More prestigious offers for Class of 2021!
Author: Jeffrey Harmon - Director of University Counselling
Our 81 graduates in the Class of 2021 have shown incredible resolve and adaptability while navigating the difficulties of learning over the past year and facing the uncertainties of the future. Each student has determined their own pathway: from preparing for a career in nursing, film production, law, or a lifetime of academia to knowing oneself well enough to recognize the value of a gap year before continuing to higher education.
DCB students have continued to receive offers from the most selective universities and programmes across all disciplines. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) continues to be popular with the Class of 2021, and they have offers for KAIST (the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), Natural Sciences and Computer Science at the University of Cambridge, and across all fields at Imperial College London and the University of St Andrews. The healthcare industry is also appealing to many, with offers for medicine, nursing, and veterinary medicine in addition to biomedical sciences and biotechnology. Many students are also pursuing fields in the creative industries, including Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, product design, music composition, film, and communication, in addition to the fine arts at renowned art colleges like the Rhode Island School of Design and Art Center College of Design. The social sciences continue to grow in popularity among students, from Geography at the University of Oxford to politics and international studies at Dartmouth College, UCL (University College London), and UCLA. Some students already have settled on a professional direction and will be reading Law at King’s College London, quantitative finance in Hong Kong, Management at LSE, or choosing a more hands-on approach such as co-op programmes at the University of Toronto or hospitality at EHL (École hôtelière de Lausanne).
We are incredibly proud of our students and what they have accomplished in spite of changes to the academic year, months of online and hybrid learning, cancellation of extra-curricular activities, and the many public health restrictions that transformed the school experience throughout the past year. They have demonstrated that they are indeed ready for whatever the future may throw at them, and we are confident that they are well-equipped to deal with change and uncertainty.
Their university placements (as of 20 April 2021) are but just one way to measure their success in preparation for the future. The total count for university offers will continue to update throughout the spring and summer with potential movement of the wait list in the United States of America, with the forthcoming end of the admissions notification period for Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan, and decisions from Singapore and South Korea after IB results, to name a few popular destinations for this year’s cohort.
Offers from UK Universities
• Cardiff University (2)
• City, University of London
• De Montfort University
• Durham University (6)
• Goldsmiths, University of London
• Imperial College London (8)
• King's College London (25)
• Lancaster University
• London School of Economics and Political Science
• Loughborough University
• Queen Mary University of London (4)
• Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
• Royal Holloway, University of London
• Royal Veterinary College (2)
• University College London (UCL) (13)
• University for the Creative Arts
• University of Bath (3)
• University of Birmingham (3)
• University of Bristol (4)
• University of Cambridge (2)
• University of Edinburgh (11)
• University of Exeter (3)
• University of Hertfordshire
• University of Huddersfield
• University of Kent
• University of Leeds (6)
• University of Leicester
• University of Liverpool (2)
• University of Manchester (13)
• University of Nottingham
• University of Oxford (2)
• University of Sheffield
• University of St Andrews (6)
• University of Stirling
• University of the Arts London (UAL) (4)
• University of Warwick (4)
• University of Westminster, London (2)
• University of York
Offers from US Universities
• Art Center College of Design (3)
• Barnard College
• Berklee College of Music
• Boston College
• Boston University (3)
• Brandeis University
• California Institute of the Arts
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Claremont McKenna College (2)
• Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• Columbia University
• Dartmouth College
• Drexel University
• Emerson College
• Fordham University (4)
• Haverford College
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Johns Hopkins University
• Macalester College
• New York University (2)
• Occidental College (2)
• Pennsylvania State University, University Park
• Purdue University (4)
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) (2)
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
• Scripps College
• Swarthmore College
• Syracuse University
• The New School: Parsons School of Design
• University of California, Berkeley (2)
• University of California, Davis (4)
• University of California, Irvine (9)
• University of California, Los Angeles (3)
• University of California, San Diego (5)
• University of California, Santa Cruz (2)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (3)
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• University of Southern California (USC) (3)
• University of Virginia
• University of Washington, Seattle (5)
• University of Wisconsin, Madison (2)
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Wesleyan University
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute (2)
Offers from Asian Universities
• Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (2)
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) (2)
• The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (2)
• The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (2)
• The University of Tokyo
• Tsinghua University (3)
Offers from Canadian Universities
• McMaster University
• Queen's University (2)
• University of British Columbia (4)
• University of Toronto (16)
• University of Toronto, Mississauga (2)
• University of Toronto, Scarborough (2)
• Western University
Offers from European Universities
• École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) (2)
• Glion Institute of Higher Education
• Leiden University
• University of Amsterdam
• University of Groningen
The value of patience
In many ways, the university application process is a test of patience and character. As truly international citizens with a global mindset, the majority of our students applied to multiple countries and regions around the world. Juggling the dates, deadlines, and requirements for multiple different systems is not an easy feat. Furthermore, it can be too easy for students to be removed from the reality “on the ground” in the countries of their targeted universities and not fully understand why some systems (or universities) may take longer than others to process applications.
With the increased unpredictability caused by the pandemic, many universities saw dramatic increases in the number of applications. Some of the most well-known universities and liberal art colleges in the United States of America saw increases of 30%, 50%, and even over 100% in the number of total applications received! In such an environment, more and more universities are using the wait list in order to meet enrolment targets. Applicants may need to wait an additional month or two for a final decision.
The mantra we repeat with students throughout the process is “you can only attend one university”. We believe strongly that “fit” should guide the application process. Students need to be patient with themselves to take the time to reflect inwards on their personality, goals, dreams, strengths, and weaknesses. Students also need to exercise patience with the world around them and understand that they are part of something much larger than themselves, their friends, and their families.
While we recognize the validation in being told again “Congratulations! Welcome to our university…”, ultimately university applications are not trophies to be collected. Instead, university applications are like doors lining a hallway. Some will open easily, others need a specific key or lock combination, and others remain locked shut. We may only cross the threshold of a doorway one at a time. Behind each and every doorway is a room of nearly endless possibilities and resources. It is up to us – in knowing ourselves, living a life of character, and striving to make a difference (big or small) in the world – to make the most of whichever room we decide to enter.
