During the second half of the meeting, the Advisory Committee met with eight principals of American High School Program partner schools who collectively expressed strong satisfaction for the quality of the American High School Program - particularly for its positive influence on an overall shift towards internationalization and the increasing numbers of students admitted to overseas universities.

Advisory Committee Members at the meeting: Ms. Doris Davis, Ameson Foundation Senior Vice President; Dr. David Anthony Cardwell, University of Cambridge Professor of Superconducting Engineering and Admissions Tutor; Vu Thanh Tran, former University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools; Dr. Douglas Christiansen, Vanderbilt University Vice Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions; Mr. Walter A. Robinson, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director of UC Davis; and Mr. Michael C. Behnke, former University of Chicago Vice President for University Relations and Dean of College Enrollment. Click herefor full details of AHSP Advisory board members.

Back Row (from left to right): Jeff Wang, Wang Jianyong (Hengshui High School), Vu Tran, Michael Behnke, An Ying (Beijing #4 High School), Cheng Hao (Luoyang #1 High School), Walter Robinson, Zhang Aimei (Shandong Experimental High School), Sun Ye (Nantong High School).
Front Row: Rui Xujun (Yixing High School), David Cardwell, Gao Shan, Grace Qiu, Douglas Christiansen, Doris Davis, Guo Jianchun (Jiangyin Nanjing High School), Prof. Sean Zhang, Wang Liping (Shanghai Gezhi High School), Lica Zhang, Ms. Li (Shandong Experimental High School teacher), Liu Lina.

Admission results and advisory board feedback

The meeting opened with Ameson Chief Counselor Grace Qiu (in charge of managing Ameson’s team of counselors with, an average of 3 counselors based at each of Ameson's partner high schools nation-wide) presenting general admissions and financial aid data for the 2011-2012 school year. Ms. Qiu’s report included the number of students attending programs at each of the school locations; the number from each graduating class accepted to the university of their choice; the number of scholarship winners; the number of schools each student was admitted to; and a breakdown of the rankings of the universities the students were admitted to.

In a nutshell, 6 of the high schools in the AHSP program graduated a total of 101 students (the rest of the schools have not yet produced a graduating class). Each one of those students was admitted to a US college. 94 of those students were accepted to schools ranked in the top 100 in the US (based on US News and World Report rankings), while 51 of the students were admitted to schools ranked in the top 50. More impressively, of the 101 students, 29 were awarded scholarships, the highest of which was a scholarship of USD$22,000 per year awarded to a student at Changzhou High School. 

As a precursor to gaining admission to American colleges, English proficiency is a must for Chinese students. On that note, 19 students scored higher than 100 on their TOEFL IBT scores (out of a possible 120), while an additional 31 students earned scores between 90-99.

Advisory Committee for College Admissions feedback on results

One of the first points brought up by the advisory committee was an objection to the emphasis of school rankings. Ameson Foundation Senior Vice President Doris Davis notes that there is a real preoccupation in China with overall School rankings, while Americans tend to put greater emphasis on major ranking and faculty reputation.

“Rankings are really important to Chinese students and parents – it may take an extended process to get them to think about schools more broadly.” Regarding counselor training, Ms. Davis furthered her point: “Counselors could be given information about holistic admissions, to better understand how nuanced the whole process is. Just because a student gets into Stanford doesn’t mean they will get into Cambridge.” To clarify, she added: “While college rankings are important, the more we can get students to look at colleges beyond rankings, they might be able to look at colleges based on their own needs and goals.”

Dr. Christiansen added: "It's a phenomenon bigger than US news, its a whole cultural thing based on prestige. We can’t eradicate that, but contextualizing the idea and getting students to think about their own best interests is a step in the right direction.”

Distinguishing Ameson from profit-driven independent college counselors

...Ameson has cultivated a strong reputation in China for its non-profit work...

