Have a child who’s planning for university? Here are some tips on how you can help your child stand out in their university applications, shared by a Harvard-educated university counsellor and International Baccalaureate perfect scorer from XCL World Academy.
Let’s be honest – our kids may be the ones applying for college and university, but we parents feel the pressure too.
We already know that it takes more than just great grades to secure a spot in top universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and NYU. Factors like political shifts and the rise of generative AI (Gen AI) tools make the university admissions landscape increasingly competitive as well.
So what exactly are top universities looking for in student applicants today? How are admissions teams reviewing applications in an AI-dominated world? Most importantly, how do they assess an applicant’s character, extracurriculars, and potential beyond test scores?
We dove into all these in our recent free, info-packed webinar with XCL World Academy (XWA), where we were joined by a Harvard grad, as well as an International Baccalaureate (IB) perfect scorer who’s also a scholarship recipient.
Scroll down for the webinar recording! We’ve put in timestamps on each sub-topic, so you can skip to the parts that’s relevant to you.
Speaker introductions – 2.17
What qualities are top universities looking for in applicants? – 5.07
Have university expectations changed? – 6.23
How to demonstrate key qualities in your application – 9.20
Challenging aspects in application process and how to overcome them – 13.11
When to start preparing for university application – 18.28
How to choose a university course – 22.54
How parents can support children in the application process – 28.26
Tips: university application and IBDP prep – 32.29
Q & A – 38.54
Tips on how your child can stand out in their university application
1. Your child’s school community matters.
Children thrive in a supportive learning environment – and the foundation for that is in a school’s community. A small and close-knit community creates a healthy environment for students to succeed in their studies, extracurricular activities (ECAs), and personal growth. Teachers and guidance counsellors know students personally, allowing them to tailor each student’s learning journey according to their interests and needs. Being in a school with a tight community also means that your child can easily connect with like-minded peers to work on passion projects that align with their interests and intended university course.
In the webinar, Edwin Cheah (who received offers from top universities across three countries) shared how XWA’s small community enabled him to connect with his teachers and like-minded students easily. This provided him with a platform to start a non-profit organisation (NPO) that won $7,500 in funding, and was even featured in the global IB newsletter. On top of that, the school’s guidance counsellor Leslie Tam was able to offer him personalised advice on the universities that suit his interests and goals. She also crafted detailed recommendation letters that helped Edwin showcase his strengths in his applications. But that’s not all – thanks to the strength of a small community, XWA’s 2025 IB cohort of 48 students received a total of US$16.44 million in scholarships!
2. Encourage your child to join ECAs that align with their interests.
“Instead of aligning your time with ECAs, it’s more rewarding to align your ECAs with how you like to spend your time,” Edwin advised in the webinar. Your child’s university application and portfolio should be a reflection of their interests and strengths. As such, encouraging them to join ECAs or projects that they’re passionate about could actually help them stand out in their applications. This gives your child a chance to develop their skills in their chosen area of study, and they may even acquire field experience through it. To universities, this demonstrates more than just technical skills and knowledge, but enthusiasm in their chosen field of study too.
As such, enrolling your child in a school that has a balanced approach to academics and ECAs may be worthwhile. Take XWA as an example: it offers academic rigour through the IB curriculum, while encouraging students to explore passions and try new things with over 90 co-curricular activities across arts, sports, STEM, academics, and service. Most importantly, the school provides them with facilities and avenues to pursue these interests. Students like Edwin can then build their unique profiles through these opportunities – be it entrepreneurship initiatives or student leadership roles – and stand out in their university applications. High-achieving students (in academics, sports, or the arts) also have access to the XWA Aspire Academy, a unique student-centred programme that’s designed to help them reach their full potential.
