Current Beacon University Scholars and Beacon Staff visited Beacon Partner Schools in Kenya to talk to students about their UK university experiences and The Beacon Scholarship for University.
Throughout September, Beacon Scholars Farzana Huysman (Cambridge), Darryl Ursin (LSE) and Areeg Emarah (Cambridge) visited Beacon Partner Schools in Kenya to address students in years 12 and 13, and take questions about admission to UK universities, university life and The Beacon Scholarship.
Sessions were generally very well organised by the schools, and well attended. Presentations included slides on:
- how to apply to the right university;
- getting the best fit for your talents;
- how to write a personal statement;
- the importance of going to a good university over a good course, especially one that has vibrant extra-curricular activities.
The experiences gleaned from the Scholars ranged from their perspectives on leadership to their experiences as Beacon Scholars.
The Scholars outlined what activities students should be involved in at school to ensure they are able to apply to UK universities of their choice. They emphasised focusing on those extra-curricular activities that are within the students’ interests in preparation for their university applications; the point made was that working on activities they genuinely enjoy would give them better all-round value.
The Scholars also talked about the university application process and highlighted the differences between applying to Canada, the UK and the US. They explained the process of writing applications and personal statements, and provided strategies on how to write a winning personal statement, covering the six core paragraphs that are key to a good personal statement.
They also spoke about career options and how students could best align themselves, using a combination of subject choices and extra-curricular activity choices. There was further discussion about professional courses and how they are related to degree choices.
The sessions culminated with a question and answer discussion with the students.
Here are some pictures of the events at various schools:
