SUISPD A-level
70% Students of SUIS Pudong got University offer of the Top 30 in the world
SUIS Pudong and SUIS Pudong Academy jointly provide a British A Level curriculum. This academic year, our students received a significant number of offers from prestigious universities in the UK, including the top-ranking institutions of Oxford University, Imperial College and University College London. Recently, we have also received outstanding offers from highly competitive American universities. These include but are not limited to Columbia University, Cornell University, Northwestern University, Duke University, New York University, University of California, Berkeley, as well as other leading American national universities.
As a school with a UK curriculum, questions have been raised in the past about the A Level course’s suitability for students who intend to study in the United States. Will American universities accept them? Do A Levels offer a wide enough range of subjects? SUIS Pudong provides a conclusive answer to this question: great A Level students working in tandem with dedicated, high-quality teaching staff will get great offers, not just from the UK, but from the USA as well.
Music-inspired my passion
Tony 田牧航
Duke University 杜克大学
US News 10th 全美排名第10
Tony Tian transferred moved from his home province of Yunnan in southwest China to study at SUIS Pudong when he was in grade 6. He still remembers: “my English was very poor at that time. It was like listening to a storyteller in class, and it was difficult for me to fit into the class environment.” To his surprise, it was a school concert that helped him come out of his shell. Taking part in a group performance helped Tony to integrate with his classmates, and to make friends. “It was a great feeling to find out that music could come in so useful” he said.
Since then, Tian has transformed his accordion hobby into a genuine passion. “When I am preparing for a concert, I get up at 5 in the morning so to fit in a couple of hours of practice before getting ready for school at 7 am. On weekends, I usually practice for 8-9 hours.” Tony said. As well as delving deeper into the musical possibilities of the accordion by looking for interesting pieces, Tony also conceived, organised and performed in a highly successful public solo concert.
It is hard to imagine a student persisting with such unwavering persistence without being driven by a genuine love for his chosen instrument. Indeed, in a handwritten note Tony received, Duke University admissions director indicated that it was the story of his unique musical talent that made Tony stand out among so many outstanding applicants with higher scores, to clinch a much coveted admit decision.
The Message Board：
About half a year ago, I was scared. I was well aware of the difficulty in US admissions for Chinese students in mainland China. You not only need to do more preparations than applicants applying to other countries (such as eye-catching activities, personal “hooks,” numerous essays, GPAs, SATs, or even APs and SAT IIs), but you also have to reach excellence in them. To make matters worse, excellence doesn’t guarantee admission, as US admission is like dating (a school chooses excellent students who are a good fit for it), and the spaces for Chinese students are way too limited in US prestigious universities.
The biggest surprise came in March 27th. I could still remember that I woke up at 4AM in the morning due to sleeplessness. At six o’clock, I screamed in my house after receiving the offer from Berkeley. At seven, I couldn’t believe that Duke also accepted me. After that, I began to realize from Duke’s associate director of undergraduate admission that besides academic excellence, Duke accepted me for my passion for the accordion and the utilization of passion itself to benefit others. I was chosen among 40,000 other decent applications to Duke. I firstly felt that the acceptance was mainly due to luck, but I then thought about this another way: out of 40,000, how many people are willing to wake up at 5AM for practice and sacrifice their social life for their passion? Not so many. My achievement was a testament to “hard work pays off,” which I will continue to pursue it in the future.
Tomomi Kawaguchi
Northwestern University 西北大学
US News 9th 全美排名第9
I’m most looking forward to joining clubs and meeting new people in Northwestern. The student clubs range from theatre to cooking to rowing, so I will definitely be able to find clubs that I enjoy and have a fun college experience.
Dara Lesniak
Columbia University 哥伦比亚大学
US New 3rd 全美排名第3
My initial plan was to pursue further education in the UK, and it wasn’t until summer 2019 that I decided to apply to US universities. The application process was trying, to say the least. Apart from one general essay, every US university requires at least one additional essay uniquely tailored to that specific university. Upon finishing an essay, I would send it to my parents and guidance counselor for constructive criticism. Although I ended up completely re-writing several essays, the final outcome outshined the initial drafts by far. I did not drop any of my extra curricular activities to stay motivated throughout this challenging time, and I realized that sometimes a larger workload can help you concentrate on specific tasks and maximize your efficiency. If you are applying next year don’t be discouraged by the arduous application process— the final results will reflect the work inputted.
THE END：
Naturally, we are incredibly proud of these our students for rising to these challenges so successfully. We firmly believe that their success demonstrates just how attractive the A Level curriculum is at an international level, with the students studying a varied range of subjects including geography, Chinese, history, physics, arts, maths, further maths and computer science.
Congratulations to all our students, and we hope that their success will inspire our younger students to aim high, no matter where in the world they wish to study.
University Offer List
