Vivian H Gets an Offer of MORSE at the University of Warwick
Vivian H.
We recently had the pleasure of a short interview with Vivian H. Vivian is a student at Dulwich International High School Suzhou, who recently received an offer from the University of Warwick to study MORSE. MORSE is an acronym that stands for Mathematics, Operations Research, Statistics and Economics.
- The University of Warwick is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1965, the University was part of a government initiative to expand higher education. In the intervening years, it has gone from strength to strength and is now part of the prestigious Russell Group of Universities (which are, broadly speaking, the UK equivalent of the Ivy League). The campus at the University of Warwick has huge amounts of green space to enjoy, including lakes, woodlands and open fields.
- The MORSE course at Warwick is unique, with no other university in the world offering an equivalent. Approximately 200 students start each year, including overseas and European students. A MORSE degree is valued internationally as it teaches the core skills required in modern business analytics, which makes MORSE graduates highly employable worldwide. Because of this, the MORSE course at the University of Warwick is highly selective and only accepts the very best and brightest of students. This makes Vivian's achievement in receiving an offer all the more impressive!
Why Warwick?
When we asked Vivian how she decided to study MORSE at Warwick, she explained that: “I’m quite realistic, so it was based on my scores and predicted grades. I used this information to compare universities and look at their rank.”. She was attracted to Warwick because of its famous business school and positive feedback from its alumni. Vivian hopes to work in the financial sector in the future and believes that MORSE at Warwick will offer her the best possible grounding for this.
Why MORSE?
Vivian told us that she was inspired to apply for the MORSE course, primarily due to the positive experiences she had during Mr Clancy’s Economics Bookclub CCA (Co-Curricular Activity). Mr Clancy is the Head of Economics at Dulwich International High School Suzhou, and like all teaching staff at our school, he runs a CCA outside of school hours to provide a diverse range of activities to help our students discover their passions.
Vivian told us that she read lots of books in the Club, and was very specific about how this reading helped her enormously when it came to writing her personal statement. Reading widely means that you can show a real breadth of knowledge of a subject, which makes a personal statement stand out.
Vivian explained that she reads a lot, but that her Favourite Book is “Nudge” by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. We currently have two copies of this book in the Library at Dulwich International High School Suzhou. “Nudge” was a recommendation from Mr Clancy’s Economics Bookclub. Vivian eloquently explained that “Nudge” is all about behavioural economics and how psychology can explain economic behaviour. It’s about how you can nudge people towards the best decision without restricting freedom of choice.
In terms of hobbies and interests, Vivian told us that she loves movies, particularly English movies! She thinks watching them has helped to develop her language skills significantly. Her favourite films are the James Bond series. She recently saw the latest instalment in 007’s adventures at the cinema: “No Time to Die”. She thoroughly enjoyed it but didn’t like the ending at all! If you haven’t seen it, you won’t get any spoilers here, but suffice it to say, the ending has proved quite controversial amongst Bond fans…
Vivian believes that one of the most important things she gained from her time at Dulwich is a significant improvement in her language skill and a better understanding of western culture. She also values the life skills she learned here. Vivian believes that all of the real-world skills she learned at Dulwich will combine to help her to succeed at University and beyond. She placed great value on the wide range of opportunities she has to get involved with economic activities such as business competitions and business based CCA’s in years 10 and 11.
Vivian was full of praise for her counsellor, Mr Coffey. She explained that Mr Coffey helped her tremendously when it came to writing her personal statement. In common with most students, Vivian found writing her personal statement to be a very challenging process and when through numerous revisions before she was satisfied with the final result. She explained that “Mr Coffey is full of useful advice, for example, he helped me edit my personal statement and encouraged me to use better English.”. With Mr Coffey’s help, Vivian completed a personal statement that she was entirely happy with and one that the admissions officers at Warwick enjoyed.
Finally, as a successful student, with a great offer from a top university, we asked Vivian what advice she has for younger students. She explained that, in retrospect, she felt her time at Dulwich had flashed by in the blink of an eye. She advised younger students to try and find the thing they love as quickly as they can, so they have more time to focus and prepare for the future.
We wish Vivian all the best for the future!
