) Transition Program for our
students. In the past, this program has been limited to a
day or less during graduation week in May, which has
severely limited the scope of the program and the range
of the topics offered. We are now committed, along with
our colleagues in those collaborating departments, to
developing a Transition Program that incorporates a
wider range of topics that are delivered throughout the
year by a broad range of individuals at CISallowing us
to draw on the wide range of staff expertise.

University Counselling Program Delivery

Delivery of our program to students in both Years 12 and
13 has been made immeasurably easier and much more
effective this past year by the creation of a period in the
regular cycle of classes devoted to university counselling.
This regularly scheduled and timetabled UC class now
permits us to plan in advance and conduct meetings and
workshops with Year 12 and Year 13 students at
appropriate times throughout the academic year, while
highlighting the importance all in the CIS community
place on this process for students and their families.
[See attached example of Year 12 2014-15 schedule.]

Individual and Career Assessment (formerly

Career Counselling)
In addition to a name change for the position, the time
allocation for the Individual and Career Assessment
Counsellor (ICACno relation to the government anticorruption body) has increased from 60% to 80%. This
increased allocation means that the ICA Counsellor will
be at school four days a week, as opposed to the
previous three, to better serve our students and parents
through greater availability.

53.8% of our graduates opted for US colleges and

universities.
25.5% chose to study in UK.
7.5% remained in Hong Kong
5.7% chose Canada.
Additionally, two students are headed for Australia
and two of the five students that have chosen to
do a voluntary gap year will be applying to
universities during the upcoming year. A few other
observations
US - We were again pleased with the broad range
of colleges and universities at which graduates
chose to enrol this year. Bard College, Emerson
College (3), Pratt Institute, Reed College (deferral
from 2013), Rochester Institute of Technology, and
the University of Colorado Boulder all enrolled
their first CIS students in at least the past 12
years.
US The Liberal Arts and Sciences continues to
be hot with 22 of the 57 students enrolling at US
institutions opting for small private liberal arts
colleges. Adding those 22 to the students
entering Liberal Arts programs at US universities,
a clear majority of students enrolling at US
institutions are entering programs in the Liberal
Arts and Sciences
UK The number of applicants to the UK was
very consistent with those from years past (slightly
more than half of the class), so the decline from
historical enrollment averages (approximately
33% compared to 25.5% in 2014) was the result
in a drop in yield, the percentage of students that
chose to accept offers of admission from UK
institutions.
UK More than 60% (17 students) of those going
to the UK will be studying in London. Seven
graduates this year will be enrolling at Kings
College alone.
HK Just under a third of the Class of 2014
applied to programs in Hong Kong, a number in
line with those applying in recent years.
Consistent with other years, most students staying
in Hong Kong to study will be pursuing
professional degrees in areas such as medicine,
law and business. Interestingly, none of the
students staying in Hong Kong accepted their
offer from HKUST.
Attached are our CIS Profile with admission data
for the Class of 2014, along with
historical enrolment data from 2003 to 2014.

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And Introducing
Due to the departure from CIS of Catherine Irvine, we conducted an extremely
successful search for a replacement, which resulted in the hiring of Ms. Annie
Yung. A 2011 graduate of DePaul University with a BA in Psychology (Industrial/
Organizational), she is currently a candidate for the Master of Social Sciences
degree in Counseling (expected June 2015) from Hong Kong University. Annie
came to us from King George V School here in Hong Kong where she worked
most recently as Higher Education Counsellor, working closely with students in
preparing them in all aspects for their lives after secondary school. With three
weeks of overlap with Catherine in June and work throughout the month of July,
Annie has moved into the position seamlessly and is already receiving rave
reviews from students, parents and staff.
Right: Ms. Annie Yung - CISs new Career and Individual Assessment Counsellor

Student Health

The Pressure for Prestige: Does Student Health Need to Be Compromised?

Its normal and healthy for parents to aspire to the best
for their children. We all want them to experience
success in all aspects of their lives. This desire
certainly applies to our childrens educational
experience. Part of the reason we send our students to
CIS, is the opportunity it affords for a quality
educational experience and the hope that it will result in
quality university options.

