A US student who studied one of his subjects entirely online has been accepted by all eight of American’s Ivy League schools.
Minnesota-based International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme student Alexander Roman, a senior at Harding Senior High School in St Paul was accepted by all 20 US colleges and universities that he applied to. His acceptances included Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Brown and Columbia Universities, Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania.
Alex will be the first person in his family to graduate from college. “I was speechless,” said Alex after his acceptance from Harvard. “Getting all the letters was crazy and exciting!”
Although he hasn’t made his final decision yet, Alex is planning a degree within the Engineering field.
As part of his IB Diploma Programme, Alex has spent the last two years studying one of his subjects entirely online with Pamoja Education. “I wanted to challenge myself and I thought taking a subject online would help me to better understand the way that I use the internet to do my research,” he says. “With your online learning course, you learn throughout the whole week and what I particularly like is that you can choose the time that you want to learn. I do some of the learning at home. It depends on the day and the mood that I’m in whether I choose to do my learning at school or at home.”
Alex says what he has enjoyed most about learning online is that he has been able to learn and interact with people from all over the world. “I like this because it gives me different viewpoints on a discussion topic, and it’s helping me to be more aware of how people across the globe see things in different ways,” he explains. “You get a better perspective yourself as a result of this”.
The biggest challenge for Alex of learning online was procrastination; “Because I know I can do my learning when I want, I often think: ‘I have tomorrow’. But the weekly schedule is helpful as it guarantees that you do the work and makes certain you keep on top of the learning. It has helped me to plan and set a schedule so that I do get the work done,” he says.
What advice does Alex offer to students planning to start an online course when the new school year begins? “Manage your time and make sure you fit it into your schedule…and don’t procrastinate!” he recommends.
As a result of learning online, Alex says that in addition to his subject learning, he has developed some very specific skills. “I am better at researching online, I am more confident at navigating the web, I know how to find extra resources to help me with my learning,” he explains. “Online learning helps you to develop your time management skills, your research skills, and gives you something extra that’s different to lots of other students when you apply to university.”
All online International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme courses are provided by Pamoja Education. To participate in a free demonstration of an IBDP online course and for more information visit www.pamojaeducation.com
