The Foreign Service Journal, June 2018

64 JUNE 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT recommended) are on target. Thorough research on which schools are a match for the student should take place before the application season. Don’t waste your money applying to schools where you’ll struggle to stay competitive, to schools that do not match your academic profile, or to schools you wouldn’t attend even if they gave you a full scholarship. The Foreign Service student’s college list should focus on places where both the student and admissions committee agree the student will be happy and thrive. Where You Go Is Not Who You Are Success comes from being given the opportunity to thrive, to do things like be a big fish in a small pond, have one-on-one attention from professors, participate in undergraduate research projects, learn skills through a men- tored internship or create a community in a living learning residential pro- gram—the list goes on. Quincey Malauulu, admissions adviser at Westminster College in Utah, reminds the students he mentors that they only spend 15 hours a week in the classroom, and that college is about learning to become a lifelong learner, both inside and outside the classroom. Students beginning the college search should reflect on their high school experi- ence. Which style of class did they learn best in? Which course topic were they most excited to learn about? Did they excel in courses where they had extra advantages, or did they shine when com- peting with their peers? How did students supplement their education through co-curricular or out-of-school learn- ing experiences? Do they learn best by actively doing (e.g., part-time job, intern- ship, co-op), or by reading and reflecting? Do they prefer to listen to a lecture and study on their own, or actively participate in a seminar discussion? Simple, dinnertime conversations on these topics can help students uncover their best learning environments, which are what they should be searching for in a college. With a wealth of top international secondary schools to attend, most Foreign Service kids are academically prepared for admission to college after high school graduation. And yet, when these students are interviewed later, they highlight that although the aca- demic part of the university transition came easily, the rest of the pieces did not fall into place as easily. From the overwhelming feeling of having so much free time to the chal- lenge of relating to peers who have 18 years of shared pop-culture references, the transition can be difficult. But it does not have to be if the college search is carried out with the aim of identifying institutions that will support the whole student: academically, emotionally, socially, professionally and physically. When students focus on building Thorough research on which schools are a match for the student should take place before the application season.