ToddI had the opportunity this summer to represent BIPH at a three-day conference of about 1,600 college admission professionals. The annual conference of the International Association of College Admission Counselors (IACAC) met in hot Miami on the campus of Florida International University. About one-third of the attendees were admission officers from universities in the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe. About half were counselors from other international schools around the world. And the rest were vendors of various services in this “industry.”
I met Ivy League admission officers and representatives of many other top-ranked schools. I was able to chat with them and exchange contact data. I collected lots of college pennants and banners; you will see them displayed when you come to our office. I’m glad to report that BASIS-China and specifically BIPH is gaining an excellent reputation among these highly selective colleges in the US and UK. In the next couple of months, there will be informative visits from several top schools to Guangzhou and a virtual conference for students and parents hosted by Princeton, Columbia, Penn, and Brown Universities. Our office will keep parents up to date as these opportunities arise.
One of the hot topics of discussion this year at IACAC involved the use of generative AI for good and bad purposes, specifically for writing college application essays. We talked about the use of ChatGPT and Bard to answer writing prompts. There is no consensus strategy yet among college administrators, but one possibility is moving away from 600-word essays in applications and using instead questions that require shorter, more personal answers. Of course, the purpose of requiring student writing is for the college to gain insight into the student’s unique personality, so that readers see more than just numbers. And obviously, submitting what a machine wrote frustrates that purpose and weakens a student’s application. It will take at least another year or two, or more, for new policies and practices to impact the application process.
In the meantime, we counselors at BIPH will keep monitoring trends and continue guiding your sons and daughters in the college application and writing process — in presenting their best selves but also their genuine selves. Please contact us if you have questions.