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E2 Talk – Interview E2 Alumni: Advice for students who aspire to study college abroad

1. Video
2. Transcript

Nowadays, many students decide to study overseas owing to the availability of better opportunities and the possibility of a better career in the future. However, many of them have admitted that there are things they wish they could have done differently on preparing for their journey abroad. In this video, to wrap up his discussion with Tony – our CEO, Johnny – an E2 alumnus, will share some of his advice for students who aspire to study college abroad.

Johnny is currently studying at Northwestern University, an elite private university located in Illinois, USA. Prior, he was a student at Everest Education in 2014-2015, and he graduated from Saigon South International School (SSIS). He scored two perfect scores in AP exams and achieved 2260 in his SAT.

Below are our interview and a transcript that has been edited for clarity.

Tony: Is there anything that you think you could have done differently?

Johnny: I wish I could have opened up to my parents about who I wanted to be. Back then, I used to be confined to a strictly academic world. My parents didn’t let me be too committed to any extracurricular activities that I really wanted.

As a matter of fact, providing a holistic, well-rounded education has become a key goal for most schools in the U.S. Therefore, apart from the academic performance, the admission officers also look deeper into other aspects of the applicants. As a result, for students who plan to study abroad in America, I suggest that they have fun in learning instead of taking it too seriously. This will help them develop their intellectual, emotional, social, physical and creative potentials at the same time. On the other hand, they can also have more opportunities to reflect and discover themselves, which will be very beneficial for their admission essay. Eventually, their application process will be so much more fulfilling in the future.

Tony: When it comes to extracurricular activities, parents usually consider it as a bonus that their kids can put on the college application. In reality, the value of the extracurricular activities is not just that. It’s easy to check the box and everybody does it. However, the value is how you write about the experiences you’ve got from those activities, in a way that helps you grow as a person, as a leader, or as someone who tries something exceptionally hard. I totally agree with you on the value of the extracurricular activities.

Anyway, is there any advice you would leave for students who aspire to study abroad for college?

Johnny: I suggest that they try to wrap up the school work and take the standardized tests as soon as possible. It opens up an entire summer for them to work on their extracurriculars, something that they are very passionate about. Besides, it’s crucial that they brainstorm some ideas for their college essays. Besides, I recommend that they reach out to as many people as possible and surround themselves with people who are willing to bring the best out of them. Additionally, self-confidence and self-belief are necessary at this stage. Those will eventually reflect in their college application.

Tony: Thank you very much, Johnny, for all of your help. It’s been awesome to get a chance to chat with you on a really personal level on all of these things.

To our audience here, if you guys have any questions, in particular for Johnny, or any other topics that you’d like us to cover, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. We’ll try to find suitable speakers for those topics. Also, if you need any help in education, Everest Education would be very happy to step in and support you.