TS College Tours Opens Customized Focused Programs with SAS

(Newswire.net — February 1, 2016) Singapore, Singapore — Singapore American School (SAS) Summer Semester is pleased to announce its continued relationship with its longtime partner, TS College Tours, the leading provider of college and university tour programs for international students. During the summer, TS College Tours (www.tscollegetours.com) will offer unique tour programs to some of the top universities across the United States and the United Kingdom.

2016 programs include: 

• Northeast College Tour A and B, which begins in Boston and ends in Washington DC, with visits to several highly-selective Ivy League universities;

• California Tour, which tours 14 colleges and universities popular with international students, such as UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Pomona, Claremont McKenna, and Harvey Mudd;

• Midwest College Tour, geared towards students interested in science and engineering, with visits to University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Purdue University, University of Notre Dame, and University of Michigan, among others;

• Art College Tour, a coast-to-coast tour of the country’s 10 best art colleges, from Rhode Island School of Art and Design to Savannah College of Art and Design to California Institute of the Arts;

• UK University Tour, a sample of the UK’s premier educational destinations in London, Exeter, Bristol, Bath, Oxford, and Cambridge.

TS College Tours was established to serve international school students who plan to attend university in the United States and the United Kingdom. It distinguishes itself from its competitors by hiring highly experienced college counselors from international high schools or university admissions officers who have an understanding of and ability to connect with students with international backgrounds. TS College Tours’ counselors maintain strong working relationships with admissions representatives at many leading universities.

According to Trevor Sturgeon, director of TS College Tours and Singapore American School high school counselor, TS College Tours offers more than a simple college tour. “We do a lot of work in evenings and on the bus on different aspects of the college application process,” he says. “We conduct two sessions on the college essay. We have participants complete the US Common Application. We talk about what sort of questions to ask. At the colleges we visit, almost everyone says, ‘Wow, your kids ask excellent questions!’ in part because we also encourage them to do research ahead of time.”

Participants receive a pre-departure package that includes inventories and activities to complete before the tour commences. During the tour, current college students lead guided tours of each campus and share their own experiences, providing details about programs and services, and admissions officers hold information sessions with a broad overview of the college and its academic and extracurricular opportunities. And each evening, tour leaders assist students in reviewing and processing their experiences and to prepare for the next day, and conduct sessions on college admission topics including essay writing, interview practice, and application strategies.    

“Families invest anywhere from $150,000 to $400,000 for a college education,” adds Sturgeon. “It’s like buying a house. Who goes and buys a house without actually walking through it? You don’t go online and buy a house. Visiting colleges gives students a better sense of what is a good match, and just as importantly, what is not a good match.”

Learn more about SAS Summer Semester at http://www.sas.edu.sg/summersemester.