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Tucker

Tucker

Japan

The Multidisciplinarian

Tufts University

Tucker
Some people are born performers. Tucker is one of them. His mother is Japanese and his father American. They raised Tucker and his older brother in both Japan and the States. Both boys were young musical prodigies. We worked with Tucker’s older brother, now a student at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, when he was attending an international school in Japan. Tucker attended the same high school in Tokyo but transferred to a boarding school in Massachusetts after freshman year.

Tucker is known throughout his school as an actor, singer, and musician. He has played the violin since he was four and composed music for as long as he can remember. He has been a member of numerous jazz bands, orchestras, and a capella groups and has played the lead in countless school productions. Whether it’s Grease, Spamalot, or Hairspray, Tucker’s classmates expect to see him front and center.

Tucker’s world off stage is very different. He is an unassuming, quiet student who cares deeply about the world around him. He spent six weeks prior to 10th grade in a language immersion program in Spain, and half of sophomore year as the only Western student at the African Leadership Academy in South Africa. Tucker attends school in rural Massachusetts where environmental protection defines the area. He is the president of his school’s Environmental Action Club and helped write the school’s environmental policies. This combination of music, culture, and environment has come to define his goals.

Tucker longed to find a way to combine his interests in a meaningful way. He knew of schools with strong environmental science or music programs, or even cultural or international programs, but longed to find one that combined all three. Tucker visited many schools, but always came back less than enthusiastic. He would rave about aspects of the school but never about the whole school. The Short List refused to give up on helping him find a school that could offer everything he was seeking.

One weekend, Tucker was visiting his brother in Boston, and we encouraged him to visit Tufts, a school renowned for its international focus, strong musical partnerships, and environmental programs. Tucker discovered a world where he could pursue environmental studies in close collaboration with professors and classmates, audition for a dual degree with the New England Conservatory of Music, and even design and teach his own course in the Experimental College, affectionately known as the ExCollege. Tucker took the holidays to consider his options and eagerly applied Early Decision II.

Tucker found a way to communicate his background and interests in one of the best-written essays we had ever read. He communicated the same in his supplement essays, always viewing them as a way to express himself. He eagerly hit the submit button. Six weeks later he sent a text that simply said, “I got in!”


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William

William

Ohio

The Raconteur

Middlebury

Client: William

William’s family contacted The Short List during his junior year. He was a bright student near the top of his class, and we learned a few key things about him very quickly: He is extremely mature, a great writer, and a music lover. He is also able to find good in most things.

The Short List explored several options with William and began to make recommendations. The challenge was that William found a reason to attend nearly every school on his growing list. We encouraged him to visit schools and attend the college meetings at his school. He began basing his college list on how well he felt he connected with the schools’ representatives. The problem was that he connected with nearly all of them. We asked him to dig deeper and consider the programs that they offered.

William loves language, which is clear in his writing, as well as his study of Mandarin Chinese. He exhausted every Mandarin course at his high school, and he emphasized that he wanted to attend a school with a strong Chinese language program. William did not have a clear favorite among the schools he was considering. We recommended Middlebury and, characteristically, William was ready to apply early before even visiting. We encouraged him to reconsider that decision, despite our feelings that Middlebury might be a great school for him.

He took our advice and focused on completing and submitting applications to all the schools on his final list. When William was accepted to Middlebury in early spring, among other schools, he was ready to send in his deposit. Again The Short List stressed the importance of visiting different schools before committing. The family decided to visit the three top schools on his list. Middlebury was the first of the three, and by the third night William had made his decision. Before he could even reveal his choice, his parents gave him a Middlebury T-shirt, telling him it was obvious how happy he was on the campus. They had been so certain of his choice that they slipped into the bookstore and bought him the T-shirt while he was occupied at a meeting during their campus visit.


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Summer

Summer

China

Multiple Applications

Princeton

Client: Summer

The Short List started working with Summer after she had been denied by most of the schools to which she had applied. We had worked with several of Summer’s classmates who recommended she speak to us before deciding between acceptance to a U.S. school that did not excite her, school in the U.K., or a gap year before applying again.

Summer was a top student who should have had more choices. It soon became clear that her application materials were a key part of the problem: There was no theme to them. Her essays were not very well thought out and she did not highlight the things that we felt would have made her stand out.

We helped Summer plan a gap year to deal with her loss and find a new purpose. Summer had gone through a very difficult year. In addition to applying to college, she was completing the final year of her IB diploma program. While challenging, this workload should have been manageable for someone with Summer’s academic record. We pressed for more information and finally learned that her father had passed away during the previous year. We asked if she really felt ready for college. It was as though a watershed had opened; someone had finally given Summer permission to deal with her loss.

We helped Summer plan a gap year to deal with her loss and find a new purpose.

