At BridgeU, our whole team prides itself on an international outlook towards university and career guidance.
Not only was BridgeU designed to allow students access to a wider range of global higher education destinations, but many of the people who make up our team were international students themselves.
This means that we’re in a unique position to understand some of the big questions and uncertainties which international students face as they move beyond secondary education.
It also means we know the challenges facing counsellors as they attempt to offer their students bespoke and honest guidance about their post-secondary futures, whether it’s in higher education, or the world of work.
In advance of our forthcoming visit to the IB conference in Vienna, we caught up with three former International Baccalaureate students on our BridgeU team. We asked them some questions about the big uncertainties they faced as they planned their lives after secondary school, and we sought to understand a little bit more about how those decisions drove them to come and work with us here at BridgeU.
Scroll down to see what they had to say.
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Madara studied for her IB Diploma at Riga State Gymnasium No 1 in Riga, Latvia. She then graduated from the University of Edinburgh with an MSc in Economics & Chinese. |
My desire to study for the IB first arose about a year before I started it – I was in New Zealand on a school exchange. It was here that I really understood what it meant to be a global citizen and this was something I wanted to experience in higher education. This made me want to study and live abroad. Studying the IB in my home country was the best gateway to studying abroad for university in my later life.
Looking back, the project I most enjoyed was the G4 group project, where we analysed the different physical properties of glue! We investigated glue from the perspective of physics, chemistry and biology. It was a fun project and made me appreciate natural sciences far more than I did before.
It was a huge shift for me in terms of learning style. I was used to an education system which tested facts and memory. The IB was more about asking “how” and “why” things worked. I found the IB also prepared me for university better, as I was better able to demonstrate practical skills such as critical thinking, research and applying my knowledge.
In the 21st century, jobs are soft-skills orientated – it’s not what you know, but how you can put it to good use. This mindset really helps me in my daily job. So even though I studied economics, which is really data-heavy, I’m much more well-versed in terms of communication, understanding the problems of people on my team and turning these into solutions – listening is very important.
The IB is both broad and also quite in-depth. This means that IB graduates are well-rounded, and feel like they have lots of pathways open to them. But this poses questions as to what you are best at, and how you can make the best decisions with a wide range of data on university choices.
It comes down to the course/university matcher – it’s really useful. To have a tool which allow you to build a profile, gives you recommendations tailored to you and your whole personal profile is invaluable. Studying abroad throws up a whole host of new questions about the future, and the matcher is unique in its ability to take a student’s holistic profile, and tailor its recommendations accordingly, as opposed to just using a series of filters.
I really want to work with an overarching mission in life and to know that my work matters. To work with our partner schools every day, and to be able to relate to their problems and challenges first-hand shows me how so many students still face the challenges I did five or six years ago. To give them the tools to answer these questions and succeed is very fulfilling – I really feel like I’m making a change.
One thing I’ve realised since graduating is that our generation is more likely to change careers multiple times in our lives. What matters more than your choice of course, is developing your holistic view of the world, understanding where your skills and personality can take you, and ultimately what you want to achieve in the long-term.
So take a gap year, or learn to code – many things may not make sense now, but things will always come together eventually.
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Laura studied for her IB Diploma at the British International School in Cairo. She graduated from The University of Westminster with a BA(Hons) in Business Management, specialising in International Business |
I didn’t really have a choice! My school had just decided to go with the IB instead of A-levels. I went to a British international school and I think my school just wanted to differentiate itself room other schools who were doing a UK curriculum.
Doing Business & Management at Higher level, which exposed me to a subject that I was good at, and could continue to excel in at university. The way that the IB curriculum is built means you have to apply a lot of theory to real life case studies or situations.
The challenge is that you have to do a broad range of subjects which you might not feel you are good at, but still have to achieve good grades if you’re going to get into university. However, when you get to university, you have a more advanced level of knowledge than students who, for example, only specialised in three subjects in their A-levels. You learn time management in what are quite an intense two years, and you have to manage your time not only in terms of subjects, but with all the other extra-curricular aspects of the IB.
At a young age, it gives you a lot of confidence. You feel like you’re exploding with knowledge! It’s very empowering as you start a new chapter of your life.
The main challenge for an IB student is that, because you study a broad range of subjects, it’s harder to know what you want to study post-secondary school. This can sometimes cloud your judgement when thinking about applying to university.
BridgeU’s university matcher takes into account your subject interest personal preferences and geographical location. It significantly lessens the amount of time you have to spend searching for, and shortlisting universities. It also shows you universities that you would never have considered, but which might turn out to be a good fit for you.
Because I thought it was the coolest thing ever! The idea that a 17 year old would be able to know and understand their chance of acceptance when it comes to applying for their dream university. Using our data-driven approach, applying to university doesn’t have to be a shot in the dark.
Make sure that you always have a diverse portfolio of universities so that, when you get your IB results in July, you’re prepared for every possible outcome. When my results were different from what I expected, I had to consider a university that wasn’t my first choice to begin with – but it ended up being a great fit!
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Harry studied towards his IB Diploma at King Edward's School, Birmingham, UK. He graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BA(Hons) in History & Politics. |
It was portrayed to us as a qualification which offered greater opportunities, and allowed us to access more prestigious universities. The breadth of the curriculum also appealed to me, and the opportunity to diversify was definitely a selling point.
The sense of achievement when I finished! It was one of the hardest things I had to do, and I enjoyed the feeling that, no matter what results I got at the end, I had thrown myself into every aspect of my studies.
Learning to organise myself around my studies. The time pressures for the IB were a lot greater than anything I had experienced before. For example, free periods don’t really exist when you’re studying for the IB. Also, due to the extra-curricular activities you are required to do as part of the IB, you had to organise your free time very well.
One thing that the IB tries to instil in you is the importance of life skills outside the classroom and the value of different learning & assessment styles. You grow accustomed to some of the pressures you will face in later life, for example giving presentations and interviews.
For example, in Higher Level English, you had to complete a 15 min presentation element, as well as an interview style analysis on any one of three different texts, which certainly kept you on your toes.
While the IB allows you to maintain breadth, it can be difficult to select one or two subject courses and/or hone in on a particular pathway for the next three years of your life. You’re also unaware of the options available to you, as someone who has studied a broad curriculum.
When you’re searching for university courses, BridgeU allows you to take advantage of a platform which offers a broad overview of every course available to you, based on the six subjects you’ve studied, as well as future courses you’re interested in pursuing.
Other course searches out there only allow you to filter based only on specific course names, and can leave some options hidden from view. This means that your university search isn’t tailored to your ambitions and aspirations.
BridgeU instils in students a sense of global ambition. At such a young age, it can be difficult to find universities which are right for you as an individual, wherever they are in the world. University can be a tricky time in students’ lives, so it’s absolutely crucial to find somewhere which is suited to you as an individual.
Try to think broadly when you consider your next step. There’s no reason why you should only be looking at universities which are geographically close to you, and studying abroad will likely be one of the most rewarding experiences of your young adult life.
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