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January 28, 2018June 12, 2018

Meg

Ohio

Social Enterprising MBA

Columbia University

Client: Meg When Meg was a college senior in suburban Ohio, she submitted an application to join a tutoring program in Boston. At the time two things motivated her: she wanted to be a teacher, and she wanted to live in a big city. She traveled to Boston for the final round of interviews and spent a day student teaching. The day was challenging. She found herself losing patience with the students when they did not understand the concepts she was trying to explain. She began to question whether teaching was the right fit for her, and the interviewers agreed. She did not move forward with the program.

Trying to figure out where to turn next, Meg thought back to her summer internship at a progressive private school doing data analysis to help teachers better understand standardized test scores. She transformed a stack of papers containing five years’ worth of data into an interactive dashboard visualizing student progress year over year. She had used her analytical skills to benefit the students’ education—a cause about which she cared deeply. She decided to look for opportunities that would help further her analytical skills and applied to one of the country’s top consulting firms in New York City.

Over the next three years, she performed analyses that helped solve complex problems for corporations. She enjoyed her experiences working for the consulting firm but couldn’t stop thinking about her dream to work in education. She contacted The Short List to share her hope of finding an MBA program that would continue to expand her analytical skills but also allow her to focus on social enterprise and education.

The Short List helped Meg research top MBA programs that had strong missions in social enterprise and education.

The Short List helped Meg research top MBA programs that had strong missions in both areas. We encouraged her to visit each school, as we worked with her to refine her story in both her essays and interviews. Columbia University in New York City emerged as the clear leader. She wanted access to the organizations that interested her the most, and being a subway ride away would make that possible. She decided to apply to Columbia Early Decision.
Just before Thanksgiving, Meg wrote to us with great news: “I got accepted into Columbia! They actually asked me to do the January start date and complete the 16-month program; same program, different timeline.” Meg gave her notice at work and six weeks later passed through Columbia’s gates determined to graduate from her MBA program with real-world experience under her belt that would help her make an even bigger difference in the field of education.

January 28, 2018June 12, 2018

Mary Anne

Ohio

The Tennis Player

Bucknell

Mary Anne (Mac) came to The Short List her sophomore year as an accomplished tennis player. She had been playing since the age of four and knew that tennis would be a part of her future. A bright and accomplished student, Mac knew a strong academic environment was her primary consideration in choosing a college, but she was uncertain whether she should also pursue playing tennis at the competitive level. Additionally, Mac was involved in a number of high school clubs and organizations and had just been selected for an elite choral group; she was looking for a college campus where she could continue to explore all her passions.

The Short List put together a list of potential schools and walked her through an in-depth evaluation and research process for the schools she was considering. We knew it would be important for Mac to visit campuses to find the school that would provide the best fit academically, athletically, and personally, and we helped her plan a few different campus visits.

The Short List understands the challenges athletics places on a student’s schedule and the importance of time management. During fall of Mac’s junior year, we discussed with her and her parents a plan for her standardized tests, as well as campus visits that would work with both her tennis and demanding junior year schedule.

The Short List understands the challenges athletics places on a student’s schedule and the importance of time management.

By the end of her junior year, having researched and visited several schools, Mac decided tennis would not be a factor in forming her college list; instead, she would focus on schools that had the most to offer in her areas of academic interest. With this clarity, we helped Mac refocus her list of schools and prepped her for her final campus visits, as well as on-campus interviews over the summer. By the time fall semester arrived and her senior tennis season was underway, Mac had finalized her college list and had a good jump on her applications. Because she had taken the time to visit schools, clarify her goals, and define her criteria, she was able to identify a succinct list of schools that met her criteria and incorporated a range of reach, target, and probable schools.

Mac was offered early admission and scholarships to her top two choices and will be enrolling at Bucknell this fall. Following her acceptance, we encouraged Mac to contact the tennis coach, and she plans to try out as a walk-on in the spring.

January 28, 2018June 12, 2018

Marie-Sophie

France

Multiple Programs

Columbia Univ. & Sciences Po

Client: Marie-Sophie
Marie-Sophie is French and was attending a bilingual school in New York City when we first met her. She was looking at US colleges but was still intrigued by studying in France. She turned to The Short List to help her navigate the American college admissions process.

Despite a natural shyness, Marie-Sophie was a well-rounded student: a top academic performer and avid runner who loved the performing arts and community service. She loved most subjects, was fluent in three languages, and had strong interests in economics and politics. We believed her challenge would not be in communicating what she had to offer but rather in defining what she wanted to pursue.