She spent the first months after graduation at home with her mother as both adjusted to life without her father. While home, she learned that she had scored a perfect 45 on her IB final exams, something that only 1% of students worldwide achieve. She then signed up for an art history course in Italy and was awarded a two-month marine conservation internship in Madagascar for December and January. From February on, she stayed in Beijing with extended family and took an intensive language course.

Summer had started running as a coping mechanism and, as she built her endurance, decided to run the New York City marathon, registering with the American Stroke Association to honor her father. She spent several weeks prior to the race in the U.S., and we encouraged her to use the time to visit schools. She wrote essays that revealed her strengths in meaningful ways and sent her early application to Princeton only once she was fully satisfied with it. Days later she found herself at the start line of the marathon. Summer shared that she met other families who had lost loved ones and thought about her father throughout the race: “This year is bittersweet; wonderful developments are happening in my life but I can’t share them with my dad. I know that wherever my dad is now, he is looking down on me with pride.” Six weeks later, Summer learned that she had been accepted to Princeton.


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Souhail

Souhail

Lebanon

The Coach

Villanova

Client: Souhail

Souhail is Lebanese and was a junior in high school in Beirut when he was referred to The Short List. He was hoping to earn a degree in engineering from a U.S. college, so his parents engaged The Short List to help guide their son through the admissions process. We started by trying to uncover what made Souhail special.

The more Souhail shared with us, the more we could see that he loved soccer. He had been playing since he was a little boy and was now the captain of his high school team. But his leadership extended well beyond his school team. He organized his teammates to build a soccer field for boys at a local refugee camp and was able to obtain donated soccer balls for their practices and games. The boys were not accustomed to being organized or disciplined, and had little trust for anyone outside the camp. over the next 18 months, Souhail and his friends organized regular practices, helped the boys build their skill level, and arranged games. Slowly, Souhail gained the boys’ trust and saw changes in them that most people would not have dreamed possible.

One day, Souhail and his teammates showed up for a practice only to find the refugee camp abandoned. The boys had been taken away the day before, and Souhail was given no further information on where they had gone. He was devastated because he had bonded with many of the boys and worried about their future. The experience changed his life, and Souhail wanted to find a way to continue community outreach in college. Souhail’s family dissuaded him from applying to binding Early Decision programs because he had not been able to visit many schools. They asked The Short List to come up with a list. We looked for schools with strong engineering programs, as well as strong outreach programs. Souhail was accepted to several schools but chose Villanova, a Catholic school outside Philadelphia, for its Top 10 engineering program and its reputation for having one of the most community service-oriented student bodies in the United States.

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Sam

Sam

Switzerland

The Rower

Princeton

Sam

Sam was born in the U.S. but has lived abroad most of his life. His family established roots in Geneva, and he became a dual citizen of the U.S. and Switzerland.

Sam came to The Short List as a dedicated student with a solid academic profile. He was involved in a variety of extracurricular activities and active within his school community. As a talented rower, he hoped to join an elite crew team in college. What Sam needed most was help managing the application process from abroad, especially given his demanding school and rowing schedules.

The Short List looked for ways to reduce the pressure of the application season for Sam. Part of that process was helping Sam order his priorities clearly so he knew what to focus on in evaluating and applying to schools. Being recruited by an elite rowing program was certainly Sam’s ambition but was not as important to him as finding the best school to support his love of math and science.

The Short List helped Sam develop a balanced list of colleges that offered the academic programs he desired. We also walked him through the necessary steps to build relationships with college coaches, helped him understand the NCAA recruiting rules, and identified specific ways he could advocate for himself both with coaches and admissions. We also helped him map out an application strategy to stay on top of deadlines.

Sam spent the summer before his senior year earning a spot on and competing with the Swiss Junior National Team, and he shared this achievement with the coaches at his target schools. The Princeton crew coach, in particular, expressed clear interest in Sam based on both his academic achievements and his rowing capabilities. Sam knew Princeton University offers one of the U.S.’s top math and science programs and top rowing programs. He also recognized admission to an Ivy League school is never guaranteed, even as a recruited athlete. The Short List recommended he apply Restricted Early Action to affirm his interest and demonstrate his commitment.

Six weeks after submitting his application in November, Sam was one of just 700 students offered early admission to Princeton University. He will study in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and row with Princeton’s nationally ranked crew team. We are thrilled to have helped Sam achieve his academic goal and fulfill his dream of rowing at an elite college level.

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Sara

Sara

Washington DC

The Advocate

Columbia

Sara (Washington DC)

When Sara, a University of Michigan alumna, engaged The Short List to help her with her graduate school search, it was the second time we had worked with her. Her family first engaged our services when she was a senior in high school.

