Yul ’20
Hong Kong
The In-Person Visit
Brown
We met Yul while giving an admissions overview presentation in Hong Kong his freshman year. Starting early with The Short List helped Yul stay focused in his academics, extracurriculars, and summer programs. He joined a rock band that performed regularly at school and Hong Kong conventions. He auditioned and became one of three finalists out of 1,000 for a K-pop band. Yul also co-founded a student-led A Capella group.
We introduced Yul to New York University’s prestigious Clive Davis Institute Summer High School Program, where he explored producing music. Spending the summer in the USA gave Yul an opportunity to visit colleges.
Yul loved writing, performing, and producing, but his college visits showed him there were compelling business opportunities outside of music. We helped him reduce his college list and focus on schools that would allow him to pursue music and business. Yul’s Brown visit helped him articulate why their open curriculum and supportive community of musicians and entrepreneurs motivated him to apply.
Brown waitlisted Yul just as COVID put his school into remote learning. His counselor told him, “It is unlikely you will come off the waitlist, so we won’t be able to support you.” We told Yul’s family we believed otherwise and showed Yul how to appeal the waitlist decision. Brown eventually accepted Yul and gave him the option of starting online or postponing his entry until the following May when they hoped to resume in-person learning. Yul opted for the latter so he could continue producing his music during COVID’s most challenging year. His father wrote, “Thank you again for not giving up and encouraging Yul! That made all the difference!”
When we first met Yoong, he was already a member of Hong Kong’s Youth Arts Foundation and was regularly cast in their theater productions. He was the lead singer in a school Pop Rock band, actor in the annual 48-hour Film Festival, and dancer in the school’s K-pop dance group.
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.
Philip approached The Short List as a sophomore wanting to discuss whether he should continue following the Greek national curriculum or move to an International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum for his final two years of high school. That was not the last time we would discuss curriculums with him.
Elizabeth spent her high school years in a Connecticut boarding school’s Global and Environmental Studies program. She studied French and Arabic and earned the Honors Tea Award for “Best Student in a Language Class.” She joined Model UN, became an officer in her school’s UNICEF club, and was awarded the “Norton Center Initiative — Charitable Blend.”
Parents typically contact us for guidance for their student. However, Mike reached out to us on his own. His parents empowered him to be the decision-maker. We provided updates, but never actually spoke to them.
Oliver attends an international school in South Korea. He came to us somewhat lost as to what he wanted to study in college. The more The Short List learned about Oliver, the more we understood why.
Léa grew up in Bermuda and attended one of the top international schools on the island. She believed she would be happiest attending college in the United States but knew nothing about the U.S. admissions process. Léa was a freshman, so we had plenty of time to help her explore and prepare.
We often hear from students, “I would love to get as much done this summer as possible because I know senior year will be busy.” As we got to know, Emma, however, it became clear that “busy” was an understatement. Our first priority became reducing stress for her and her family.