RC 2006 - Where are they studying now?
As RC Headmaster John Chandler points out, "Not only are RC students going to better
universities, they are better prepared ." Read on to tag along the outstanding higher
education path of the Class of RC 2006.
RC 06 Excels at University Entrance Exam (ÖSS)
Every year, approximately 70 percent of RC graduates choose
to continue their studies in Turkey.
Robert College students s c o r e d exceptionally well on this year's
nationwide university entrance examination, taken by over 1,5
million students in Turkey in 2 0 0 6 . The S e n i o r Class consisted of
160 students . Out of the 132 students who took the ÖSS
(including s o m e who chose to study abroad) , 76 s c o r e d within
Turkey's top 5 , 0 0 0 . 97 % of RC students taking the exam were
placed in a university of their choice. " T h e new examination
s y s t e m holds students responsible for all that they have learned in
high s c h o o l . This allows RC s t u d e n t s to make good use of the
knowledge they gained in the c l a s s r o o m , " s a y s Feyza Pınar, RC
counsellor for Turkish universities
The results also s h o w e d that active participation in the extra¬
curricular life of the s c h o o l is a strength and not a hindrance for
RC students wanting to do well on the e x a m . "It is clear once again
that those students with multiple activities outside the c l a s s r o o m
score c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y highly on the ÖSS e x a m i n a t i o n , " says Pınar.
A n o t h e r factor in favor of RC students this year was the Ministry
of Education's redesigning of the " o r t a ö ğ r e t i m başarı p u a n ı " (an
additional score given students based on their middle s c h o o l
grade record) in a fairer way.
Foreign University Acceptance Results for
RC 06 Stand Out
Out of the 71 RC S e n i o r s who applied to go
abroad for higher e d u c a t i o n , 67 received one or
more a c c e p t a n c e s . Out of this number, 56 made
a decision to attend US , C a n a d i a n or UK
universities and have started their f r e s h m a n year.
34 of these students were awarded financial aid
from the colleges they were a c c e p t e d by. Of this
group, 18 students were on s c h o l a r s h i p while at
Robert College.
Turkish University Entrance Results for RC 06
UNIVERSITY
Number of students
Boğaziçi University
29
Sabancı University
16 ( 10 scholarships)
istanbul Technical University (İTÜ)
14
Koç University
11 ( 8 scholarships)
Yıldız Teknik University
6
istanbul University
6
Bahçeşehir University
3 ( 3 scholarships)
Bilkent University
4 ( 2 scholarships )
Galatasaray University
4
Marmara University
4
Yeditepe University
4
Ankara University 1
ist.Bilim University
1
Middle Eastern Technical University (ODTÜ) 1
Schools
Number of Students
Boston U 1
Barnard 1
Bremen 1
Brown
2
Carnegie Mellon 1
Columbia U
2 (1 scholarship)
Connecticut C
1 (1 scholarship)
Cooper Union
1
Cornell
4 (1 scholarship)
Dartmouth
1 (1 scholarship)
Franklin & Marshall 1
Georqe Washington
2 (1 scholarship)
Georqia Inst of Tech
1
Grinnell
1 (1 scholarship)
Harvard
3 (3 scholarships)
J o h n s Hopkins
1 (1 scholarship)
Lehigh
1 (1 scholarship)
LSE 1
Northwestern
2 (2 scholarships)
Oberlin
1 (1 scholarship)
Pomona
1 (1 scholarship)
Princeton
3 (2 scholarships)
Purdue
4
Skidmore
2 (1 scholarship)
Swarthmore
1 (1 scholarship)
U of Chicago
1 (1 scholarship)
U of Michigan 1
U of Richmond
1 (1 scholarship)
U of Toronto 1
U Penn
3 (1 scholarship)
UVA 1
Vanderbilt
1 (1 scholarship)
WashU 1
Williams C
1 (1 scholarship)
WPI
2 (2 scholarships)
Yale
2 (2 scholarships)
York 1
RC
NEWS
Young Alumni Publish New Magazine: Unigue
U
NIRC, the group of y o u n g RC graduates - m o s t of w h o m are
currently university students- organised under the auspices of the
RC A l u m n i A s s o c i a t i o n , made their mark by organizing several
successful events for the benefit of current RC students on c a m p u s
last year. The University Fair on O c t o b e r 22, and the C a r e e r Day on
March 11, were notable firsts.