Some parents are finding that their

children have entered the headlong
race for prestigious university
acceptances even without parental
pressure.

A disturbing worldwide trend in university counselling, however, is the growing awareness that the
mounting pressure for prestigious university acceptances is having an unhealthy effect on students.
Sadly, we see evidence that CIS students are not immune to this trend, and some are falling victim at
younger and younger ages. As weve discussed in past issues, many of these are not only
worrisome, theyre potentially serious and can include:
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3.
4.
5.
6.
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Excessive competition
Excessive family pressure
Overscheduling
Grade obsession
Perfectionism
Sleep deprivation
Unhealthy levels of stress, anxiety and sadly, depression

Increasingly, parents the world over find themselves asking the question: does a quality educational
experience and college process have to be pressure-packed to the point of being unhealthy?
While weve touched on this issue in past newsletters, this year well examine the Pressure for
Prestige from the points of view of various CIS stakeholders from the boardroom to the classroom.

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Well look into what research tells us about the supposed advantages of an elite university education
and well seek answers to the following questions:
1. Whats driving the trend toward ever-increasing applications to elite institutions?
2. What do we believe are the advantages to an elite university degree and what does the
research say?
3. What price are our students and families paying for this belief?
4. How do we as an institution define success? What do we value?
5. What needs to change and how can we as parents help bring about a healthier college
process for all of our students?
Our ultimate goal in discussing these issues is to raise awareness and help create a healthier, more
supportive and empowering educational experience where all of our graduates can leave CIS with
confidence in themselves and in their futures regardless of where they attend university.

Parents Often Ask: What IB Scores Are Required to get into?

In a world driven by numbers, we tend to want to believe in their certainty. And there are plenty of
examples from everyday life where numbers do hold sway. If I earn X amount of money, I have to
pay X amount in taxes. If my blood pressure is at a certain number, it can indicate good health or
not. (By the way, one should never take a blood pressure test while completing ones taxes, and you
may also want to avoid taking one on the day admission decision letters arrivebut I digress.)
With IB course grades and SAT scores where American institutions are concerned, we enter the
universe of probability. Unlike UK institutions which specify minimum required IB scores (and
required IB subjects by intended degree), the US approach to admissions is holistic meaning that
numbers, by themselves, are no guarantee of admission or denial. US institutions do not require
minimum IB scores. Rather than basing their admission decisions on IB examination results, US
universities routinely weigh
transcripts, SAT scores,
recommendation letters, essays,
supplements, extracurriculars, and
oftentimes, subject tests in their
decisions.
(By the way, of all the admission
documents submitted for US

applicants, the transcript is

considered most important as it
indicates grades for individual
courses as well as the courses
taken.)
To illustrate the case that no
particular IB average guarantees an
acceptance, lets take a look at the
Naviance scattergram for NYU
University above. Over the past 12 Scattergrams available in Naviance

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years, CIS has input into Naviance acceptance/denial data for each US university where
CIS students have applied. Along the y axis we have IB scores and the x indicates SAT
reasoning test scores. Each red X indicates a denial, the green box means acceptance.
Blue diamonds indicate the applicant was waitlisted.
In the graph above, the blue box indicates the average IB score from accepted CIS
applicants to NYU was 6.01, and the average SAT reasoning test score was 2022. Note
that the graph indicates the range of acceptances in each category. Over the years,
accepted CIS students at NYU had IB averages anywhere from 5.3 to 6.5 and SAT scores
ranged from 1700 to 2370. (Important note: IB averages are computed in the UC
oce based on a students performance from years 10-12 and are solely for internal
use on our Naviance scattergrams. We do not compute a GPA to share externally
with universities.)
As you might expect, acceptances increase in frequency with increased SAT and
transcript grades. But note that outstanding scores in both are not a guarantee of
acceptance to NYU. There are plenty of red xs where one might expect green boxes and
several green boxes where one might expect red xs.
Why?
Which Naviance scattergram to use?

