Appoline, Loriana and Bela participated in our University Preparation Course. They also won a blogging competition. Find out about the course by reading their winning blog.
Stanford, Cambridge, Oxford, Berkley, Yale, King’s, LSE. Hearing those names makes us dream.
For most of us, university comes after high school. It represents such an important time in our education and most people say that their university years are some of the best years of their lives.
Living in France and going to French high schools can make English speaking universities sound almost impossible to get into. But, as we are often told, nothing is impossible.
With that in mind, the three of us decided to choose the University preparation course (uni prep) at the British Council.
The name is pretty self explanatory. The course helps you get prepared for English speaking universities.
How did it help us evolve and (almost) decide on our future career? We're glad you asked.
Before the Uni Prep course
While some were already informed, most of us had idealised the university experience. We had the quintessential British or American movies in mind; a fun campus life, lots of partying, making friends for life and almost no work. No one claimed to really know what to expect work wise or how to choose the university that would suit us best. This made us pretty nervous.
We were getting increasingly anxious as none of us had looked for a specific course. We'd mainly based our university choices on what we had heard through the grapevine.
Last but not least, our parents were putting pressure on us by constantly asking what university we wanted to go to and what we wanted to study.
Needless to say, we desperately needed guidance and clarification.
During the Uni Prep course
At first, we found the course had some drawbacks :
- 3 hours on every Wednesday evenings
- we were given homework
- the course required time, dedication and a ton of motivation
This is what we might've called "the dark side" to the course. But as we soon found that "the bright side" is way more interesting.
The teachers are great. They're very understanding when our concentration falters, or when we don’t always hand in our homework on time due to the workload and stress given by our high schools.
On the subject of other students, you get to meet nice people your age with the same goals and experiences. Not only do you make new friends but you also get to improve your English. It's a definite win win situation!
Our class had the chance to dive into British Literature. We can proudly say that we studied, and even enjoyed, reading classic authors such as Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. Debating championships were also an amazing experience. It was great to be able to use arguments in defending and expressing our own or someone else’s opinion to win the audience’s vote.
After the Uni Prep course
The end of the year is approaching faster than expected and we can’t wait for what will come next! The Uni Prep course has boosted our desire to go to university and experience life there. We're maybe more excited about going to university than we were at the beginning of the year.
That said, there is a major difference. As of September 2018, we now know where and what we want to study, (or at least we have a more precise idea).
We're also more savvy on UCAS deadlines, and how to apply using the UCAS system.
Of course, we are still anxious about the future, but hey, at least we are informed and prepared!
To put it in a nutshell, we've learnt all about the following:
- taking notes
- writing argumentative essays (absolutely essential to whatever course you intend to do)
- participating in seminars
- giving all sorts of presentations and preparing for IELTS exam
If you are looking for a course to prepare you for uni in literally every way then this course is for you!