GREENWOOD HIGH – INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

THE COLLEGE & CAREER COUNSELLING POLICY

2022 - 2023

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 INDEX

CONTENTS PAGE

Greenwood High Vision, Ethos & Mission 3

Goal of College & Career Counselling Department 4

Overview of College & Career Counselling Department 4

College & Career Counselling Timeline 5

Support for IGCSE Students 7

Role of College & Career Counsellor 9

Role of Students 10

Role of Parents 10

Guidelines and Procedures 11

Essential Agreement 14
 GREENWOOD HIGH – VISION, ETHOS, MISSION

Vision - A Fresh Approach

Our vision is to constantly strive to implement, innovate and align ourselves with the latest
means and methods of education. We believe in preserving the traditional ways of learning
while focusing on a pragmatic approach. The school analyses all prevailing methods and
techniques available worldwide to come up with best practices apt for our students. We
realize that improvement is an ongoing process, and our practices are assessed relentlessly
as we move forward.

Our Ethos - ‘The Superlative Synergy’

The school believes in blending the best of traditional and modern values as reflected in the
motto and vision statement. We are determined to tap into the unlimited potential of
tomorrow and traditional values admired through ages that will benefit our student's
development into cognizant and responsible adults. We, at Greenwood High honestly believe
that these two guiding principles are the best for both students and faculty. We encourage
our staff and students to be ‘Rooted in Knowledge’ while always ready to take ‘A Fresh
Approach’ in everything they do.

Mission Statement

To educate young people in ways that prepare them to be active, free thinking, and socially
responsible citizens in a democratic society. Our mission is to develop the intellectual,
aesthetic, moral, physical, social and emotional potential of the students. The school
atmosphere fosters the allegiance of the students to their cultural heritage and promotes
respect and tolerance between students and teachers. The students are rooted to their
culture and are ready to accept any new challenge with a fresh approach towards learning

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 THE COLLEGE & CAREER COUNSELLING DEPARTMENT

Goal

The College & Career Counselling Department at Greenwood High strives to support the
journey of students in realizing their dreams related to academic and career aspirations. We
aim to counsel students through their journey of self-discovery and building strong career
preparedness with an objective to inculcate values and skills that will help them succeed at
highly rigorous college milieus.

Overview

Greenwood High School has a robust College and Career guidance department catering to the
needs of High school (IB DP/ IGCSE) students in their college selection and application journey.
The department strives to support all students towards their career aspirations by a means
of systems in place to make the career selection and college application process smoother
and less daunting.

The College counsellors are fully committed to collaborate with students, faculty and the
undergraduate admission officers to best pave the pathway for student’s post-secondary
success. We are strong advocates of eclectic interests of each student and their varied
academic and co- curricular strengths thus, helping them choose the right career and
academic concentration. We understand that each student is different and has a unique
journey ahead of them thus great focus is placed on individualized attention and counselling
process.

Once a Greenwood High student always a Greenwood High student! The department not only
supports existing students but also alumni. The department takes pride in supporting
students who choose to opt for gap year or explore transfer applications through their college
application journey.

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 COLLEGE & CAREER COUNSELLING TIMELINE

The College and Career Counselling Department at Greenwood High International School
predominantly assists Grade 11 and Grade 12 International Baccalaureate Diploma
Program students for the college application process.

The department plans the counselling timeline and calendar keeping in view the
academic year and other relevant details of the IB Diploma Program curriculum. The
deadlines are aligned to ensure a smooth process giving students sufficient time to
submit their assigned tasks. The calendar is shared with all the IB students. Students are
advised to refer to the counselling calendar and adhere to the counselling timeline to
better understand the college application journey and sync their tasks accordingly.

The major college application deadlines and standardized testing dates (tentative) are
also mapped and integrated to ensure a better planning of the tests and application
submissions.

GRADE 11 IBDP

Month Tasks

July Subject Selection Queries.

August Students are assigned Counsellor & student meetings start.

September CIALFO registration for students and CIALFO introductory user session;
Students update their profile on CIALFO & student meetings continue;
Unit Test 1.

October Student meetings continue.

November Common Session for students with the Counselling Team on General
Guidelines. First term Summative exam starts.

December First Term Summative exam continues; Exploring of summer programs,

internships, courses, community engagement;

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 January Exploring of summer programs, internships, courses, community
engagement continues; Parent meetings.

February Application of summer programs; Parent meetings continue; Students

update CIALFO with education and extra-curriculars details

March Unit Test 2; Peer Support Session by G 12; Students work towards the
long list.

April Common session on applications, SOP, Essays.

May Annual Summative Examination; Identifying teachers for academic

recommendation.

June Short list of Colleges; Work on essays; G 9 & 10 Transcripts sent to

counsellors.

GRADE 12 IBDP

Month Tasks

July Orientation session on Applications

August LOR requests made to teachers with subject specific Bragsheet;

Counsellor bragsheet submitted; Essays sent for review. .

