A Very Fast Offer from The University of Manchester
Today, we celebrate the very first offer from the class of 2024. Our Year 13 student, Atticus W has received an early acceptance to study Mathematics at the University of Manchester in the UK!
The journey to that excellent early offer was paved with dedication, hard work, and the unwavering support of our counseling team. Mr John Coffey, Atticus W’s counsellor delves into the story behind this achievement.
Mr Coffey told us that Atticus’s academic record is almost impeccable, "From the moment I met him I knew he was a highly motivated high achiever. But what stood out most for me was an impressive array of extracurricular activities that clearly showed a passion for his subject and chosen field of mathematics. Depth not breadth defines Atticus’ choices in the last few years, prestigious international Maths competitions an EPQ project, Online summer schools, give a taster of Atticus’ dedication to the study of mathematics."
We are wondering what are the highlights of Atticus that helped him get the offer so early? Mr Coffey said this early offer is not unexpected, “From the outset it was evident to me that his ability and interest in mathematics, coupled with an equally impressive work ethos, meant that he would be well organized and ahead of the game in the race to completing application tasks. University applications are stressful and hard work and it’s important that students learn to focus and plan and assimilate all this extra work into their daily and weekly timetables. Atticus excelled at this, and it is no surprise to me that he has the distinction of receiving a very early offer from a top university.”
We understand the preparation for application starts at a very early stage and the support from the counselling team is provided to students throughout the entire high school period, but during the application season specifically, what kind of key service/support can our counselling team offer to our students? Mr Coffey said that they hit the ground running on their return to school. In August, “Year 13 spend their first two days with their university counsellor and this is a key element, for me, in starting the semester well. Senior year is about to bring many new challenges to our students, not the least of which will be getting organized and completing many university applications within the first semester. It’s a key part of the service and support that DHSZ offers our students that students are provided block time with their counsellors at key stages throughout the year. We also spend the Week Without Walls (WWW) with year 13 and these two key events provide students with a very supportive environment to work on their applications. These two key periods are crucial supplements to our weekly meetings and all the other time spent helping students with their applications and students who really focus and use this time well (Atticus for example) really do reap the rewards throughout what is a very demanding period of time in their school life.“