Because NYU is clearly not simply considering

transcript grades and SAT scores when
determining an applicants admissibility. Essays,
recommendation letters, subject tests can and
often do sway admission decisions in one
direction or another and these obviously cant be
plotted onto a scattergram.

When students enter Naviance and look

at scattergrams for various universities,
they will notice that three scattergrams
are available for each institution

And remember that institutional needs also play a

huge factor in admission decisions. Universities
need to pay attention to gender balance, space
for international versus domestic applicants,
special talents (a star athlete, a great oboist, a
terrific ultimate Frisbee player) legacies, generous
donors, applicant financial need, etc. Additionally,
specific programs can be more or less
competitive depending on the numbers of
students who applied. None of these factors can
ever be plotted on a scattergram. Nor can they
account for the varying strength of applicant pools
that universities can sometimes experience.
In other words, in the case of US universities, we
cant determine why some comparable students
get in and others dont. So where US universities
are concerned, the question What does my son/
daughter need to get into university X? is best
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depending on whether the applicant

completed the ACT, the SAT (1,600 point
scale) or the SAT with writing (2,400 point
scale). Naviance provides the two SAT
scales because some institutions do not
require the writing test, implemented in
2005. The 1,600 point scale includes all
SATs completed by CIS students since
2003 whether or not they completed the
writing test. The 2,400 scale includes the
writing test. We recommend that students
use the scale most appropriate to
institutional requirements. Click here for
helpful video tutorials on how to access
and use Naviance scattergrams.

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answered by the well worn phrase: It all depends.

Uncertainty is undoubtedly a stressor in the college application process. Instead of
focusing on admissibility based on IB averages and standardized test scores, we strongly
urge and work with our students to create a balanced list of suitable institutions with
appropriate admission rates.

Liberal Arts: UK Is Getting into the Act

While the term liberal arts may conjure up
images of smaller private US-based
institutions, the reality is that liberal arts
degrees are widely available throughout
Europe, and increasingly, in the UK (Click
here for a list) where a small but growing
number of universities are oering liberal
arts-type degrees (often three-year instead
of four) specifically for students who arent
yet willing to commit to a more specialized
degree or who have a wide range of
interests that theyre eager to explore.

Did You Know?

For students interested in studying in Europe, there
are many options including the many American
universities with satellite campuses on the
continent. At the moment, European countries also
offering liberal arts liberal arts degrees include
Bulgaria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands,
Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and
the UK. Of these, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands,
Italy, and Germany have more than one institution
offering liberal arts degrees.

Students intrigued by a UK-based liberal

arts degree need to understand that UK
programs vary considerably from institution
to institution. (Click here for a recent article summarizing the current liberal arts debate in
the UK.) Even the names that universities give their liberal arts degree vary significantly
reflecting that individual universities are arriving at dierent philosophical as well as
structural interpretations of the liberal arts ideal.
So for students who are looking for a non-US based liberal arts degree, the choices are
many and varied. BUT, as always, careful research is strongly recommended to find the
right fit.
Recommended Reading

The Price of Privilege: Wealth Doesnt Guarantee Health

The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are
Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids.
In this in-depth examination of the unhealthy role that wealth can play in the
lives of teenagers, author Madeline Levine, Ph.D, (educator and clinical
psychologist who specializes in working with troubled teens and their parents
at her San Francisco Bay area clinic) persuasively argues that money and
privilege do not make for happy, well-adjusted children or fulfilled parents.

