TISA University Application Guidelines

Integrity and Honesty in College Applications: Universities and TISA expect that students are submitting applications, including essays, which they have completed themselves with integrity and honesty. An admissions officer may download any essay students have written and can identify the voice of the writer. For students who are tempted to have essays over-edited or have someone else write them, the discrepancy will be obvious to the admissions officer.  Honesty is not only a TISA value; it is also required by universities in the application process.

Waiver of Right to View Recommendations: TISA school policy states that letters of recommendation written by staff members will be submitted confidentially and directly to the Universities. This is to ensure that Universities know that they are getting a true and valid statement from the teachers to help the acceptance process.  To that end TISA parents and students will not see any recommendation submitted on your behalf from TISA. Recommendations written by TISA faculty members are always confidential and will not be given to students. These will only be mailed directly to universities.  All letter of recommendation requests for summer programs, transitions to other secondary schools, or the University application process must be processed through TISA Counselor.  

Maximum Applications: The maximum number of applications TISA will process is 11 per senior, with the University of California system applications (which require no supporting documents up front) counting as one, and the 5 UK Universities counting as two applications.  This policy is meant to enable the student to apply to universities which have been fully researched, are of true interest to the student and are appropriate for the student’s academic record, thus enhancing the student’s chance of admission. Universities are well aware of this policy and wholeheartedly support it.

Early Decision Obligations: If you choose to apply to a binding Early Decision (ED) university, you are indicating that this institution is your first choice for further study. If you are admitted ED you must withdraw all other applications and enroll in the admitting school. TISA will not process additional requests for transcripts. 

TISA Counselor Responsibility:  

• Your TISA University Counselor is here to guide and facilitate your University application/Post TISA process, offering resources and guidance.  

• They are here to support the student in understanding their current academic and extra curricular profiles, individual skills, desires, and needs necessary to target the appropriate programs/ opportunities in a way that support the student's chances of success.  

• They are here to provide systems and documents needed for the application processes, including the Counselor's letter of Recommendation.

• TISA University Counselors follow the Ethical guidelines of the International Association of College Admissions Counselors , including to "be student-centered, fostering opportunities to be successful in navigating their journey to higher education".

• They are obliged to report to universities any intentional misrepresentation or lapse of integrity. 

• Counselors are available during the school day if parents and students wish to to schedule an appointment. 

• The Counselor will continue to support the students application process through the time when students receive their final IB Scores.  

• Counselors are not responsible for the visa process, but may be able to provide resources, documents or suggestions to support the process. 

TISA Student Responsibility: TISA students are the leaders in this process.  While they are guided and supported in this process by their parents, teachers and School Counselor, their success requires their full engagement and ownership. That means that they should be using the resources provided by TISA including the handbook, Bridge U, and the School Counselor.

Students are responsible for all of their deadlines and giving teachers, counselors and staff reasonable time to write your requested supporting documents like letters of recommendation. (Minimum of one month is requested). Students are expected to ask questions, do their research, and make appointments to see the counselor. They are expected to know what documents are needed for each of their applications, and take action to make sure they can access that information as needed. This process can be complicated, and your counselor will not know that you are stuck or have questions until you ask!  So please ask!   This is true before, during,  and after the application process.

The student is also responsible for writing their own personal statements/essays, and they are responsible for keeping up to date on all application systems like Bridge U, Common Application, UCAS, SAT, Study Link or any other application systems they need to use to complete their process.  If the student's Bridge U account is not up to date, the School Counselor will not be able to fully support their process. 

The students and their parents are responsible for ensuring that all information in the application has been verfied for accuracy.

Students are expected to apply to a diversity of Universities, hopefully spread across the 'safety,'  'good fit,' and 'reach' profile, as suggested on Designing Tomorrow.

All Applications are required to be processed through TISA systems, and students are expected to follow the guidelines, policies and procedures as presented in the group sessions with the School Counselor and as laid out in Designing Tomorrow. 

Consequence for Non-Attendance:   

Failure to attend the required meetings will result in TISA being unable to submit needed documents for university.

University Application Meeting: 

During the spring of the students DP1 year, parents/caregivers must attend the University Application Meeting with their student. This meeting provides critical information regarding the university application process, deadlines, and the role of predicted grades in securing university offers. Students must reserve two university applications for “safe” choices. 