P u b l i s h i n g their very own magazine, Unique, in J u n e was another
novelty. The magazine, voicing c o n c e r n s and interests of this youngest
branch of the RC A l u m n i A s s o c i a t i o n , will c o m e out at least twice a
year, and is distributed free of charge to recent RC graduates. It is
largely aimed at RC graduates who are now university students.
P u b l i s h e d in Turkish, its inaugural issue featured interviews with
beloved Turkish teacher Ersin Aybars, f o r m e r Turkish director E s i n
Hoyi, ex-model and modelling agency o w n e r Neşe Erberk, RC 8 2 , and
leading b u s i n e s s m a n J a n N a h u m , RC 71. The m a g a z i n e also included
colorful insights from recent graduates on various topics like s u m m e r
study, work and travel programs, reflections on studying in the U S A , as
well as discussions on career choices and trends.
RC Students Chosen for Summer
Research Projects in the US
T
his summer, while a majority of us were lying on the beach, a select group of hard-working RC seniors
were handpicked to take part in various competitive s u m m e r research programs in the U S . Y a s e m i n
Gökçe (Lise 11), who wants to major in Bioscience, was c h o s e n to work with Dr. J e a n Strahlendorf at Texas
Tech University for seven weeks on Biology. Levent Tüzün (Lise 11) won a s c h o l a r s h i p to attend the Telluride
A s s o c i a t i o n ' s S u m m e r P r o g r a m at Cornell University to work on " P o l i t i c s in Latin A m e r i c a and Southeast
A s i a . " Bentli Yaffe also attended a Telluride program at the University of Michigan, working on "Islam in
P r a c t i c e : Religion, Culture and P o l i t i c s " . A r d a Kara (Lise 11) attended a program at C a r n e g i e Mellon
University to learn how to program c o m p u t e r g a m e s .
Levent, who was the only Turk in a group of 16 students on the p r o g r a m , told the RCQ the six week
course was invaluable. " E v e r y day we attended a 3-hour lecture, based on research and debate, given by two
Cornell professors. We used first-hand materials relating to the countries we studied like political d o c u m e n t s ,
journals and m e m o i r s . " An active Model United Nations m e m b e r at RC, Levent says the course was a first-
class a c a d e m i c experience. " T h e professors were very open and allowed the group to develop our own
discussions. A l o n g with my Ethiopian friend Michael and Chinese friend Yu, I felt the three of us were able to
contribute a lot of first-hand knowledge about the way foreign policy works in our countries." In addition to
his studies, Levent also m a n a g e d to find time to volunteer at Ithaca's annual Dragonboat Festival.
A r d a Kara attended a six week program to develop c o m p u t e r g a m e s at Pittsburgh's C a r n e g i e Mellon
University. C a r n e g i e Mellon's Entertainment Technologies Center (ETC) is the only s c h o o l to offer a Masters
program in this field. " T h e ETC is equipped with simulators, virtual reality s y s t e m s and every kind of
technology in the field so it was truly an incredible experience," says A r d a . In his six weeks, he learned how
to develop a c o m p u t e r g a m e from the concept, art and character development phase to 3D modeling and
p r o g r a m m i n g . "I got to see that the dream I've had since being a kid of creating my own c o m p u t e r g a m e is
not that impossible," he says. A r d a plans to work in the c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m m i n g field. In the meantime, this
year he will be sharing what he learned with students at RC and setting up a club to work on developing
prototypes.
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