Tag: Greece

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Jason ’22

Jason ’22

Greece

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The Co-op Curriculum

Northeastern

Jason was a strong student who saw himself as an entrepreneur and business leader. He enjoyed problem-solving, even designing a solar scooter to lessen his commute to school. His love for experiential learning would influence his final college list.

Jason lost his childhood friend in a boating accident when he was 10 years old. Witnessing such a tragic accident had a huge impact on his life. At first, he struggled. His late friend’s family approached him to join Safe Water Sports to help raise awareness for water safety. He began with simple clerical work and assisted on various projects.

In high school, his brother introduced him to The Home Project, an organization that supported refugee minors. He couldn’t stop thinking of the refugees’ isolation when Greece went into COVID lockdown. He proposed a Zoom series co-hosted by Safe Water Sports and The Home Project. Jason felt he was the perfect person to introduce “safe water sports” to refugees who lost loved ones to the sea, having lost his own friend years earlier. He held his first one-hour Zoom meeting on Christmas Day 2020. As an experiential learner himself, he kept the refugees engaged with interactive games. The Ministry of Health learned about his efforts and cast him in a national PSA focused on the health of teenagers during the pandemic.

COVID prevented Jason from traveling to the USA for a college tour, but he knew he was looking for a business program with an emphasis on entrepreneurship. We researched schools with unique interactive curriculums that would satisfy his interests. In April 2022, as travel restrictions relaxed, his family was finally able to plan a college tour of his accepted schools. Jason knew before he arrived that Northeastern, with their global experiential co-op program, was his top choice. Visiting the school affirmed his decision, and he will move to Boston—popularly known as College Town, USA—this fall.

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Philip ’21

Philip ’21

Greece

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The Core Curriculum

Columbia University

Philip '21Philip 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.

The Greek refugee crisis dominated Philip’s high school years. He co-founded Make A Difference with some high school friends and organized a basketball fundraiser featuring a game between his basketball team and a refugee team. He liked being a leader and expressed an interest in touring USA colleges with strong business programs. We got him involved in test prep, believing top scores would open opportunities, and we helped map out a college tour that included a stop in New York City to visit Columbia.

On his return to Athens, Philip wanted to make a more lasting impact in the refugee crisis, so he joined The Home Project, an organization hiring math tutors to work with young refugees. The Short List also helped Philip explore organizing a summer math camp for refugees, but COVID prevented his plan from moving forward.

We began brainstorming alternative summer initiatives, including a webinar series, applying for a prestigious online research program, and securing an internship with a national bank. His thinking began to shift that summer as he explored COVID’s economic impact on the European Union while working on the research project.

That fall, Philip said he no longer wanted to focus on a narrow pre-professional business curriculum. He began seeing himself as a social scientist and decided to apply Early Decision to Columbia for their renowned economics program and Core curriculum.

We brainstormed responses to Columbia’s supplemental questions and encouraged him to share how writing his research paper and his direct experience with the refugee crisis had shaped his concern for humanity. Philip was thrilled when Columbia made him an offer in a year their acceptance rate dropped below 4% for the first time in the school’s history.

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Kosta

Kosta

Greece

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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.