Ailbhe ‘21

We started working with Ailbhe at the beginning of her junior year. Seeing how naturally shy and soft-spoken she was, The Short List encouraged her to seek out opportunities to pursue her concern for the environment while building her confidence. She took a leap of faith and volunteered to organize the interviews for a school-wide environmental sustainability project.

We felt it important that Ailbhe not lose momentum when COVID disrupted international travel during spring of her junior year. We helped her reimagine and deepen her extracurricular interests and showed her ways to continue building academic relationships remotely so her teacher recommenders would be able to write detailed and persuasive letters.

As the year progressed, we urged Ailbhe to dive deeper into colleges and programs that would best suit her academic interests. We introduced ways for her to connect meaningfully with admissions officers, professors, and current students despite her inability to visit campuses.

We helped Ailbhe craft a balanced list of schools and introduced her to the supportive dynamics of a few distinctive all-women colleges where she could continue to develop her self-confidence and powerful voice. By January 2021, she was ready to apply Early Decision II to Scripps College and was overjoyed when she received word in mid-February that she had been accepted. Ailbhe moved to Southern California last fall.