Tag: Harvard

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Sarah

Sarah

Massachusetts

The Future Governor

Harvard


Sarah was a member of The Short List’s Monday Night Group Class. She loved working with five other students and two counselors each week to craft her story in an application that would get her noticed. Little did we know Sarah’s story would go well beyond her applications.

Sarah grew up in an unconventional mountain town in the middle of a state forest. Her town is the second-smallest town in Massachusetts with only 150 year-round residents, and no one in her family has ever gone to college.

Sarah is a National Honors Society student who took every advanced course her school offers. She then enrolled in several online courses to go beyond her school’s offerings. Like many rural areas, Sarah’s town does not have high-speed Internet, and much of Sarah’s homework and class assignments, especially her online courses, required her to go online. Sarah would drive a few miles to the parking lot outside the one-room town hall where she could access the Internet through the town’s satellite Wi-Fi service. There were many nights her mother had to drive over to the town hall to ensure Sarah would come home and get some sleep.

Sarah is a born leader. She is senior class president, a three-sport athlete, and team captain. However, her resume is dominated by community service. She has coached soccer every Saturday morning, worked with the homeless, and helped organize her town’s summer church fair. When her community suffered particularly hard during the economic downturn, with factories and local businesses shutting down or moving away, Sarah led the local chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), helping provide positive alternatives to young people losing hope and turning to opioids and alcohol.

Her story caught the attention of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who invited Sarah to his State of the Commonwealth (State) address. Sarah thanked him for the invitation but couldn’t attend because her basketball team was playing a critical game to determine their playoff chances. Much to Sarah’s surprise, the Governor shared her story in his speech and then invited her to the state capitol to personally meet with him and his wife. They asked Sarah about her ambitions and life on the mountain, including what it was like sitting in the car late at night doing her homework. Sarah humbly replied, “It wasn’t so bad. I just turned on the heat in the winter, but in warmer weather I would sit outside.” Listening, we completely agreed with the Governor’s assessment of Sarah: “You are an incredible young lady.” On March 28, Ivy League notification day, Sarah sent a text that said it all, “I got into Harvard!”


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Ned

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.


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Maddie

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.