As they left their final class assembly on the afternoon of Friday, 22 May, NIST’s Class of 2015 encountered a heartwarming surprise. Lined through the halls and across the campus were all of the school’s teachers and students, gathered to wish them a fond farewell. In what has started a new school tradition, the seniors were cheered as they walked across the NIST campus for the last time as students. The line of smiling faces led them to one of the lounges, where they had the opportunity to chat and reminisce with their teachers and peers.
Even on a global level, this year’s graduates showcase the incredible esteem universities around the world place upon a NIST education. With acceptances continuing to arrive daily, the 98 members of the graduating class have so far received over 300 offers to over 160 universities, most of which accepted 100% of the applicants from NIST! Equally impressive, the students received a total of THB 45,210,000 (USD $1.35 million) in scholarship offers. Among the universities extending offers are highly selective institutions such as UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, Carnegie Mellon University, Claremont McKenna, Cornell University, Georgetown University, Northwestern University, the University of Southern California, Tufts University and St. George’s University.
The Class of 2015 is notable for another reason as well: it includes the first NIST graduates to earn the Global Citizen Diploma (GCD), a unique diploma that only a small number of top schools around the globe are offering. An optional qualification, it offers students the opportunity to showcase their accomplishments beyond traditional exams and transcripts. The first group of GCD recipients from NIST include, among many others, a concertmaster, aquaponics farmer, stock investor and community development worker.
In his message to the NIST community in the annual yearbook, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand and Chairman of the NIST International School Foundation M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula remarked, “I hope that our graduates will carry those ideals on and contribute to the betterment of Thailand and nations around the globe”. As this unique group of entrepreneurs, musicians, scientists, athletes, artists and dreamers leaves the school, it is clear that they will seek to do exactly that, making a positive impact on the lives of others.
Class of 2015 University Acceptances
| American University | University of Manchester |
| Amsterdam University College | Manipal University |
| Aston University | Marymount Manhattan College |
| Bangkok University | University of Massachusetts, Lowell |
| Bath Spa University | McGill University |
| University of Bath | McMaster University |
| University of Birmingham | University of Miami |
| Boston University | Middle Tennessee State University |
| University of Brighton | University of Minnesota, Twin Cities |
| University of Bristol | University of Missouri Columbia |
| University of British Columbia | Monash University |
| Brock University | University of New South Wales |
| University of Calgary | New York University |
| California College of the Arts (San Francisco) | Newcastle University |
| California State University, Northridge | North Carolina State University |
| University of California, Berkeley | Northeastern University |
| University of California, Davis | Northwestern University |
| University of California, Irvine | Nottingham Trent University |
| University of California, Los Angeles | University of Nottingham |
| University of California, Riverside | University of Oregon |
| University of California, San Diego | Osaka University |
| University of California, San Francisco | University of Ottawa |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | Parsons The New School for Design |
| University of California, Santa Cruz | Pennsylvania State University, University Park |
| Cardiff University | Pepperdine University |
| Carleton University | Portland State University |
| Carnegie Mellon University | University of Portsmouth |
| Case Western Reserve University | Pratt Institute |
| Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design | Purdue University |
| Chapman University | Queen’s University |
| Chulalongkorn University | University of Reading |
| City University | Regent’s University London |
| Claremont McKenna College | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Clark University | Richmond The American International College in London |
| University of Colorado at Boulder | Ringling College of Art and Design |
| University of Colorado at Colorado Springs | Rochester Institute of Technology |
| University of Colorado at Denver | University of Rochester |
| Colorado State University | Rollins College |
| Columbia College Chicago | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Cornell University (College of Ag. & Life Sciences) | San Diego State University |
| Coventry University | University of San Diego |
| University of Denver | University of San Francisco |
| Durham University | Santa Clara University |
| University of Edinburgh | Sarah Lawrence College |
| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University | Savannah College of Art and Design |
| Emily Carr University of Art + Design | School of the Art Institute of Chicago |
| Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts | School of Visual Arts |
| University of Exeter | Seattle University |
| Florida Institute of Technology | University of Sheffield |
| Florida State University | Simon Fraser University |
| University of Florida | Sophia University |
| Fullerton College | University of Southampton |
| Georgetown University | University of Southern California |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | St. George’s University |
| Goldsmiths College, University of London | St. Olaf College |
| University of Greenwich | Suffolk University |
| University of Groningen | University of Surrey |
| Hanze University of Applied Sciences | University of Sussex |
| Heriot-Watt University | University of Sydney |
| University of Hertfordshire | Syracuse University |
| The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology | The University of Texas, Austin |
| City University of Hong Kong | Thammasat University |
| University of Hong Kong | The New School for Drama |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | University of Toronto |
| Indiana University at Bloomington | Trent University |
| International Christian University | Tufts University |
| Keio University – Fujisawa Campus | University of Twente |
| King’s College London | University College Birmingham |
| Knox College | University of Amsterdam |
| Korea University | University of West London |
| La Trobe University | University of Victoria |
| University of La Verne | Virginia State University |
| Lancaster University | University of Virginia |
| University of Leeds | University of Warwick |
| University of Leicester | University of Washington |
| Les Roches International School of Hotel Management | University of Waterloo |
| University of Liverpool | Western Connecticut State University |
| University College London | Western University |
| Loyola Marymount University | Whitworth University |
| Loyola University Chicago | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Loyola University New Orleans | Yokohama National University |
| Mahidol University International College | York University |