September College Short list finalized; Mid-term examination.

October Application list finalized for EA/ED. Application deadlines for US

and UK – Oct 15.

November US Application deadlines – Nov 1st – Nov 15th. UC Application

deadline. Canadian application deadlines. Scholarship nomination
deadline. IB Open House – students interact with prospective

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 students.

December RD application deadlines

January RD application deadlines; UCAS Application deadline.

February Mock Examination

March Peer Support Session for G 11. Update College decisions and
scholarship information.

April Pre-departure session

May Transcripts send to self-report colleges: IBIS result request service.

June Inform the finalized college.

July IB results declared. Final transcripts sent to universities.

SUPPORT FOR IGCSE STUDENTS

We extend the college and career guidance to Grade 9 and 10 IGCSE students. IGCSE students
are included in the summer program list and other related communication on internships,
contests etc. to help them build their profile early in high school. Students are added on
CIALFO platform so that they take benefit from the resources on the platform like the
assessments and the university search options.

We have also partnered with Mindler in engaging actively with Grade 9 & 10 students on a
wide variety of resources that are available for students on the platform like the detailed
assessments and reports, career library, career blogs, Vlogs, virtual internships, scholarship
information etc. Generally, the following sessions are conducted over the two years by the
Mindler experts.

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GRADE 9 IGCSE

Month Tasks

September Orientation session on Mindler for students and parents; Students

register on Mindler

November Deep Dive into Subject Choices

January Profile Building – Generic

March Education Abroad

April Interpretation of Mindler Assessment

GRADE 10 IGCSE

Month Tasks

September Refresher session on Mindler for students and parents

November Subject Combinations

January Profile Building – Specific

March Education Abroad

April Career Paths & New Age Careers

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Role of College & Career Counsellor

Each student in Grade 11 & Grade 12 will have an assigned College and Career Counsellor
who closely guides students with their college applications. The role of the Counsellor
includes the following:

➢ Work in liaison with all stakeholders to ensure that students are assisted and

supported throughout their college application process which includes profile

building, college and scholarship applications and decision-making.

➢ Share timely information about college applications through common group sessions,
individual one-on-one sessions, and communications through various channels -
Outlook emails, Teams messages, Zoom meetings, CIALFO broadcasts, notifications,
etc.

➢ Meet the student at regular intervals.

➢ Support & motivate students set academic goals and plan their summer activities and
share relevant information about current career trends and opportunities.

➢ Share a list of options for summer programs and activities pertaining to variety of

academic and co-curricular areas so that students gain an opportunity to explore their
areas of interest, enhance skills, further their knowledge and make informed choices.

➢ Work closely with the students to identify a list of universities that a student can
explore while shortlisting and finalizing “Best-fit” Universities.

➢ Collaborate closely with all stakeholders (students, parents, faculty & management)

➢ Attend professional development workshops, seminars, conferences etc. to keep

abreast of recent developments and trends in the College and Career Counselling
field.

➢ Organize college visits and career fairs both on-campus and virtually to provide an

opportunity to students to interact with college representatives and know about

study destinations across the globe.

➢ Facilitate the long list of colleges in discussion with student’s preferences and
academic scores.

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Role of Students

➢ Engage proactively with the assigned Counsellor throughout Grade 11 & Grade 12

➢ Attend scheduled university visits, fairs & relevant workshops arranged.

➢ Complete all assigned tasks related with college applications in a timely manner.

➢ Ensure that all deadlines are met, and applications are submitted well on time.

➢ Follow-up with the assigned Counsellor on document submissions & updated

checklist with regards to any pending tasks

➢ Check the application portal for status of documents.

➢ Keep the counsellor informed about college decisions (acceptances, denials and
waitlist or deferrals) and scholarships.

➢ Submit details of provisional colleges for requesting official IB transcript.

➢ Inform final college choice to the Counsellor.

➢ Take pride in being ambassadors of Greenwood High School.

Role of Parents

➢ Allow the student to take charge of the application process.

➢ Encourage the student at every step of the college application journey.

➢ Support and guide the student to make the right “Best-fit” choice.

➢ Be open to suggestions and alternate options by the Counsellor.

➢ Help the student track application submission and other related tasks to meet their
deadlines.

➢ Reiterate the importance of timely submissions ahead of the application deadlines as

prescribed by the counselling department and adhering to the counselling calendar to
ensure a hassle-free application process.

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Greenwood High International School - College & Career Counselling Department

Guidelines & Procedures

1. The Applications are limited to 12 and the school strongly recommends that students
adhere to that. The policy is in place, keeping in mind the stress on the students in
balancing college applications and academic deadlines. With a greater number of colleges
in the list, students tend to make less focused application even to colleges where their
profile may not be competitive compared to the average applicant pool. To facilitate
different regions:

- University of California application is considered as 1 application.

