Through the Fettes Career Partnership Programme our cohort of Sixth Form students intending to apply to study in the US were joined live on Zoom on Tuesday 15^th November by young OFs from Princeton, Columbia, USC, Brown University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Each representative was in a different period of their US Higher Education journey and provided fascinating insights into their experiences. 

Fergus Bolton (PS-Gl 2011-2022) - I am a freshman at Brown University and plan to concentrate in political science or economics on the public policy track. I also hope to receive a certificate in migration studies. In this first semester, I have been focusing heavily on academics and adjusting to life in the US. Aside from academics, I am involved in acappella at Brown with the Bear Necessities. I am also involved in a few volunteering clubs around campus.

Amy Wong (CW 2015-2020) - Since leaving Fettes in 2020, I have been studying Chemistry at the University of Bristol, though I’m currently on exchange at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the year. This experience has given me a great insight into US college life, while still being able to experience university in the UK, as well as the many differences between the two. During my time in Chapel Hill, I have been involved in a research group looking into Boron Chemistry. 

Ava Peters (PS-Ar 2012-2019) I was a 2019 leaver from Fettes and now I attend Princeton University in New Jersey. I am now a junior majoring in Politics with a minor in Spanish. Just as is the Fettes spirit, I have tried to throw myself into a host of new, exciting things at Princeton and make use of the incredible resources. In addition to academics, I have joined the lightweight rowing team, performed in the chapel choir, worked in the reunions, and re-founded the Princeton Legal Journal, which I am now President of. I was also granted the Arthur Liman Fellowship from Yale Law School to spend my summer working in public interest law in New York City. Since I have a year and a half left, I don’t have solid post-grad plans but am weighing up if I’d like to stay in the US. Coming to America for university has been one of (if not the single) best decisions I’ve made and I can’t wait to provide any help I can to people considering applying!

Annarosa Zampaglione (Da 2017-2019) - After leaving Fettes, I was confident in my interest in and pursuit of History. I joined Columbia College of Columbia University in 2019 where I immediately began taking History courses of regions, people and cultures I had never learnt about before. Over the past three years, I’ve worked on oral history projects as an audit-editor and podcasts on the History of science in Africa as a transcriber and editor, both sponsored by the university. This past summer, I spent my time conducting archival research in Rome for my senior thesis on legal methods and land tenure in Colonial Eritrea from 1890 to 1908. Apart from a degree in History, I also plan to graduate in May with a degree in French Literature. 

Justin Sian (Ki 2014-2016) - I graduated from USC in May of 2020 with a Bachelor of Science from the Viterbi school of engineering for Computer Science. I was a member of the undergraduate student government, serving as the Co-Director of the International Student Assembly. I did a few internships throughout college during my summer holidays, notably a few startups that were part of the USC incubator. Since graduating I have been working as a software engineer for a fintech startup that develops and sells asset management software.

"We’re managing an increasing number of student applications to US universities. Having a network of support from recent leavers now studying in the US is very insightful and helps us to provide first-hand life experiences. I run a programme of weekly tutorials for those applying to the US. This live webinar provided invaluable hints and tips on all aspects of the US College journey from application through to enrolling as a first year, through to the Junior and Senior years, as well as explanations of core curriculum and the breadth of course choices to inspire Major selection. I am hugely grateful to all who took part."

Richard Smith, Senior Master