Your Path to College

College is worth it, because you are worth it.

College isn’t just a place to learn. It’s where you’ll find a community filled with new people and have new experiences. It’s where you’ll make friends for life and learn important lessons about yourself. It’s where you’ll go to reach new heights.

How will you reach higher this year?
College is about defying expectations, breaking the mold, and finding yourself. In short, it’s the most valuable investment you can make for your future — both financially and personally.

Your journey is just beginning, and you’ll have support from us all along the way. Let’s see how far you can go.

You have curiosity. Explore it.

This is your opportunity to take what you’re already interested in and pursue it at a deeper level. Enroll in classes and sign up for activities that excite you, without the structured limitations of high school. Meet people from various backgrounds and cultures who have interests similar to — and different from — your own. They might even introduce you to new interests you didn’t know you had.

You have a purpose. Become it.

The future may seem uncertain, but college will help you discover the career path that matches your interests and motivates you to become the best version of yourself. You’ll learn to be more independent and gain the skills and knowledge you need to prepare you for the future. Meet mentors and fellow student leaders who inspire you to contribute and give back to your community and to the world.

You have potential. Exceed it.

Whatever your goals — getting a degree, owning a home, traveling the world — you can attain them. They require dedication and focus, but also financial stability. Here’s how a college degree can help over a lifetime.

~adapted from The Common Application

Applying To College

When considering applying to a college there are no limits the school will help you navigate to wherever you want to go whether it is here locally or the furthest corner of the world, we will make sure you get there. Students in the past have gone to exceptional universities abroad such as those in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and even Europe and those left here likewise go to the best Universities in the Country such as, Kenyatta University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, University of Nairobi and many more. If you want to learn more about where to go or are unsure of your future plans you can always make an appointment with the counsellor’s office or call him directly.

Applying Locally

To join universities locally you can do research prior on the courses you would like to do and the universities that offer them and then fill in that information during you form 4 year before the KCSE Exams and you will receive the results after the National Exam results have been released.

Applying abroad

Using apply abroad agencies

There are various agencies that you can use to help you apply abroad and during your final year in Mang’u High School a variety of them will come to have sessions with you and give your an overview of the process. Some of the agencies are Uniserv and Uniabroad. They will help you navigate the process into the colleges found in the various countries they have listed. There are also scholarship agencies such as, Kensap, which helps low income students to gain admission to universities located in North America.

Going the High Road

This option will require you to invest a lot of time in the process since you will be doing the research yourself learning about the admissions process in the country of your desire and doing the grunt work of filling forms, writing essays and making portfolios all on your own. The only thing done by others is perhaps the counsellors job of sending transcripts and Letters of Recommendation. This is a tedious process and if it seems to daunting for your taste you can always use the agencies named above.

Most of the time you will be using application portals provided by the school or in most cases such as universities found in United States you will be using the Common Application or the Coalition Application. Check with the schools admission website to see which route they prefer to take regarding application to their school and see the various items you need to checklist before submitting an application

Preparing For College Abroad

School Transcript

This is a document showing all the grades you obtained in the various examinations you have undertaken during your time in Mang’u High School to get a rough idea of what it will look like you can visit Zeraki Analytics where you can order your transcript for free. This will be required by most if not all colleges you wish to attend and they will in most cases ask your counsellor to send them. You should have spoken to the school counsellor before listing him in you applications if you are applying abroad but if you are applying locally it should be a rather automatic process.

Letters of Recommendation

These are letters that help see you the student from a different lens and get different opinions about you. This can give you a much needed boost in your application if they are written perfectly. In most cases they will ask for about three recommendations from various teaching staff be it your counsellor, the school principal or his deputies, a STEM Teacher, an arts/humanities teacher or a language teacher. Talk to the school counsellor to learn more about this and to be guided through the process.

School Essays

For those applying abroad some college applications will request you to answer various prompts which will help the admission officers at your prospective colleges get to know you on a personal level. Essays, however, are a personal effort and you will often not require a lot of help writing them until you have finished and can then ask your English teacher or parents or even friends to go through them and point out any mistakes and tell you areas that you need to improve on. You should note that you should put a lot of effort in writing this essays because they can be the saving grace of your application even if they are not the sole factor that your admission decisions are based on. Make sure your write them to the best of your ability and get in touch with your deepest inner feelings which will make you stand out from your grades and other personal accomplishments which most people will have.

Financial Aid Applications

For those applying abroad some colleges, mostly those in the United States, will request you to fill in another application which gives more information about your family’s income and how much money is available. This will help you secure a financial aid award towards your university education. If you are lucky and demonstrate great need for aid you can be awarded a 100% financial award where they will cover all the cost of you university education from tuition to room and board for the four years you will be there with no strings attached. Research the university that you want to attend and see whether they have financial aid for international students and whether they have application for the same. Most colleges use the CSS Profile to handle this and you should confirm whether they require one for international students and if there are any more documents needed. There is usually a small fee needed to send this but you can talk to you counsellor to see if they can get if waived if you cannot afford it.

American College Test(ACT)

Many colleges require scores from the ACT or SAT tests as a part of the admissions process.  Your ACT score is a key component of your college applications.

The ACT Test

The ACT test is the leading U.S. university admissions test, measuring what students learn in high school to determine academic readiness for university. The ACT is an admissions exam used by universities to evaluate undergraduate applicants. All four-year universities in the US, and more than 200 universities outside of the US, accept and value the ACT.

About the ACT

The ACT is an entrance exam used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions. It is a multiple-choice, pencil-and-paper test administered by ACT, Inc. The purpose of the ACT test is to measure a high school student’s readiness for college, and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants. College admissions officers will review standardized test scores alongside your high school GPA, the classes you took in high school, letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors, extracurricular activities, admissions interviews, and personal essays. How important ACT scores are in the college application process varies from school to school.Overall, the higher you score on the ACT and/or SAT, the more options for attending and paying for college will be available to you.

ACT Basics

When should I take the ACT?

Most high school students take the ACT, SAT, or both during the spring of their junior year or fall of their senior year. It’s important to leave time to re-take the test if you need to raise your score before you apply to college. The ACT exam is offered nationally every year in September, October, December, February, April, June, and July.  

View all upcoming  ACT test dates.

How long is the ACT?

The ACT is 2 hours and 55 minutes long. If you choose to take the ACT with Essay, the test will be 3 hours and 35 minutes long.

How is the ACT scored?

Each section of the ACT is scored on a 1 to 36 point scale. Your composite ACT score is the average of your four section scores, also on a scale from 1 to 36. If you take the ACT with Writing Test, you will receive a separate score on the Writing Test.

Should I take the ACT or the SAT?

Most colleges and universities will accept scores from either the SAT or ACT, and do not favor one test over the other.  The best way to decide if taking the SAT, ACT, or both tests is right for you is to take a timed  full-length practice test  of each type. Since the content and style of the SAT and ACT are very similar, factors like how you handle time pressure and what types of questions you find most challenging can help you determine which test is a better fit.

How do I register for the ACT?

Registration deadlines fall approximately five weeks before each ACT test date. You can get registration materials from your school counselor, or you can register online on the  ACT website.

How can I prep for the ACT?

There are a number of ways to prepare for the ACT:

● Using the official ACT Prep Book

● Using Test Prep Services such as; Princeton Review and Kaplan

● Using various ACT Prep Books

● Using the Company’s Official Website

Note: Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the ACT requirement has been waived for most schools.