  Consequence for Non-Attendance:   

    Failure to attend the required meetings will result in TISA being unable to submit needed documents for university.

Parent Responsibility: Parents are an important partner in this process and we ask that they engage and support their student and read the information and resources like Designing Tomorrow as provided by the School Counselor.  Please note that the lead in this process should be the student as it is their future. 

We encourage parents to have honest and open conversations with their student about what the family can afford after reading "The Cost Factor" on Designing Tomorrow, and continued conversations with the School Counselor about the best fit for their students academic and extra-curricular profile.  Parents will also be expected to produce financial documents and possibly other documents with proof of financial support for the student either for application or the visa process. 

Parents are also encourage to attend or view information sessions held by the IB Coordinator and the School Counselor in order to better understanding the IB and IB grades.  As an example the average IB grade in the world usually lands just under 30, and over 30 already puts the students in the upper 50% of a small group of students taking the extremely rigorous IB Diploma program. Universities understand and take into account the rigour and benefits of the IB Diploma program including the IB Core. 

Required  Parent Meetings: 

1. M5/Start of DP1 Course Choice Meeting

Parents are required to attend a meeting in M5 during the initial IBDP course choice, and students will not be registered for their IB courses without the parents attending this meeting either in person or virtually. 

2.University Application Meeting: 

During the spring semester of the students DP1 year, parents/caregivers must attend the University Application Meeting. This meeting provides critical information regarding the university application process, deadlines, and the role of predicted grades in securing university offers. Students must reserve two university applications for “safe” choices. 

Consequence for Non-Attendance:

Failure to attend the required meetings will result in TISA being unable to submit needed     documents for university.

Throughout the process, Parents are encouraged to stay involved and to have continued conversations with their student about their thinking and process, and to schedule a meeting with the School Counselor as needed. This process can be complicated, and your Counselor will not know that you or your students are stuck or have questions until you ask!  So please ask!  At any point you may contact Ms. Hamida the secondary registrar or the Ms. Borgerding the Secondary School Counselor for a meeting. Translation support is also often possible if needed. 

Students who Transferred to TISA in the 4 years of "High School" :  Most Universities ask for four years of transcript grades.  It is the responsibility of the student and their family to make sure that TISA is provided with a full set of transcripts and grades for M4-DP2 (US grade 9-12/UK Year 10-13) covering any time the student was not at TISA. Our admissions, registrar, and counseling teams do support this process and request these documents to be submitted to TISA, but it is the students/families responsibility to submit these official documents to TISA. Once they have been submitted to TISA we will send them to the Universities along with the TISA transcript as a part of the application process. 

“Use of Outside Agents, Consultants or Organizations: While we understand some families seek outside agents in the university application process, we strongly believe students are highly capable of navigating this process with the support of their TISA counselor who provides a comprehensive service. In addition many outside agents do not understand the IB/TISA Diploma or the requirements for English for students from TISA. If they do not understand they may ask students and families to pay, and waste critical hours, for prep courses and exams like the TEFL when it is not needed for the majority of students. If you have chosen to pay someone for assistance, please remember that the student still must consult regularly with his/her TISA counselor, as the counselor writes the comprehensive counselor evaluation The TISA counselor will also help ensure students are applying to universities that are a good fit where they can thrive. Anyone you pay to assist in this process should charge a reasonable fee and adhere to strict ethical standards. (Please see NACAC Statement of Principles of Good Practice below). 

All applications are required to be processed through TISA's systems and the School Counselor. Students applying through UCAS, Common Application etc. are required to link their applications directly to TISA via the Bridge U and/or with use of UCAS Buzzword in order for letters of recommendations, transcripts, the check of credentials and predicted grades to be processed.

When TISA sends applications, the University expects TISA to confirmed the data and information in the application to the best of our ability, and having incorrect data reflects poorly on TISA and future TISA applications. So, if TISA learns that an agent is modifying applications TISA will notify the Universities that we cannot verify the validity of the application information.  

If you do wish to use an external agent please give them a copy of the TISA the relevent information so that they know the TISA school policy and expectations.  Here is a document for you to download and send/give to them: