Rick C on university and major selections
Content provided by the University and Careers Counselling Team
Rick C did not arrive at his university application with a plan already made. What he arrived with instead was a willingness to keep asking the question, and a school environment that made asking it feel worthwhile.
For Rick, a member of the Class of 2026 at Dulwich International High School Programme Suzhou, the journey from initial uncertainty to final decision moved through each stage in turn: which universities, which subjects, and how to prepare in a way that felt genuinely his own.
Offer Results
UK Offers: University of Edinburgh (QS #34) and University of Manchester (#35)
General US Offers: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US News #36), Ohio State University (#41), Washington University – Seattle (# 42), all three campuses of Rutgers University (#42)
University of California Offers: Irvine (#32), Davis (#32), Santa Barbara (#40), Merced (#57), Riverside (#75)
How did you choose which universities to apply to?
- When choosing a future school, the main thing I thought about is future prospects: is it a good place to do graduate study, whether it is easy to get an internship or work opportunities around the university, and will their diploma also work in China (if I come back to China).
How did you choose your major?
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I chose Economics and Finance as my major. You could choose a subject that you find relatively easy as your major. If you can't decide, you can change your major later when you find something more interesting. The US is more forgiving and allows this, but the UK is stricter. This is pushing me to choose the US, I think.
How did you prepare to apply to these top schools?
- My DHSZ school performance and essays matter. School performance – those grades for each semester in high school – reflect your ability, and essays, which constitute CCA, activities, and international competitions (iGEM, UKMT, etc.) show what your interests are and what kind of person you are. These universities in the USA consider the student as a whole individual, which is why I had to stay actively engaged every semester and during every holiday! I also took the SAT!
What help did you receive from the school?
- DHSZ UCC, my counsellor Mr Coyle, and the teachers also helped a lot. Both play an important role throughout the application process, from choosing courses or universities and identifying basic requirements to proofreading essays for me, reviewing applications, and making final decisions. They are like guides, subtly engineering and making suggestions.
What advice do you have for the lower years?
- Try to achieve an A in all subjects! But if you cannot, don’t worry too much – just do as well as you possibly can! Aim high and push every subject because the grades count in applications. Importantly, then develop your interests – if that is computers, then join the Hackathon competition! If that is biology, then join iGEM – these experiences are what helped me choose my final major.
Rick C's application journey illustrates that university admissions are not the result of a single phase of intensive preparation, but rather a process that develops gradually over time.
From academic performance to activity choices, and from subject interests to university selection, each decision is shaped through ongoing exploration and adjustment.
Throughout this process, the support provided by the University and Careers Counselling team extends beyond outcomes. It is embedded at each key stage, offering guidance, dialogue, and feedback to help students develop clearer direction and informed judgement.
For students planning their own pathways, what matters is not only the final offers received but the understanding they build along the way of their abilities, their interests, and the choices available to them.