STAFF IN FOCUS
A WEEK IN THE LIFE...
Jacqueline Barclay, international agent for Barclay & Knap Educational Services In the past four years Jackie has helped over 2,500 graduates gain admission to the university/college of their choice. Based in Canada, Jackie has visited university campuses around the world, and regularly attends conferences and seminars related to post-secondary admissions and education. Jackie maintains a strong network of contacts within universities and colleges throughout Canada, the USA, the UK and Australia. She said: “We assist high school students with career/programme searches as well as their postsecondary applications. Many university students come to us regarding their postgraduate options. “We work with 20 UK universities and promote those schools at high schools, colleges and universities in Canada, including the University of Brighton.
THURSDAY I have started compiling a chart outlining our partnerships between Ontario colleges and UK universities. My business partner Joe Knap has spent hours exploring programmes at colleges and how they can articulate into degrees in the UK. We can take a number of three-year advanced diplomas in Canada and convert them into degree completions at UK universities. The chart will allow students to see the options they have in the UK.
We assist students in finding the right school/programme to meet their needs.This includes assisting with applications, checking the requirements, assessing transcripts, sending documentation, scholarship applications, residence applications and the visa process. We also work with international students and assist them with applications to various Canadian universities.
MONDAY Today was a holiday but I found myself working. We are still getting enquiries for the UK so I wanted to make sure I responded to all of them and begin scheduling appointments for them to begin the application process. Many UK-bound students are getting their final marks so I was busy making sure that all of these marks were sent to the UK universities to ensure students conditional offers are switched to unconditional offers.
10 Channel Magazine June | July 2010
TUESDAY Each morning I answer emails and always try to respond to our UK partners first since they are five hours ahead. Many UK enquires are for law, medicine, international relations, business, physiotherapy and dentistry. We are finding more students are interested in studying abroad. I met with a new UK applicant. He is applying to a number of UK schools for a MSc finance programme. In the afternoon I reviewed the Career Inventory Test results which tell where high school students’ interests lie. The test provides us with a pathway to start our counselling. We use the results as a beginning point for our counselling.
WEDNESDAY I spent much of the day updating UK student files. We generate a spreadsheet of UK applicants and acceptances and track each student to make sure they have accepted their offers, met conditions, paid deposits, applied for residence and have their money in order to apply for the student visa. When we started the business over two years ago we had 10 students go to the UK, last year we had 26, this year we are almost at 50. Our goal for next year is to double that number. In the afternoon I met with one of my high school students to explore programmes that he can apply for.
FRIDAY Today is the deadline for my Ontario high school students’ to accept university offers. Most of the morning was spent following up with students who were still making their final decisions. In the afternoon I met with a student who is interested in applying to an engineering programme in the UK. He was a bit low in his science and maths courses in high school so I recommended that he take a foundation programme first. He had no idea that he could do this and was happy that we recommended it. He would rather complete the foundation programme first so he is better prepared for the degree! All of his documents were compiled, I wrote the cover letter and everything will be ready to send as soon as he finishes the UCAS application.