We explored schools that would nurture Marie-Sophie’s multi-cultural heritage and multi-faceted personality, and we encouraged her to express herself even further. She was thrilled and terrified when she was cast in a solo role in the high school musical. As she explained, performing “gave me the passion and the courage to pursue singing, and play a role in front of an audience. Whenever the whole cast is on stage, I can feel a current of energy that makes me want to stay on stage forever.”

Marie-Sophie’s parents took her on visits to her top-choice US colleges. Her confidence grew and her future goals began to take shape, but she couldn’t quite let go of her desire to study in France. She was thrilled to discover the dual BA program between Columbia University and Sciences Po in Paris, an opportunity to receive degrees from two world-renowned universities. She would have to apply and be accepted separately to both schools, which would have been daunting enough to scare off most applicants. But Marie-Sophie pursued admission with gusto.

Her efforts paid off when she was offered a spot in the dual program. She wrote, “The dual BA will be a perfect continuation of what I have enjoyed since I was in first grade, which is being in an environment that is fully bicultural and which constantly reminds me that there is always more than one way to look at something. It will also allow me to study further and more thoroughly what I find the most interesting: trying to understand the world in which I live.”

January 28, 2018June 12, 2018

Maddie

New York

The Planner

Harvard

Client: Maddie

The day we met Maddie, we knew she was someone special, driven to do her best in everything. She was the top student in her class, taking additional high school classes at a local university. She also served as president of her class and a leader in many other activities.

At the time, Maddie was a sophomore in high school, and we quickly saw what drove her success: She took the time to plan. She wanted to visit quite a number of schools, so we mapped out a two-year college visit strategy that took advantage of her school breaks and summer vacation. We spaced her visits so they would be manageable for both her and her family, and did the same with her SAT and ACT testing strategy, helping her attend college fairs and complete any homework we assigned her between calls. Maddie was always ahead of the game and, as a result, exhibited very little stress.

Maddie had prepared academically to apply to the best schools in the country, but she also wanted the schools on her final list to be those where she could imagine spending four years. As she began to visit schools, she looked for ways to connect.

There was nothing The Short List suggested that Maddie wouldn’t try. We explained the importance of demonstrated interest, so she took notes and photos, and collected contact information. She established relationships, and the schools learned about her well before she applied.

In the end, Maddie did not want to apply to any school with a binding decision. She wanted to give herself the option to choose rather than getting caught up in the frenetic “Early Decision” game that she saw so many of her classmates and friends pursuing. in the end, she was accepted to nine of the schools to which she applied, including four ivy League schools. She ranked three schools, all excellent options, as her top choices, and asked her family to allow her to visit each of the three one more time. Ultimately Maddie, now a freshman, chose to enroll at Harvard College.

January 28, 2018June 12, 2018

Lynette

Hong Kong

The Architect

Wellesley/MIT

Client: Lynnette
Although her family lives in Hong Kong, Lynnette attends an all-girls boarding school in Connecticut, which has given her a strong sense of empowerment. She is a hard-working student involved in several activities, and she had some clear ideas on the right colleges and universities for her—all 43 of them! To help narrow her list, we worked on tapping into Lynnette’s passions.

Lynnette is an excellent science and math student, exceptionally talented writer, and winner of several art awards. Her many passions and talents made narrowing her choices challenging. Her initial list included some of the highest- ranked schools in the country. We suspected that once Lynnette saw some of the schools on her list, she would be better able to focus on those that could truly satisfy her interests.

The Short List met with Lynnette and her family when we were in Hong Kong in March 2010 giving a community college admissions presentation. We discussed schools the family had visited during a college tour The Short List helped coordinate, and we brainstormed summer activities. Lynnette was interested in an “art” summer and applied to Rhode Island School ofDesign’s prestigious architectural program. The experience brought together her interests in art, math, and science; Lynnette declared her desire to pursue architecture in college and was able to narrow her college list to 12 schools.

The Short List helped to coordinate the family’s college tour.

Two in particular stood out: Wellesley, the top all-women’s college just outside Boston, attracted Lynnette because they provide a liberal arts education in an environment familiar to her. On the other hand, MIT, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has an amazing architecture program and sits just across the river from Boston.
Wellesley has a binding Early Decision program, while MIT allows students to apply through their non-binding Early Action program. The Short List knew Lynnette faced a tough decision, so we had her direct her energy toward crafting strong applications for both schools. We believed her distinctive writing style—introspective, humorous, and revealing—would allow her to stand out.

The opportunity to apply early to both schools worked in Lynnette’s favor. To her delight, she now has the choice of spending her four years at Wellesley, or entering the five-year joint degree in architecture program with MIT to receive an undergraduate degree from both schools! Lynnette’s ambitious approach reminded The Short List of the importance of our clients’ taking ownership of their process and having the courage to go for everything.

