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!”
