The success story of Bekzatkhan, a Haileybury Astana graduate who achieved 40 points in the IB DP exams

We are delighted to congratulate Bekzatkhan, a recent graduate, on his acceptance to the Thomas More University of Applied Sciences. Thomas More is the largest university of applied sciences in Flanders, offering more than 30 Dutch-taught and a range of English-taught bachelor's degree programmes & postgraduates in the province of Antwerp. We are incredibly proud of him and this is a huge success!

We asked Bekzatkhan some questions regarding his university destinations and preparations for the exams and would like to share his answers with you.

What university have you been accepted to? What are you going to study?

I’m going to study at the Thomas More Mechelen-Antwerp University of Applied Science. My major is Information Management (Data Science, Protection & Security). 

How did you feel when you received the results?

I was surprised as I had predicted lower but paying attention in class throughout the 2 years does indeed pay off in the end.

How would you describe your journey as an IB student? Was it hard?

Not that hard, I am a very organised person I would say - thusly found the programme not too challenging.

After completing the programme do you feel like you're ready for university?

It did help in terms of time management and essay writing, which is crucial for university.

Would you give any advice to those, who are only at the beginning of their IB journey?

Advice for Computer Science students: If you are considering pursuing anything in IT or computer science, I very much recommend doing lots of learning on the side. For example, learning the basics of languages such as Java, HTML/CSS/JavaScript/PHP, C# and C++, reading up on topics from websites like Techopedia or GeeksforGeeks, and watching videos from Techquickie and Mike Dane, visiting subreddits like r/ITCareerQuestions and r/learnprogramming, and if you are bold enough - try to get a certification from CompTIA for either A+ or ITF+.

This will all come a long way but also don't forget to have fun with computers, after learning a web language, create a fun website for yourself, or install Unity/Unreal/Godot and start making your own video games. Don't burn yourself out on just studying.

Did you receive any support from your teachers?

Yes, but I did not need teacher support that much as I had averaged good grades all across the term reports, but they certainly did make the IB journey much more enjoyable by providing their own insights and thoughts about topics.