Sara was working at a prestigious Washington, D.C., law firm and studying for the LSATs, so we began to explore law schools together. She had majored in psychology and envisioned a career advocating for young people in the courtroom. However, the more we worked with Sara, the more we began to feel law school might not be the correct path for her.

The Short List challenged Sara to think more deeply about why she wanted to pursue law. She has always been a driven individual with a very clear direction, one of the reasons she was always successful in her academics and extracurricular activities. A feeling of uncertainty was new for her.

The Short List challenged Sara to think more deeply about her chosen major and find the right path for her.

Sara grew up in an affluent town and graduated from one of the country’s premier public high schools, but she always felt pervasive pressure throughout her schooling, especially among the female students. Like many of her peers, she experienced feelings of self-doubt and struggled with low self-esteem. Even now, she attributes her success to the counseling she received in high school that helped her work through the challenges of those years. in discussing these experiences with The Short List, Sara began wondering if she should instead be a psychologist working with teenage girls.
Sara found an internship at The George Washington University Hospital and worked closely with a clinical psychologist. The deeper she delved into the profession, the more certain she became that psychology was the right path for her. She considered several schools, researched their programs, and visited their campuses, narrowing the list down to six schools to which she planned to apply.

We could see that it would be important for Sara to communicate her own teenage struggles in her essay and describe the steps she undertook from counseling to internship that led her to pursue psychology as a profession. Sara was accepted to several of the nation’s top psychology programs and settled on Columbia University, where she will have the opportunity to pursue one of several tracks as she moves deeper into the program.

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Phoebe

Phoebe

England

The Lacrosse Player

Duke

Phoebe attended one of our fall UK presentations at her boarding school in England. We outlined the opportunities of US education, but Phoebe mostly heard that she could be a scholar- athlete and continue playing lacrosse at the college level. Phoebe is an outstanding student and a gifted athlete. In addition to playing lacrosse for her school, Phoebe also plays for her county team, a UK regional team, and, most impressively, England’s U19 National Team.
Phoebe was well known in England but not in the United States. Whenever her national team competed in international tournaments, she saw that all the great players attended or graduated from US colleges. Phoebe became determined to do the same.

Our first effort was to help Phoebe raise her visibility with US coaches. The Short List showed her how to begin building relationships. We suggested putting together a recruiting video for her top schools. We also stressed the importance of campus visits and meeting one-on-one with coaches. We then helped her put together a weeklong college tour.

The Short List showed her how to begin building relationships.

On her first day, she visited the Duke campus. The coach and players were away at a tournament, but Phoebe was able to evaluate Duke’s academics. She went on to visit several other schools and meet with their coaches but kept returning to Duke academics as the standard against which she measured all the other schools. Phoebe wanted to return to Duke for another visit to meet the coach. We looked at the various summer recruiting camps and, as luck would have it, her national team was scheduled to compete in the US at the same time Duke was scheduled to hold their summer camp. She ended up spending two days at Duke, meeting with the coaches and players. The head coach pulled Phoebe aside at the end of the camp and told her how impressed the staff was with her. Phoebe was thrilled to receive these words of encouragement from a coach whose team is ranked among the best in the country.

Phoebe spent the fall semester considering her options. The Duke coach did not make it easy. She told Phoebe she would have to get into Duke on her own merit but, if accepted, she would have a place on the team. Duke had a binding Early Decision program, which meant that Phoebe would have to commit without having something in writing from the coach. Phoebe and her parents decided it was worth the gamble because of Duke’s strong academic programs. She was clearly excited six weeks later when she emailed The Short List: “The dream has come true! Thank you for all your help; I couldn’t have gotten this without you! (A rather excited and over- the-moon) Phoebe.” A day later, the coach sent Phoebe a note welcoming her to Duke’s nationally ranked team.

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Paula

Paula

Spain

The Wall Streeter

University of Pennsylvania

Client: Paula

When The Short List met Paula, she was at the top of her game academically. She had consistently earned high marks in every high school subject and on all of her standardized tests. Having lived in New York, New Mexico, Germany, and Spain, Paula has a world-wise perspective and speaks four languages fluently.

We had already worked with Paula’s older sister, but we quickly figured out there was nothing “cookie cutter” about Paula. She was on her own path, and her dream was clear and specific: She wanted to turn her love of math into a career on Wall Street.

Paula came to The Short List having identified 25 potential colleges but no top choice. The Short List worked with Paula to narrow down her list through research, college tours, and information sessions. She discovered the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at the University of Pennsylvania, an interdisciplinary course of study in business education, language training, and liberal arts. Paula’s enthusiasm for the program made it clear she had discovered both the perfect program for her and a clearer sense of direction.

The Short List worked with Paula to narrow down her list through research, college tours, and information sessions.

