Why Bolster?
Bolster uniquely ties academic and cultural preparation to build
academic, personal, and career success in the US.
Chinese applicants are changing the face of secondary and higher education in the United States. Good grades and test scores are necessary but no longer sufficient for a successful academic career and the competition among Chinese for acceptance to top secondary schools is immense:
and more than 200 in 2011-2012. If they were all accepted, the schools would be one third Chinese.”
Similarly, Chinese nationals now make up 31 percent of all higher education international students in the United States making them the fastest-growing student population in US colleges.
But perfect grades and scores are no longer a guarantee to getting into a top school, regardless of your nationality. Consider this statistic from Admission Matters:
“Harvard denies over 75% of the high school valedictorians who apply each year.”
Such fierce competition has lead to countless cases of cheating as students desperately vie for admission to elite schools. Such corruption has made many schools wary of accepting Chinese applicants and there are concerns about whether students will be able to do the work once they get here. According to the The Wall Street Journal,
“Some 8,000 Chinese students were expelled from American universities last year alone –
Bolster is invested in the success of Chinese students with the opportunity to study in the United States. We provide students with a legitimate pathway to become more competitive applicants and we prepare them to succeed in American academic institutions, professional careers and daily life. To do this we believe students must look beyond grades and scores and seek fluency in expanded ways:
· cultural competency
· writing skills
· interview skills
· creative and collaborative problem-solving
· volunteer experience and extracurricular activities
· development of personal networks with leaders in their field of interest