Charting a Course to College – College Admissions Support and Career Counseling at GSIS
Nestled in the scenic town of Ooty (Ootacamund) in Tamil Nadu, India, Good Shepherd International School (GSIS) is a co-educational residential school with an eclectic mix of students from various parts of India and abroad.
GSIS is acclaimed for providing a dynamic learning environment that nurtures students’ talent and aspirations. It also helps students to explore traditional as well as unconventional career pathways through timely career counselling.
What Is Career Counselling
Career counselling is the process that enables individuals to make informed choices by providing relevant information about various career options, in line with their interests, skills and aspirations.
Recognizing the importance of career counselling in exploring diverse career paths, GSIS offers personalised guidance and resources to help its students to put the best foot forward towards a bright future.
What Career Counselling Is Not
Contrary to the belief that it is only for individuals facing job crises, career counselling covers a wider canvas to provide timely guidance at various stages of an individual’s academic and professional journey. Another myth is that career counselling provides pre-meditated, ready-made answers. In fact, depending on an individual’s unique interests and skills, counsellors provide real-time guidance to help students discover the most suitable career paths. GSIS offers career counselling from Grade VIII onwards to allow students to gain valuable insights into their unique strengths and potential professional paths.
Importance of Career Guidance for Students
Career guidance is as useful for students as it is for professionals. To empower its students to prepare for university education both in India and abroad, and chart their future paths, GSIS offers students both an Indian and two international curricula, and has integrated career counselling into its broader educational framework. In addition to imparting academic knowledge that is aligned with international standards, GSIS ensures student readiness for higher education on a global scale by providing a clear understanding of several traditional and unconventional career options.
GSIS partners with reputed training agencies to provide its students with in-house coaching for competitive examinations, including SAT, IELTS, NEET, JEE, CLAT, and more. This on-campus coaching eliminates the need for students to wait for holidays or go home to prepare for these exams. Further, GSIS is a College Board School and a preferred centre for exams such as SAT, IELTS, Cambridge University Assessments, Oxford Admission Tests and Advanced Placements.
Why Students Need Career Counselling
Good Shepherd International School believes that a personalized approach to career counselling can immensely benefit its students. Career counselling that is tailored to students’ strengths and interests can enable them to develop a sense of purpose and direction in their academic and professional journeys. It can help students to enhance their academic performance, cultivate relevant skills, and improve the self-awareness needed for well-rounded personal development. An in-depth and personal career guidance, which begins at an early age, can prepare students for success in their chosen careers as well as life in general.
Who Needs Career Counselling and When
With a focus on contributing to the all-round development of students across grades, GSIS has established a dedicated Career Guidance and Counselling Department. This department is a non-judgmental space built on the three guiding principles, namely: Relevant and All-round Guidance, Establishing Student Agency, and Parental Involvement.
Career counselling at GSIS is strategically timed to coincide with the critical decision-making phases and to help students to make informed choices about their future academic and professional paths. It begins in the later years of secondary education, Grade VIII onwards. The Career Guidance and Counselling Department provides students with valuable insights into various professions, industry trends, and educational requirements.
GSIS’s Unique Approach to Career Counselling and Supporting University Placements
GSIS follows a unique and proactive approach to career counselling for its students. In addition to providing personalized career counselling, GSIS actively provides students with the required emotional and mental well-being counselling through professional counsellors appointed for every age-group.
The Career Guidance and Counselling Department assists students in navigating university placements through targeted preparation, exploring various academic and professional pathways, and completing college applications and related procedures. The department proactively provides students with comprehensive guidance during their key developmental stages to ensure a smooth transition from school to higher education and beyond.
In line with its commitment to developing leaders of tomorrow, GSIS has grouped students into three categories namely: Grade VIII & IX, Grade X, and Grade XI & XII. The customized career guidance plan is described below:
- Grade VIII and IX
| Exploration | Curriculum and Subject Selection | CV Building |
| Scheduled information sessions on various conventional and unconventional career options. | Planned information sessions (for IB/Cambridge and ISC). | Activities and discussions to identify student strengths |
| Alumni connect webinars. | Discussions on stream-wise career options. | Introduction to the concept of CV building. |
| Guided research and open house sessions. | Parent information sessions. | Elaborate on the various categories of CV and suggest activities.Start CV mapping and identify activities for the same. |
2. Grade X
| Curriculum and Subject Selection | Student Aspiration Assessment | Country Information Sessions for Parents and Students |
| Timetables and planned information sessions. Introduce upcoming career options. | Parent aspiration assessment. | India, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong with special focus on the application process and finances. |
| Discussions on stream-wise career options. | ||
| Parent information sessions. |
3. Grade XI and XII
| Exam Prep Guidance | College Selection | Application Process |
| Indian competitive exams. | Group sessions on factors to consider while shortlisting colleges/universities. | University sessions and introduction to the document and application portals for each country. |
| Standardized tests. | Final shortlisting done with students, individually. | Group sessions for students on essay writing, SOP, and so forth. |
| English proficiency tests. | College fairs. | Group sessions for teachers for ‘Letters of Recommendations’. |
Expanding Horizons: Unconventional Pathways and GSIS’s Support
Through personalised career counselling and a commitment to global understanding, Good Shepherd International School actively guides its students to look beyond the traditional career pathways and explore the lesser-known or unconventional educational avenues. Unconventional higher education pathways are unique and non-traditional routes to academic and career success. These include Online and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Apprenticeships, Internships and Vocational Training Programmes, and Entrepreneurial Endeavours and Start-up Incubators, among others.
GSIS encourages its students to broaden their horizons by exploring unique and diverse educational paths, including international programmes and niche fields of study. This progressive approach enhances students’ academic choices and develops a spirit of curiosity and adaptability, essential for navigating a dynamic global landscape.
Conclusion
By helping students to identify their unique strengths, explore diverse educational avenues, and inculcate a global understanding aligned with emerging industry trends, GSIS ensures that its students not only excel academically, but also develop the right skills and attitude needed for complete growth and successful professional life. Good Shepherd International School is fully committed to ensuring academic excellence aligned to international standards, as well as providing its students with a comprehensive and personalized guidance for college/university admissions and subsequent career success.
Author
Saumya Tripathi | Career Counsellor