January 27, 2018June 12, 2018

Lindsey

Tennessee

The Lawyer

Georgetown

Client: Lindsey We first met Lindsey five years ago when she was a junior in high school aspiring to become a doctor. Her family included four generations of doctors, leaving her with no doubt that she, too, would be a doctor one day. She entered Vanderbilt University in fall 2007 as a pre-medical student.

The direction of her life changed, however, when Lindsey entered a public policy course during the second semester of her freshman year. She found herself in the center of lively debates over stem cell research and mandated health care. She became fascinated by the interplay of economics, politics, and science, and she decided to switch to a double major in medical health and political science.

The Short List worked with Lindsey to help broaden her knowledge through study abroad and internships. During the summer of 2009, she spent two months in Europe with the prestigious London School of Economics. Later that same summer, she completed a congressional internship in Washington, D.C., at the height of the health care debate. She saw how lawmakers and, more specifically, lawyers helped shape that debate.

The more Lindsey studied and experienced, the more confident she became that the right path for her was, in fact, law school. As a lawyer, she felt she could help create health care policies with far-reaching impact.
Lindsey contacted The Short List a third time to help her explore law schools. She had narrowed her list to focus on schools in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and North Carolina to give herself proximity to the federal policymaking process.

The Short List helped her prep for her interview and watched her confidence soar.

The Short List visited Lindsey at Vanderbilt. She was mature, focused, and eager to move forward with her plans. She had already taken the LSAT once and was preparing to take it a second time. She applied to several schools, but was increasingly drawn to Georgetown University Law School.

In late fall 2010, Lindsey began to receive acceptances, but Georgetown remained silent, so she traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend a Georgetown Open House. She connected with students, faculty, and administrators and left convinced Georgetown was the right school for her even though it was a long shot.

Shortly after her visit, Lindsey received a call inviting her to interview with Georgetown. The Short List was convinced the interview would demonstrate what made Lindsey exceptional. We helped her prep for the interview and watched her confidence soar.

Only a week after her interview, Lindsey received the thrilling news that Georgetown University Law School would be welcoming her to the Nation’s capital in the fall of 2011.

January 27, 2018June 12, 2018

Kosta

Greece

The Soccer Player

Wesleyan

Client: Kosta Kosta’s family is from Greece, and they knew very little about the US college admissions process when we first met. They initially engaged us for our test prep tutoring. We invited Kosta to join one of our group programs, which typically consist of five to 10 students who go through the admissions process together. Each participant benefits not only from the direct guidance and advice of two counselors from The Short List but also feedback from their fellow students.

We asked each student to highlight who they were beyond the classroom. Kosta came alive sharing stories of soccer. He was excited to learn students at US colleges could play soccer at different levels and could even contact an athletic coach before applying to a school. Kosta was most interested in elite liberal arts colleges where students play sports at the Division III level. “D3” athletes are accepted to a school on their academic merit and are not offered athletic scholarships. Kosta found this appealing because he didn’t want to feel the team or sport owned him.

We invited Kosta to join one of our group programs, which typically consist of five to 10 students who go through the admissions process together.

The more Kosta researched, the more he was drawn to Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He reached out to the soccer coach, who in turn invited him to a home game. Kosta met with the coach before the game and again at the end of his visit, and was thrilled when the coach expressed strong interest. He made the decision to apply Early Decision. Six weeks after submitting his application, Kosta received a letter saying that his application had been deferred to Early Decision II. Kosta wanted to understand what else he could do to improve his chances. Wesleyan wanted to better understand his high school so Kosta asked his counselor to write a letter that detailed the school’s curriculum and highlighted Kosta’s contribution as a student, athlete, and community leader.

Kosta also informed the Wesleyan coach of his deferral. The Wesleyan coach reached out to Kosta’s current coach to get a better understanding of Kosta’s soccer abilities. Kosta believes this may have helped make the difference, because in the middle of February he received his admissions acceptance. He also received a spring workout plan from the Wesleyan head coach who encouraged him to get ready to play in the fall.

January 27, 2018June 12, 2018

Jim

New York

The Entrepreneur

University of Michigan

Client: Jim The Short List had the opportunity to work with Jim not just once, but twice. He was in a dead-end job when he contacted The Short List the first time for career guidance. He was two years out of the University of Michigan, having graduated from their high-ranking undergraduate business program. While in school, Jim had been one of the editors for The Daily, the school’s newspaper. At first, he seemed desperate to accept any job that would get him out of his current situation. The Short List encouraged Jim to step back and think more carefully about what he ultimately wanted to do with his career. We outlined several different career directions that all seemed appealing. The Short List then had him put together a list of people whose careers inspired him.

