Congratulations, you are going to
university this coming Fall! What's next?
Do you know you that 1 of 3 university students drop out of university? And close to 1-in-4 university students drop out after their first year. Read the following true profile:
"I was accepted into multiple universities for Computing Science, and I chose and enrolled in the country’s top university, University of Toronto. Fitting choice … after all I was in the top class in junior high school and received a provincial scholarship for high school. By all accounts, I was destined for a great undergraduate experience. And success. But by Christmas, at the end of the first semester, I was ready to drop out of university … I was that statistical 1-in-4, in a short 3 months!!"
- (YTL)
So, what happened to “YTL”?Simply put, he was ill-prepared for university. High school success does not necessarily translate into university success, at least not automatically and without a huge conscious effort and focus to plan to excel!
"I finished my first year with just my electives … in philosophy after which my dad asked me how much a philosopher would get paid after they graduated from university (Asian parents are imminently practical). Back to the proverbial drawing board … and back to first year university all over again, but this time in Architecture. With a second chance, and a questionable career as a philosopher on the horizon, I did the exact OPPOSITE of what I did in my first attempt at university. I graduated this second attempt, on the Dean’s List no less, and then I went on to complete a second degree from one of the US Top 10 architecture schools (the Pratt Institute, NYC). On the Dean’s List too."
- Yew-Thong Leong (YTL)
Why is it that inherently bright and highly intelligent students do not do well in university? Success (in life, and in university) does not depend on intelligence alone. Success depends on a strategic balance of hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are easily taught and learned, and soft skills are not easily taught but can be learned. Here is where you need to be:
"I learned a very valuable - and costly - lesson. But I discovered the soft skills required for university (and life) success. Today, as a university professor, I see students struggle through university. Even in my program where our admissions rate is just 10%. We enrol the brightest of the brightest. Believe it or not, professors do not like to see students fail and drop out. Often, we go out of the way to counsel success for our students. I certainly do. Over the last almost 40 years, I have developed a set of success principles for my students to follow." - Professor Yew-Thong Leong (YTL)
Where do you learn these principles? At UniPrep.Guide! Yes, help – and guidance – is available!! From a university “drop-out” who failed .. and recovered (you’ve been reading his profile)!!
About Us!
Yew-Thong “YT” Leong is an architect and educator with 40 years of experience, currently pursuing an executive MBA. He has contributed to various educational projects and is active on the Waldorf Academy's Board of Directors.
YT has lectured internationally and designed numerous educational facilities. He has also been a prominent figure in the architectural community, serving as the Millennium Chair of the Toronto Society of Architects, a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, and has received the Asian Heritage Award twice.