- UCAS is considered as 1 application. Students get to apply to 5 colleges in the UK

through the UCAS portal.

2. The list of universities needs to be discussed with the counsellor and finalized by 1 st
October for the Early applicants and 15th November for the Regular applicants in Grade
12.

3. Grade 11 scores are a strong indicator for the college long list along with a consistent
academic performance throughout High School (Grade 9 - Grade 12).

4. For students to apply to highly selective colleges like the Ivy League, MIT, Stanford, Duke,
Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, CMU, JHU etc. in the US and Oxbridge, Imperial in the UK and
NTU, the recommended Grade 11 Final score should be 39+/42.

5. For students applying to Northwestern, University of Chicago, Rice, New York University,
University of Michigan, UC Los Angeles in the US and University College London,
University of St. Andrew’s in the UK & NUS a score of 37+/42 in Gr 11 Final is highly
recommended.

6. This is to ensure that students apply to Best-fit universities, get considerable number of
acceptances, and are not exposed to a high number of unsuccessful applications. The list
is suggested based on past trends and statistics as well as highly competitive applicant
pool to safeguard student’s chance at being offered an acceptance.

7. While doing Early Decision (ED) to any university, it is imperative that the student, parents
and the counsellor are in agreement as each of them needs to sign a binding contract.
Once students receive an acceptance from the ED college, all the other applications and
offers should be withdrawn in accordance with the agreement signed to the respective
ED institution.

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8. Following documents are sent to colleges by the school counsellor:

- Transcripts- The final of Grade 9, Grade 10 Board Statement of Marks and

Certificate, final of Grade 11, Grade 12 (Mid-term for EA & ED) and Mid-Year as and
when available along with the Predicted grades. Grade 9 & 11 transcripts need to
be the official signed and sealed document from the school.

- Letters of Recommendation - Teacher/Academic LOR and Counsellor LOR

9. The school supports students through all steps of the college application. Hence, students
are discouraged from seeking guidance from external counsellors. In the event of a
student working with an external counsellor, the school counsellor will not be obliged to
be actively involved in the process of writing the recommendation, checking the
applications, and reviewing the essays. Official documents from the school, however,
will be sent directly to the universities. Under no circumstances shall the school share
these documents with the parent or the external counsellor or any other third party.

10. Predicted grades are strictly confidential and based on student’s consistent academic
performance and academic promise. Predicted Grades will not be disclosed to the
students or parents at any stage. The counsellor will guide students in choosing the
universities where the admissions are based on Predicted grades.

11. The counselling timelines are shared with all the students. Students who do not adhere
to the timelines mentioned in Point 2 will not be in a position to avail any support from
the department due to the paucity of time. It is imperative that the counsellors are
informed of the timelines ahead of time as most of the deadlines are during the school
break - EA during the Dussehra/Diwali break and RD during the Winter break. Students
are required to complete all assigned tasks and inform Counsellors at least two weeks
prior to the respective college deadlines.

12. Students will take charge of their applications. Parents can support the process but not
own it. Counsellors will closely assist and guide the students in the process.

13. Students are to ensure that participate actively in career fairs, online workshops and
individual as well as common counselling sessions.

14. Students should not forget that consistent academic performance is the base of a strong
profile. All extra-curricular activities add to the profile but do not compensate for grades
when applying to highly competitive institutions.

15. Students should keep the counsellor informed about their list of colleges at all stages of

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 their applications; this applies to any additions or removal from the college list as well as
application status and college and scholarship decisions.

16. On Scholarship nominations, the school decision is final. Students who apply to an ED in
the US rule themselves out of nominations for scholarships as the favourable decision
from the ED college is binding on the student. If a student nominated for a prestigious
scholarship and is awarded the same, the student is obliged to take the offer.

17. Students are expected to use their own work for essays and personal statements and
report only authentic academic grades and extra-curricular activities to the universities,
which need to be corroborated by the official documents from the issuing institutions.

18. Grade 11 IBDP Students need to take a print out of the last page (Essential Agreement),
read it, sign, get the parents’ signature and submit it to their assigned College Counsellor.

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 ESSENTIAL AGREEMENT
IBDP Batch of 2022-24 (Sarjapur, Bangalore)

I hereby acknowledge that my parents and I have read the Greenwood High
International School College & Career Counselling policy in its entirety and I
commit to abide by its guidelines that include but are not limited to the
application timelines and all essential agreements pertaining to ED, originality
of writing, authenticity of profile details, scholarship …, failing which I
understand that I will not be eligible to avail services from the school counselling
team. I understand that this essential agreement is to facilitate my IB journey
and avail suitable support for my application process to colleges and career
guidance.

____________________ _____________________ ____________

Name of the Student Signature Date

____________________ _____________________ ____________

Name of the Parent Signature Date

____________________ _____________________ ____________

Name of the Counsellor Signature Date

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