Over the next few months, The Short List leveraged contacts available through our network, as well as showing Jim how to better utilize his own network. Jim was able to meet all of the people on his list. Each of them gave him career advice, referrals, and encouragement to keep pursuing his dream. Eventually, Jim accepted an offer to become a writer for NBC.com. He covered the college football and NFL 2006/2007 seasons. In addition to working for NBC, Jim received an offer from one of his inspirational contacts, Armen Keteyian—an eight-time Emmy Award- winning journalist for HBO Real Sports and CBS—to write for the Hall of Fame Magazine website.

The Short List encouraged Jim to step back and think more carefully about what he ultimately wanted to do with his career.

Jim was on his way, or so it seemed. Then, in March of this year, NBC laid off more than 30 of its online personnel, including Jim. He contacted The Short List a second time. In the year since he first began working with The Short List, it had become clear that Jim loved being a writer. The Short List encouraged him not to jump at the first opportunity but to trust that the right job would come along. Through the many contacts he developed over the year, he was suddenly given a unique opportunity to write a promotional book for the Kentucky Derby. The Greatest Day in Sports was published with a forward by Cooper Manning, elder brother of NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli, and Jim later learned that his book was given to the Queen when she attended this year’s Derby.

January 27, 2018June 12, 2018

Jeff

Colorado

The Doctor

University of Colorado

Client: Jeff Jeff was living in Colorado, working as a member of the Breckenridge Ski Patrol, when his parents asked if we could help provide him some career guidance. He was beginning to consider different career directions, and his parents hoped we could help him find the right path.
Jeff shared that he had graduated from college as a philosophy major with dreams of becoming a teacher or lawyer, but was starting to feel pulled toward medicine. As a first responder at Breckenridge, he had encountered all kinds of injuries. In one case, a patient even died despite the ski patrol’s best efforts. This tragedy had a profound effect on Jeff, and launched his interest in working in the medical field.

During the summer of 2013, Jeff started working for Vail Summit Orthopaedics as a clinical technician. There he gained access to some of the nation’s top sports medicine surgeons. He was enthralled by what happened after his ski patrol patients left his care. However, he was worried that he did not have a competitive background for medical school.

The Short List saw things differently. We believed Jeff could profile his experiences to his advantage. For example, we learned that Jeff had earned seven different medical or emergency prevention certifications. We helped him craft a resume that highlighted his professional credentials and included his community service work at Summit Community Care Center and as a surgical assistant on Community Surgery Day.

As Jeff gained confidence, we helped him research the top sports medicine programs and find the thread in his essays that showed how his varied experiences led him to a medical career. We helped Jeff craft his admissions interview responses and showed him how to follow up to reinforce his interest. Over the winter, Jeff received acceptances from several medical schools. His final choices came down to Columbia University and the University of Colorado. Jeff chose Colorado so he could stay in his beloved Rockies and pursue his education surrounded by some of the nation’s top sports medicine specialists.

January 27, 2018June 12, 2018

Jake

Ohio

The Ensign

US Naval Academy

Client: Jake When The Short List met Jake during his sophomore year, he had one school in mind: the United States Naval Academy. Jake’s parents clearly had their concerns. We discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jake listened but felt it was both a privilege and a duty to serve his country. He also knew the Academy was a long shot because all of the service academies look for tremendous leadership and top-tier academic achievement.

We encouraged Jake to take those requirements as a motivator, so he worked hard on his academics, studied for the SATs, and watched his GPA and SAT scores climb. He became a leader on his high school lacrosse team and attended camps to improve his skills.

Jake was appointed to Ohio’s Buckeye Boys State, a program that stresses leadership and honor. He also applied and was accepted to the U.S. House of Representatives Page Program. He says those two experiences changed his life forever.

It took nearly a year from start to finish, but Jake says his acceptance was worth the wait. Jake visited many schools during the process and several interested him, but he remained focused on the Naval Academy. He visited it several times and began to envision himself as an Ensign. The Academy has a complex application process that requires the applicant to receive a nomination from a U.S. Senator. Jake was able to secure that nomination, went through several grueling interviews, and then was asked to pass the physical.

It took nearly a year from start to finish, but Jake says his acceptance was worth the wait.

Recently his government teacher asked the class if they approved of the U.S. government. Many said “no.” She responded, “In a government run for the people and by the people, only you, the people, can change that.” Jake shares that belief, and one of his goals is to choose the best way to serve his country. Jake showed all of us that when a student has a plan and is willing to follow that plan, the results speak for themselves. We have no doubt that Jake will serve the United States proudly.