How can I prepare my gifted pre-teen child for an elite university when they are limited to our local curriculum rather than attend an IB school?

As your gifted pre-teen child is starting the equivalent of US middle school in their local curriculum school, now is the perfect time to lay down a solid foundation to help them get into an elite university. While the IB system is without a doubt a great choice for a child due to its advanced coursework and mandatory extracurricular participation in the realms of creativity, action, and service, along with the extended essay capstone, forgoing the IB due to family circumstances does not mean your child has any less advance in the college application game.  

There are five elements to a solid college application, which are getting good grades in challenging courses, having a robust extracurricular portfolio, scoring high on the SAT, obtaining strong letters of recommendation, as well as submitting a great personal essay. While the IB infrastructure provides oomph to these elements, they can still be achieved to a great extent without formal enrollment in the IB program.

Allow me to clarify each of the following below:

1. Grades and Coursework

You should always aim to take the most challenging coursework available at your school and aim to obtain the highest grades you can. If your school does not offer advanced coursework, an extra class such as A-levels, AP, or IB can be taken online through an accredited high school such as the Crimson Global Academy. Ideally you would want your child to get into advanced mathematics while still at the middle school level, as well as reading above their grade level. This will ensure a strong foundation by the end of middle school to select more advanced coursework in subjects of their choosing (which should align with the major they desire in university) once they are in high school.

2. Extracurriculars

When applying for university, there are slots for 10 different extracurricular activities in the application. Try to model the IB program’s way here, aiming to expose your child to activities in creativity, action, and service – ideally showing growth in all of them through the years as well as leadership and competitions. Try to make your child’s involvements official. For example, if they are taking piano classes, have them do the exams as many universities will offer college credit for completing ABRSM Grade 8 Piano. Additionally, competitions on an international level are the most impressive and not all have to be done in person either – submitting essays and artwork, online debates, etc are also fair game to consider if you cannot afford international travel. Additionally, summer programs to help build hobbies, do community service, or get academic enrichment are also wonderful pursuits.

3. Standardized Testing

The SAT is mandatory for most universities, as is the TOEFL or IELTS (English aptitude test) for non-native English speakers. To grow here, focusing on English and math at school, as well as getting tutoring (or the study books KAPLAN publishes yearly) and building one’s vocabulary through reading is key. We offer a monthly newsletter, Rise Readers, at Crimson Rise to help students build their vocabulary as well as private tutoring for the SAT when time comes closer, teaching specific strategies on how to outperform peers who will also be taking the test in the same cycle.

4. Recommendation Letters

Depending on the university, 1 or 2 of these are required from academic teachers who know your child best. Building a strong mentoring relationship with teachers in the high school years here is key. Ideally this will be a teacher who knows the student well in terms of not just their academic performance, but how they handle challenges, adversity, and teamwork. The recommendation letter should not read as a “pleasure to have in class” template but a personal insight into your child’s best nature as a student.

5. Personal Essay

Elite universities want to see who a student is at their core, not just the grades and awards in their application. The essay is a chance for a student to tell their own story, so working on writing skills and discovering one’s identity is key here. Discussing one’s culture, the inspiration behind their chosen major, or a key moment in their lives all make for excellent topics here.

If you follow through with the advice above, building a solid foundation in your child’s academics, growing their extracurriculars to ensure a thorough portfolio with leadership opportunities, as well as providing robust support through the SAT, recommendation letters and personal essay, your child’s chances of attending a top university will greatly increase. At Crimson Rise, our mentorship program for 11-14 year olds with target outcomes tailored specifically for each child, we’ve helped many students with the foundational building blocks to success in high school, university, and beyond and would be happy to assess how this program may be a good fit for your child too. Please reach out and contact us anytime!