For her Personal Statement, Paula wanted to write about her love for the board game Monopoly. The first draft explained how Paula’s various strategies for playing the game had allowed her to remain the undefeated champion for years in her family, but the essay lacked a real sense of what Paula could offer to the Huntsman Program.
The Short List worked with Paula to use Monopoly as an extended metaphor for her life, comprising the many places she had lived, her fluency with languages, and her dreams of turning calculated risks into big Wall Street profits. Paula’s risky choice of an essay topic paid off. She will join the class of 2015 in the Huntsman Program.

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Sara and Grace

Sara and Grace

New Jersey

The Thoughtful Twins

Cornell, Univ of Pennsylvania

We were introduced to Sara and Grace by our summer planning consultant, Jill Tipograph. Jill had worked with the twins in organizing amazing summers and activities that extended beyond the summer.
We sat down with Jill, the twins, and their parents. The twins shared a passion for science and a desire to pursue careers in medicine. At first, the two seemed so similar that it was a challenge differentiating them. Luckily, the family engaged our services early enough that we had time to help each define her own path.

We agreed that we would work with them separately and asked them not to discuss our efforts between them. We then delved deeper into their backgrounds, and began to get a better sense of each sister’s personality. Sara loved music and community service. She played violin in her school’s orchestra and became the senior leader of the Fundraising Council and Debate Club. She also spent summers researching at Brown and Columbia Universities, and volunteering with the community blood bank. With Jill’s help, Sara had organized a violin program for a community center in the Bronx. She collected used instruments and spent months teaching the children how to play. She even directed a show they put on for their parents. Sara’s efforts were always directed at helping others.

The Short List helped each of the sisters compile a list of colleges that addressed their individual interests.

Grace loved science but felt conflicted because she also loved literature, writing, and the classics. In school she joined the Writer’s Workshop Club and became the editor for her school’s literary magazine and newspaper. Outside of school, she attended summer science research programs at Penn and Columbia, and writing workshops at Johns Hopkins. Grace pursued both science and writing with equal vigor.

The Short List helped each of the sisters compile a list of colleges that addressed their individual interests. Grace wanted to find a school that would combine her love for science and writing, while Sara wanted a school that would allow her to pursue science and human ecology. Each had a clear favorite: for Grace, the University of Pennsylvania and for Sara, Cornell. Through multiple meetings with admissions personnel and faculty, each girl found an advocate at her school who agreed to write on her behalf.

Both schools announced their early decisions on the same day. Grace opened her decision first and the family recorded her jumping up and down at news of her acceptance to Penn. The camera kept rolling as Sara received her acceptance to Cornell. When they called The Short List with the news, both girls were over the moon as they shared their news—separately.

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Sera

Sera

Switzerland

The Rower

Yale

The Short List had worked with Sera’s older brother, but we could immediately see that Sera’s process was going to be different because she was considering rowing in college. Sera’s mother had been a rower and encouraged Sera to pick up the sport in high school. She joined a top Swiss club and soon became one of the best rowers on the team. The summer following her sophomore year of high school, she and her French rowing partner qualified for French Nationals. The French national team coach expressed interest in her trying out for his team. Although he was disappointed to learn Sera was neither French nor living in France, she decided to make sports recruiting a part of her college process. The Short List helped Sera start reaching out to US coaches. Almost immediately, the coaches responded with great interest. Sera felt both thrilled and overwhelmed by the attention, so we looked for ways to reduce the stress for her and her family.

We encouraged her to stay focused on her academics and rowing, and then worked with the family one step at a time, beginning with planning a college tour during the fall of Sera’s junior year. We helped set up and prep her for meetings with admissions and coaches, and she returned from her visits filled with excitement. She had fallen in love with several of the schools. The coaches said they needed to see test scores before moving forward. Sera met with The Short List test-prep counselor, who determined that she showed greater promise for the ACT. This helped Sera focus on just one test. As it turned out, her ACT scores more than met the qualifying scores needed.

The Short List helped Sera submit a quality application with all of her supporting documents by the end of September.

The spring and summer were filled with rowing meets, including a return to French Nationals. This time the US coaches present took note. One coach even traveled to Switzerland to meet with Sera’s coach. Sera visited a few more schools at the end of the summer and narrowed her list to two schools. Both had given her the green light from admissions, which meant she would have to choose between them. Although it was tough to turn another Ivy League school down, Sera felt that Yale was the school for her.

The Short List helped Sera submit a quality application with all of her supporting documents by the end of September. She received a “likely” rating letter from Yale by the middle of October that ended, “…we are proud to welcome you as a member of the Yale family.” Sera had to wait until December for her official acceptance, but the weight had been lifted and she began to enjoy her senior year free of admissions angst sooner than most of her classmates.