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Americas newly identified at-risk group is preteens and teens from auent, welleducated families. In spite of their economic and social advantages, they experience
among the highest rates of depression, substance abuse, anxiety disorders, somatic
complaints, and unhappiness of any group of children in this country.
While de-bunking the myth that children of privilege have it all, Levine provides statistical
and anecdotal evidence to argue that, if anything, they are an at-risk population whose
needs have not been suciently studied much less addressed.
A useful parenting guide drawing on Dr. Levines experience as a therapist and mother of
three sons, her writing is insightful, challenging, practical, as well as hopeful. Though
written in an American cultural context, it
nevertheless has implications for all
parents everywhere, privileged or not.
Exciting News!
As we go to press, weve just confirmed that Dr.
Price of Privilege: Table of Contents
Levine will be coming to CIS in March. An evening
presentation for parents is planned. Look for time
NY Times Sunday Book Review
and location details as they become available.
Amazon.com link
Notable quotes from The Price of Privilege
Our increasingly competitive world has led to tremendous anxiety about our childrens
futures and has resulted in a high pressure, myopic focus on grades, test scores and
performance.
Fewer and fewer auent teens are able to resist the constant pressure to excel. Between
accelerated academic courses, multiple extracurricular activities, premature preparation
for high school or college, special coaches and tutors engaged to wring the last bit of
performance out of them, many kids find themselves scheduled to within an inch of their
lives. Criticism and even rejection become commonplace as competitive parents continue
to push their children toward higher levels of accomplishment.
We need to become familiar with the research showing that privileged children from
auent families are experiencing disproportionately high levels of emotional problems,
and we need to learn more about why this is the case. We have to examine the disturbing
social structure, the culture of auence that surrounds both ourselves and our children.
But good enough simply isnt enough in communities where mothers toil to create
perfect homes, working parents toil to reach the pinnacle of professional success, and
kids toil to be the best and the brightest. I understand the contempt of my teenage
patients who roll their eyes in session when a parent says, Your grades arent good
enough, we know you can do better, or the ubiquitous Just do your best. Too often
these duplicitous statements are used to mask a disturbing truth, that what is expected by
many parents in auent communities is not a personal best, but the absolute best.

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We are a huge market for businesses that profit from our anxietyfrom toy
manufacturers that push absurd educational toys for infants, to scholastic services that
promise to increase our childrens AP, SAT, LSAT, MCAT, and GRE scores.
Auent women are the least likely of any socioeconomic group of unhappy women to
seek help for their problems.
Excerpts From: Madeline Levine, Ph.D. The Price of Privilege. iBooks. https://itun.es/us/
H2SFv.l

Articles of Interest from the Web

An expensive lesson for a HK couple who put their faith and $$$ in an independent University
Counsellor.
Self-designed degrees: a growing trend?
An in-depth look at the story behind the new SAT
Why Google doesnt care about hiring elite university graduates
Sign of things to come? Goucher accepts video applications
An increasing number of smaller US liberal arts admissions are looking at applicant social media
history

Notable CIS Alumni

What happens to CIS graduates? Our Alumni Oce has inaugurated an exciting project to answer
that question. In this issue, we unveil this new feature where you will be able to access the Where
have you gone? stories of 6 recent CIS graduates.

Joyce Man '02 (Journalist)

Oscar Chiu '08 (Doctor)

Jesse Mulcahy '12 (Footwear Design Student)

Ami Jones '10 (Actor)

Joseph Ng '03 (Designer)

Rachel Zweig '10 (Teacher)

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Final Word
Dont bother obsessing about what you think youre doing wrong. You wont screw up
your kids in the ways you expect; youll do it in ways you hadnt even considered.
From: A Cure for Hyper-Parenting which appeared as an Op Ed in the October 14th 2014
NY Times. Pamela Druckerman is an American journalist and author of Bringing Up
Bb: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting.

Calendar of Winter (Dec-Feb) UC Events, and University Visits

DATE

UNIVERSITY

Tuesday, December 3rd

11:35 - 12:50

Interview Workshop

Wednesday, December 3rd

12:50 - 1:45

University of Bristol

Monday, December 8th

1:45 - 3:00

Year 12 Activities Resume

Friday, January 9th

1:45 - 3:00

Alumni Panel (Yrs 12 & 13)

Monday, January 12th

12:50 - 1:45

London School of Economics and Political Science,

Kings College London, University College London,
Imperial College of London

Friday, January 16th

12:50 - 1:45
11:35 - 12:50

Lipscomb University

Tuesday, January 20th

7:55 - 9:15
12:50 - 1:45

Intro to University Counselling (Yr 12)

University of St. Andrews

Thursday, January 22nd

12:50 - 1:45

Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin (TBA)

Monday, January 26th

1:45 - 3:00

ToK (Yr 12)

ToK Essay

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