A boarding A boarding - Epsom College

Academic wanderlustgrows as overseas universitiestick the right boxesStudents are looking increasingly to expand their horizons by going to study abroadAmbitious teenagers are lookingfurther afield than ever before intheir university choices, with anincreasing number taking the decision tostudy overseas.This trend is being reflected at EpsomCollege and in recent years students havechosen to pursue higher education atuniversities in the USA, Hong Kong,Hungary, Canada, Ireland, South Korea andSouth Africa.In 2012, six pupils chose universities outsidethe UK, including two gaining placesat the University of HongKong, one at the Universityof Budapest and three at USuniversities.Last year’s Captain of Golf, David Boote,for example, was the first European studentin over 10 years to be awarded a golfscholarship to Stanford University inPalo Alto, California. Two others arenow attending Berkeley and JohnHopkins Universities.Unusually, one pupil took up the offerof an Art Foundation course at theUniversity of St Andrews, which is acombined course run by Scotland’soldest university and the Collegeof William and Mary in Virginia.The course includes time studyingin the US during the secondand third years.This year, the College isdelighted to have its firstever offer of a place at an Italian university.Captain of Rugby, Craig Thomas, now in theU6th, attended the Summer School ofBusiness at Bocconi University in Milan lastyear and has now received and accepted anunconditional place for next year to studyEconomics. He speaks enthusiastically aboutthe Summer School and says he learnt alot from the experience and highly recommendsit to current L6th students.“Bocconi’s Discover Your Talent week was atruly amazing experience, not only becauseit was at the institution I had my sights seton, but also as it allowed me to evaluatewhere I was in relation to the competitionI was facing heading into my desired careerin finance.“This experience immersed me within agroup of highly talented individuals withwhom I have maintained both short andlong distance friendships. This is an experienceI can strongly recommend and I hopeothers will follow in my footsteps to reapthe benefits of such an excellent opportunity,”Craig said.College students were given an insightinto the benefits of an overseas degreecourse this term when a large group ofL6th formers heard a presentation by MarkHuntington from A Star Future, a specialistin non-UK university applications. His talkfocused on opportunities to study degreecourses taught in English in the Netherlands,Croatia, Spain and Italy, as well as courses inthe USA and Australia.He was accompanied by Veronica Sullo,Admissions Tutor from Bocconi University,who was able to give pupils individual adviceon the range of Bachelor programmes currentlyavailable and the possibilities forcombining study at Bocconi with courses inthe USA and Hong Kong.With an increasingly global jobs market,there are many personal and professionalbenefits to overseas study thatcan help students once they graduate.According to Jemma Davies, Organiser ofthe Student World Fair, studying outside ofthe UK means students have to adapt to anew environment and new teaching methodsand have to develop their interpersonalskills, all of which will benefit them once theygraduate.Learning to adapt in this way gives youngpeople confidence in their own abilities. Arecent report by Beatrice Merrick, Directorof Services and Research at the UK Councilfor International Student Affairs, noted:“Youhave to deal with situations outside of yourown experience. Even students who havetravelled a lot very often find that whenthey’re the one in the driving seat, everythingis a major achievement, from getting abank account to finding somewhere to live.”Studying overseas will serve students wellin the international job market, but that’snot the only benefit to overseas study froman employer’s point of view. “It’s not justlanguage, it’s having experience abroad that“ If you do a whole degree abroad it will very much change your view of the world.”2 The LINK Lent 2013