Articles for families choosing a university
Plain answers to the questions that come up between Year 11 and the first offer: how to pick a university, what IB really costs you, how the application actually works, and where the money comes from.
Choosing9 min readHow to choose a university: what actually matters, and what only looks important
Most families start with a ranking and end up with a list nobody in the family wants. Start with the four questions below instead — the shortlist builds itself.
Read →
IB and A-levels8 min readIB or A-levels: how to tell which one fits you
Universities accept both and have no secret preference. The real question is which two years you can survive without burning out — and that depends on how certain you already are.
Read →
Choosing6 min readHow to read university rankings without being misled by them
Rankings measure research reputation among academics. That is a real thing, but it is not the same as the quality of your undergraduate degree.
Read →
Choosing8 min readChoosing the country: UK, US, Europe or Asia
The country decides the length of the degree, the shape of the application, the price and whether you can stay afterwards. Pick it before you pick the university.
Read →
Applying9 min readUCAS and the Common App: two systems that want opposite things from you
One asks a single academic question and wants one answer. The other asks who you are and wants many. Confusing them is the most common reason a strong student gets thin results.
Read →
Applying8 min readWriting a personal statement that does not sound like everyone else's
Admissions tutors read thousands of these. Most open with a childhood memory and a quotation. The ones that work open with evidence.
Read →
Tests7 min readAdmissions tests and interviews: what they are really checking
Nobody is trying to catch you out. Tests filter for speed under pressure; interviews check whether you can be taught. Both are preparable, and neither rewards memorised answers.
Read →
Applying6 min readReferences and predicted grades: the parts of the application you do not write
A reference is only as good as the material the teacher has. You cannot write it, but you can decide what is in it.
Read →
Money7 min readWhat studying abroad really costs, beyond the tuition line
Tuition is the number universities advertise. It is rarely more than two thirds of what a family actually pays.
Read →
Money8 min readScholarships: where the money actually is, and how not to waste a term chasing it
Most families spend their time on the smallest pot. The large money sits with the universities themselves, and it is applied for at the same time as admission.
Read →
Student life7 min readThe first year abroad: what actually goes wrong, and what to do about it
The academic part is rarely the hard part. Admin, money and the third month are.
Read →
After graduation6 min readAfter the degree: work rights, graduate school and coming home
Where you can stay and work afterwards is part of the choice, not an afterthought — and it is the part that changes most often.
Read →
IB and A-levels7 min readChoosing IB subjects: the decision that quietly closes doors two years later
Higher Level choices are made at sixteen and checked by admissions offices at eighteen. Get the required combinations right first, then optimise for points.
Read →
IB and A-levels6 min readWhat an IB score actually buys you: 45, 40, 35 and below
The average diploma score sits around 30. Universities know this; the panic in most families is calibrated to a scale that does not exist.
Read →
Applying6 min readBuilding the shortlist: from forty universities to eight
A long list is easy and useless. The work is in the cuts, and there is a right order to make them in.
Read →
Choosing6 min readA note for parents: how to help without taking over
Admissions offices can tell within a paragraph whose application they are reading. The help that works is logistical; the help that backfires is editorial.
Read →
IB and A-levels7 min readWhich qualification for which country: where IB and A-levels actually land
Almost every university on this site accepts both. What changes by country is which one the offer is written in — and in some countries, neither.
Read →