This is the fifth sample article candidates of the ECPE examination (Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English of the University of Michigan) My first post to deal with articles , explains what needs to be present in this type of piece of writing. As stated, examiners are looking for articles that elaborate on ideas and have solid arguments; are well organized; make use of a wide lexical and grammatical range; have an original ring to them (in other words, readers are able to distinguish the author's unique "voice"). Before reading, take a look at the following post if you haven't already done so. It will help you focus on the vital aspects you need to be aware of while reading the article and what you should make sure to use when you write your own. The question appeared in Practice Tests for the ECPE Book 1 (revised 2021 version) and is accompanied by the following three writing prompts:
I’m
a high school graduate and I don’t know what career I want to follow or what
university to go to
Many students reach that crucial stage in their
lives when they have to decide what career path to follow, where to study and
how to choose what’s best for them and their future.
And they're stuck.
Even though they've done well in all their classes throughout high school, no particular subject has 'clicked' with them or they with it. In other words, they have absolutely no idea what career path they want to follow, what they'd like to study and where to go and study that thing they have absolutely no idea about yet.
Well, here’s a quick checklist
to follow that ought to help you narrow down your options and set you on a path towards tertiary education.
A) Write down a list of goals and character traits
Where
do you see yourself working in 15 years’ time?
What
kind of person are you – one who works best alone or with others?
What
hobbies give you the most satisfaction that could become profitable if you do
them professionally?
What
kind of student are you – hard-working or average?
Has any particular teacher left a positive impression on you? Does that impression simply have to do with their personality or were you drawn to the subject matter covered?
What
is your favorite subject in school? In which course were your grades the
highest?
Which school subject required the least amount of motivation on your part to study or do homework?
B) Choose a subject
The important thing is to
choose a subject you’ll enjoy that will help you reach your goals. From your
answer to the third and last two questions of the previous section, you should have
narrowed down your choice to one or two school subjects.
Explore job sites and graduate
careers to look for ideas to work or study towards. Look at the following
sites:
As
a last resort, try doing online career tests. Here’s a few:
Bonus Round: Try finding out what type of personality you have and then match it to different career paths.
- http://www.personalitytype.com/career_quiz
- http://www.humanmetrics.com/personality/career-choices
- http://www.brookdalecareers.com/blog/three-personality-tests-provide-career-path-insight/
C) Choose an undergraduate course
Look
up the subject you chose from step B in Wikipedia. Any subcategories of the
subject that seem interesting to you, note them down on a piece of paper. For
example, if you like Maths, scroll down on the page Wikipedia has to the “Fields
of Mathematics” section. There are many links you can follow (eg. Areas of
Mathematics, mathematical logic, theoretical computer science, pure
mathematics, combinatronics, quantum mechanics, computational mathematics,
etc…) that will help you decide what will
a) be
useful for your career choice
b) be
interesting for you, so much so that you could write 15,000 – 20,000 words on
it at the end of your studies at university
c) If
all else fails, go to this page and knock yourself out:
D) Choose a university
You’ve
got a few questions to answer, here.
o first
think location: how far from home are you willing to go? Would you like to be able to visit your friends and family every weekend or not?
o then
think finances: can my pocket afford to go to XYZ University? Apart from tuition fees, can I afford the commute?
This
is where you need to do your homework early, by going online and checking out a
number of universities and finding out what tuition fees are for the course
you’ve chosen. But what if you haven’t finalized your choice of course? Let’s
break down the steps to simplify this:
a)
Once
you’ve found a few interesting links on Wikipedia and made a list of
potentially interesting fields to study, find which universities offer good
studies on these fields. In other words, you won’t go to a liberal arts college
like Amherst when you want to study a Physics-related
subject best suited at MIT.
b)
So
how do I find a good university for my chosen field of studies? Go to the
following site: http://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings/2015
c)
Then
go here (UK universities only):
This is an excellent site that breaks down the information you’re looking for
according to field and university, so you have a quick look at what each
university offers
d)
Hopefully
by now, you will have finalized your field, so now you need to come up with a
list of potential universities that you could go to. This is where the real
homework starts.
e)
Go
to each university’s website and READ! Make a note of the following:
i.
Course
program: curriculum, ie. what modules are offered and if their titles seem interesting
to you.
ii.
What
the faculty’s entrance requirements are
iii.
Tuition
fees
iv.
Application
deadlines and documentation needed
v.
Layout
of the campus (look at the pictures on the site and see if you like the place to start with)
vi.
Housing
arrangements (do they offer accommodation to first-year students or do you need
to look for a place to stay, and how much will all this cost?)
vii.
Activities,
clubs, associations the university offers: you need to relax from time to time,
so does the university offer anything?
viii.
Proximity
to nearby amenities: is the campus located away from the rest of the world,
stuck in the middle of a crime-infested neighborhood or conveniently situated
just 15 minutes away from supermarkets, malls, bookstores, cinema complexes?
Make sure you can get around either on foot or using public transportation.
If you still don’t have a clear idea what to do
with your future, then I don’t know what else to say because I’ve said pretty
much what needed to be said. If you’re undecided, the best route to take is a
university that will allow you to switch courses mid-semester or has a flexible
curriculum which allows you to choose courses.
Good
luck on whatever you decide!