Another key point brought up during the first half of the meeting was how to differentiate the work of the Ameson Foundation and independent college counselors (called agents in China). Noted Dr. Christiansen: “There’s a lot of confusion about what’s happening in China right now. Not a week goes by that I don’t receive an email from some company in China that will help us recruit, find kids, connect with Ministry of education and so on. So, how does Ameson differentiate from agents?”

Ameson Executive Vice Chairman Sean Zhang replied: “The Ameson Foundation does not generate revenue, it raises funds for programs. As one example, the Ameson Chinese Elite program is 100% free for Chinese students, and also for the overseas education experts, who are flown over at the Foundation’s expense. In such ways, Ameson has cultivated a strong reputation in China for its non-profit work. ACE students don’t pay anything. Students don’t pay nor do institutions. Cambridge, UCLA, UC Berkeley – none of the universities we work with pay anything to us.”

Chinese senior administrators feedback about AHSP

School leaders lauded the 'internationalization effect' of the AHSPDuring the second half of the meeting, eight of the principals running American High School programs joined to share their own experiences as program members.

Mr. An Ying, Beijing #4 High School: “The number of graduates studying overseas is increasing. Out of 400 graduates this year, 70 chose not to take the Gaokao exam.”

Regarding the popularity of Ameson’s American High School Program (now in ints second year at Beijing #4 High School), he commented: “For the 2012-2013 school year we had 60 spots available, and 600 applicants. Certainly, the quality of the students we admit to the program is very high. Equally outstanding is the teaching quality. In fact, one of the teachers in the American High School Program won an award for the 2011-2012 school year for being recognized as one of the top ten teachers in the entire school.”

Ms. Wang Liping, Shanghai Gezhi High School: “Our school places a heavy emphasis on science. Over the past two years, the American High School Program students have collectively produced outstanding test results. Because of those results, we are seeing increased interest in international programs. Clearly, the American High School Program is having a great effect on not only enrolled students, but our entire school – appreciation for internationalization is definitely increasing sharply.”

The overall education philosophy of our school has definitely increased because of the American High School Program. In fact, the strong results of the program are causing many of our students on the normal Chinese high school track to request to transfer into the American High School Program – this provides a great opportunity to implement genuine curriculum reforms.

Mr. Guo Jianchun, Jianying Nanjing High School: “Our school is one of the key schools in Jiangsu province. Alumni include members government, members of the Chinese Science Academy and several who have gone on to reach the ranking of General in the Chinese military.”

Regarding his impression of the American High School Program, he added: “The results of the program are impressive. Our first wave of graduates are now preparing to pursue their university careers based on their excellent results. Because of their strong performance, the municipal government has authorized our school to build an international department that is state of the art. The overall education philosophy of our school has definitely increased because of the American High School Program. In fact, the strong results of the program are causing many of our students on the normal Chinese high school track to request to transfer into the American High School Program – this provides a great opportunity to implement genuine curriculum reforms.”

Ms. Zhang Aimei, Shandong Experimental High School: “Our student body totals 5,600 students. Over the past few years, we have been seeing increasing interest among students to pursue opportunities in the U.S. and UK. About the American High School Program, we have seen that the quality of teaching is very strong. This has had a school-wide impact on the idea of curriculum reform. I think that the foreign teachers have had a very positive influence on our Chinese teachers in terms of teaching and innovation quality. So, we are feeling very confident about the program.”

Looking to the future

Our vision is to be a pioneer regarding international program development in China...

Facilitating curriculum reform based on international standards is a key component of the Ameson Foundation’s long-term vision. Thus, at the conclusion of the meeting, the panel discussed several initiatives still in development.

According to Ameson Foundation Executive Vice-Chairman Prof. Sean Zhang: “Our vision is to be a pioneer regarding international program development in China.” He then went on to describe several technology projects in heavy development (funded by the Ameson Foundation) to foster international project-based learning between American and Chinese high schools, and also a number of initiatives designed to forge deeper relations between elite Chinese high schools and world-leading universities.

On that note, Professor Zhang revealed one of the Ameson Foundations greatest aims: “We want to encourage more American students to embark on study opportunities in China. To do that, we need to create an international curriculum that meets their needs.”