graduate school – The Short List

January 28, 2018June 12, 2018

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.

January 28, 2018June 12, 2018

Ned

California

The Consultant

Harvard Business School

Client: Ned

Ned began applying to MBA programs in the fall of 2009. He spent much of that fall working on his applications, visiting schools, interviewing, and, sadly, receiving denials or wait list notifications. Ned contacted The Short List in summer 2010 when he felt that the acceptances he had received were not the right fit for him. After reading Ned’s applications and hearing about his admissions interviews, we realized he had missed opportunities to communicate his entire story and many of his strengths.

The Short List emphasized to Ned the risks of turning down the schools that had accepted him. But, in every exercise where we had Ned prioritize his options, “applying again” came out on top. Ned decided the only choice that would make him truly happy was to “go for it,” whatever the outcome, so we advised him on how he could best improve his chances. We asked Ned to contact his schools to see what would have made him a stronger candidate. We also encouraged Ned to focus on fewer schools so he could put together quality applications and build up demonstrated interest. He decided there were just four schools that had programs strong enough to merit interrupting his career.

Although the young entrepreneurial company Ned worked for was receiving great press, they were also going through repeated layoffs. Ned was constantly adjusting to different management styles. We urged him to take on more responsibility at work in areas that would make him a stronger participant in the MBA classroom. We also helped him explore opportunities outside of work where he could leverage his experience to help others. Finally, we worked with Ned on how to better share his story in his applications. Ned returned to each campus to learn more about their programs and cultivate relationships. When invited to interview, Ned used our advice and walked into each interview with greater confidence.

He even completed one interview through Skype due to conflicts with his work schedule that prevented his traveling back to the school. In the end, Ned’s renewed effort made the difference when he was accepted to Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Ned submitted his deposit, was busy wrapping up things at work, and had plans for a relaxing summer when his last acceptance came through. Ned made a significant change of direction and instead enrolled at Harvard Business School.

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 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

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

Grant

Pennsylvania

The JD/MBA

Villanova

Client: Grant The Short List met Grant when he was a high school sophomore. Even then, it was apparent that Grant had many academic interests: business, history, liberal arts… Boston College allowed him to explore all of them. During college, Grant interned in financial services and law firms and spent his junior year studying in Rome, Italy. Wherever he worked, lived, or studied, Grant had a quest to learn and take in as much as possible.

Near the end of college, Grant decided to pursue either an MBA or a law degree. Together, we reviewed the requirements for both. Grant could see that it would take quite an effort and he wanted to do it right, so he decided to take a year off after graduation to research schools. Always one to challenge himself, Grant decided that he couldn’t decide between the two degrees and would instead pursue a joint JD/MBA.

Most joint programs require that you be accepted to one program before applying to the second. Grant focused on schools that had equally strong law and business programs, and The Short List helped him implement a strategy to increase his chances: We encouraged him to attend events and network with key personnel so they knew him before he applied. We also emphasized the importance of the entrance exams. Grant spent the summer traveling two hours each way, twice a week, to prepare to take the exams in the fall. He scored high on his LSAT, so he decided to apply to law schools first and worked to make his law school applications as strong as possible.
Grant received an offer from Villanova Law School and felt a great sense of relief, but knew he still had to be accepted to the business school to complete his dream. Villanova raises the level of commitment required by asking students to enter their first year of law school before applying to the joint program.

The Short List helped Grant make connections before he applied.

Grant decided to make that commitment and took on the burden of applying to the MBA program while also trying to adjust to law school and remain successful in his first-year classes. His efforts paid off, and he wrote to us: “I wanted to let you know that I was accepted into Villanova’s JD/MBA program! I found out the good news…and I am extremely excited.” He went on to add, “After finishing up law school courses this spring, I plan on beginning business school courses this summer. Not much of a summer break, but I want to begin business school courses before law school starts up again.”

We have no doubt that Grant will be successful however he chooses to use his degrees. Grant closed his note to us by saying “You’ve now helped me through the process of applying to college, law school, and business school…I still can’t really believe it all came true.”