Dear customer,

Welcome to the December edition of ICON+’s University Access Newsletter. You are receiving this e-newsletter because you inquired about our test prep and/or admissions consulting services.

By now, you should have gotten the majority of your undergraduate application underway. However, you may still be fretting about soliciting a great Letter of Recommendation. In the feature article below, ICON+ has provided detailed ways to obtain that amazing Letter of Recommendation.

Just when you thought the countless late nights you spent on your college applications were coming to a close - when you finally obtained your ideal SAT score after weeks of drilling, trimmed your admissions essays to perfection, and tweaked your activities list for the billionth time, you are hit with another crucial application task: soliciting great recommendation letters.

Why are Recommendation Letters Needed?

You think: Oh man - another sleepless week! Why do they even need references? Don’t they have gobs of information about me already from the rest of my application?

University admissions officers are not just trying to throw another application hurdle your way (although one could argue that some admissions committees are just a teeny bit sadistic). Recommendation letters do serve a very worthwhile purpose: They provide another, more objective perspective into your potential as a university student and future professional. Say you’ve claimed to be a hotshot student leader with exceptional cross-cultural, communication, and technical skills on your essay. Or, you said you were instrumental in your team’s Olympiad winning streak. Well, the admissions committee wants to know if your version of the truth or your perception of your own competencies is shared by the people around you.

Therefore, although the recommendation letters should not replicate every message and narrative you wrote in your essays, there should be some common themes that tie the entire application together. If you have branded yourself in your essay as a strong peer counselor and environmental activist, your recommendations should also highlight these points.

To read further click here

We all make mistakes. It’s only natural as human beings that we get things wrong from time to time! Under time pressure and fighting off nerves it’s no wonder many students make careless mistakes in the SAT exam. I’ve compiled some of the most common and avoidable mistakes students make during the SAT.

• Giving up on a question too quickly – This happens to many students who are really feeling the pressure; if a question is too hard, they just give up. With your body drained and your brain tired of concentrating for over three hours, it’s no wonder students begin to give up. Even if you are struggling, try and think of an alternative way to answer the question. Can you eliminate one or two of the wrong answers? Don’t resort to random guessing. Using the method ‘Process of Elimination’ will improve your probability of choosing the right answer.

• Getting your timings wrong – many students spend too much time on difficult questions and as a consequence loose out on easier marks. You shouldn’t be spending more than two minutes on any question! If you can’t answer the question, try to eliminate at least one wrong answer, then move on.

To read the rest of the article click here
 

Vocabulary is hardly everyone’s idea of fun! Yet to ace the IELTS examination, you will need to put some work into learning a variety of vocabulary. Try not to view this exercise as learning a bunch of new words you are never going to use again. Instead, if you can imagine the English language as a piece of art, new words will add to the vibrancy and beauty of your work. The more diverse your English vocabulary is, the more beautifully you will be able to speak it! Furthermore, acquiring vocabulary will help enrich your education, personal and professional life! Broadening your vocabulary is a time consuming process, so I’ve concocted a few different methods to improve vocabulary learning and finally boost your IELTS score.

· Absorb the knowledge around you - The best way to start is to embrace the English language in your surroundings. So read as much as you can in English, listen to new words you hear on your favorite American TV drama. Immersing yourself in the language without putting on subtitles, will stretch your vocabulary. Pick up an English newspaper, magazine or book. Anything you don’t understand, write down to look up later.

· Buy a notebook - Treat yourself to a new notebook, something to carry with you at all times! This way, when you come across a new word, you can jot it down. Try and guess the meaning of the word in its context. Later in the day, look up the meaning of the word, then try to use it in a sentence. If you’re a visual learner, you could even draw an image to help remind you of the meaning. After a couple weeks, you should have accumulated a decent vocabulary list of the words you were interested in.

To continue reading click here