3. Don’t underestimate the value of a personalised university and career counselling.
Edwin’s story is a good example of how personalised university and career guidance can be an invaluable resource for every student. Through Leslie’s guidance, Edwin learned more about what he should look for in a university that’s right for him. Success in university doesn’t just boil down to whether you’re a good fit for a university, but whether that university is a good fit for you too. Leslie also prompted Edwin to choose a university and field of study based on his preferred career role, ie. if he would like a client-facing role or analytical role. This helped him to find a university and course that genuinely fit his long-term goals.
The earlier your child starts planning for university, the better. XWA kickstarts its students’ guidance journey as early as Grade 8. This ensures every student, regardless whether they have a university course in mind or not, has ample time to explore their interests and strengths before the critical application years, which usually coincides with the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) years.
Your questions about acing university applications, answered!
1. How early should students start preparing for applications if they want to target top-tier universities like Harvard?
If a student is looking to apply to the United States (US), then they should start thinking about their grades and extracurricular activities when they are in Grade 9. US universities will look at a student’s transcript from Grades 9 to 12, as well as their ECAs from these years.
For universities in other regions (like the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore, etc.), a student’s Grade 11 and 12 years are most critical. With that, I’d recommend students to start preparing from Grade 10 onwards.
Answered by: Leslie Tam
2. How important are extracurriculars vs academics in the admissions process?
Universities are looking for students that can add value to the student community. By ‘adding value’, I mean students who contribute – be it through providing a unique perspective, developing a new research idea, finding a new way of doing things, or simply creating a new social club or community to make the university a better place to learn. In short, top universities want students that can help their universities to become better and more interesting places to learn. This happens through selecting students with qualities such as initiative, creativity, curiosity, drive, dedication, and focus.
Answered by: Leslie Tam
3. How can students prepare for college interviews, especially for Ivy League and Oxbridge universities?
University interviews in the UK tend to be subject-specific. Applicants are usually interviewed by professors, who want to know more about your interest in your chosen area of study, as well as how well you can apply your existing knowledge into solving more advanced academic problems. The interviewing professor would usually present applicants with a problem to solve to understand their thought process. As such, I recommend Oxbridge applicants to familiarise themselves with their chosen area of study, or approach a teacher who specialises in that area for advice. At XWA, we work closely with subject specialists teachers to prepare our Oxbridge applicants for the interview stage.
In the US, highly selective universities may conduct alumni-led interviews instead. These interviews tend to be quite general, and focus more on understanding the applicant as a person. Applicants are interviewed by alumni of the university, who would ask questions to gauge how well they can fit into the university’s community. Ultimately, they want to know if an applicant understands what makes the university unique.
Answered by: Leslie Tam
I was invited to an interview with Imperial College London for my application to study Mechanical Engineering there. Besides being asked about things I mentioned in my personal statement, my interview with Imperial College London also involved the interviewer asking me to explain the functions of an unknown machine that he presented to me. Thinking back, I realised that the interviewer was trying to understand my thought process – from how I describe my observations to how I arrive at my conclusions. Though I thought I did horribly as I got the answer wrong, I still managed to get an offer from the university due to how I stated my case.
On the other hand, my interview with two US universities didn’t involve any questions about my academic interests. Instead, they focused more on my general outlook of things and personal interests. Since I mentioned my tech NPO, one of the interviewers asked about my views about how digitalisation is shaping the world. I learned from that experience that US universities want applicants who can demonstrate depth and understanding not just about the subject they want to study, but issues relating to it as well.
Answered by: Edwin Cheah
A big thank you to our panellists Leslie and Edwin from XWA…
Leslie Tam
Director of University & Careers Guidance at XCL World Academy
Leslie is a seasoned university guidance professional with experience in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. A Georgetown and Harvard graduate, she leverages her international background and deep expertise to empower students on their academic and career journeys, providing expert support as they navigate pathways to future opportunities.
Edwin Cheah
IB perfect scorer and class of 2024 at XCL World Academy
Edwin has scored a perfect 45 and is joining Wesleyan University on a Freeman scholarship, a prestigious scholarship that is awarded to only 11 students every year. He is also the founder of a startup that supports students through IB and their university applications journey.
See you at the webinar!
