My #BestFit Universities-Duke & Monash Story
Alvin C | Duke University
Why chooses Duke?
Like many students, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study in university. A liberal arts style education appealed to me, as it allowed time and freedom to explore my interests before deciding my potential career paths.
Despite the number of schools in the US that were of interest to me, I ultimately decided Duke University as my top choice, applying Early Decision. Duke’s undergraduate Trinity College of Arts & Sciences placed emphasis on interdisciplinary education and offered opportunities for independent research, through a variety of programs such as the FOCUS program. Beyond academics, Duke’s unparalleled sense of community stood out for me, with events such as ‘Flunch’, which offers staff and students an opportunity to build a strong rapport and get to know one another more closely. I am also very interested in basketball, which further attracted me to Duke, as their D1 team is ranked amongst the highest in the US and Duke students often attend matches to support their fellow ‘Blue Devils.’
Narrowing down my top choice school in the beginning of his college application process allowed me sufficient time to organize my extra-curriculars, as well participate in other research-based opportunities that helped me stand out amongst an incredibly competitive applicant pool. I also actively reached out to current Duke students to get a more personal account of what it is like to be a student at Duke.
Joowon P | Monash University
How to find my major?
I started my university research journey on Y11 when I just came from a local Korean school. Since it was my first time joining an international community, I had no idea how the university research and application process works in other countries. Having a counsellor from the same nationality helped me to understand how the processes are different from my home country. Based on the initial meeting with the counsellor, I found that I wanted to study tourism in Australia.
However, as I continued the research, I eventually found my interest in education. Although I had an interest in early childhood education for a long time, I gave it up due to the many disadvantages of being a teacher in Korea. However, I found that studying education and being a teacher in Australia overcome those disadvantages. In addition to this, volunteer experience at Junior school and DUCKS further helped me to solidify my major in education. After I made my final decision on my major, I narrowed the university list down and finally chose Monash as my dream university. Monash University is not only ranked first place in education majors in Australia but also provides placements throughout 4-year university life. I thought I could prepare for my future career as a teacher through this early experience in my profession.
What to do to apply?
Once I decided on my dream university, I started to prepare for the external exams to be eligible for the application. Although I did IB certificates and a Dulwich diploma and Australia does not accept the certificates, I was able to apply for this university by adjusting my conditions by directly contacting the university and identifying what I can do. I took an English proficiency test, SAT, and an external exam that is required for my major. I got satisfactory scores for all these exams and got into Monash successfully.
Although completing a diploma in a new environment put me on a tough journey, I was able to find and get into the university that perfectly fits my interest.
