Tufts – The Short List

Tucker

Japan

The Multidisciplinarian

Tufts University

Tucker
Some people are born performers. Tucker is one of them. His mother is Japanese and his father American. They raised Tucker and his older brother in both Japan and the States. Both boys were young musical prodigies. We worked with Tucker’s older brother, now a student at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, when he was attending an international school in Japan. Tucker attended the same high school in Tokyo but transferred to a boarding school in Massachusetts after freshman year.

Tucker is known throughout his school as an actor, singer, and musician. He has played the violin since he was four and composed music for as long as he can remember. He has been a member of numerous jazz bands, orchestras, and a capella groups and has played the lead in countless school productions. Whether it’s Grease, Spamalot, or Hairspray, Tucker’s classmates expect to see him front and center.

Tucker’s world off stage is very different. He is an unassuming, quiet student who cares deeply about the world around him. He spent six weeks prior to 10th grade in a language immersion program in Spain, and half of sophomore year as the only Western student at the African Leadership Academy in South Africa. Tucker attends school in rural Massachusetts where environmental protection defines the area. He is the president of his school’s Environmental Action Club and helped write the school’s environmental policies. This combination of music, culture, and environment has come to define his goals.

Tucker longed to find a way to combine his interests in a meaningful way. He knew of schools with strong environmental science or music programs, or even cultural or international programs, but longed to find one that combined all three. Tucker visited many schools, but always came back less than enthusiastic. He would rave about aspects of the school but never about the whole school. The Short List refused to give up on helping him find a school that could offer everything he was seeking.

One weekend, Tucker was visiting his brother in Boston, and we encouraged him to visit Tufts, a school renowned for its international focus, strong musical partnerships, and environmental programs. Tucker discovered a world where he could pursue environmental studies in close collaboration with professors and classmates, audition for a dual degree with the New England Conservatory of Music, and even design and teach his own course in the Experimental College, affectionately known as the ExCollege. Tucker took the holidays to consider his options and eagerly applied Early Decision II.

Tucker found a way to communicate his background and interests in one of the best-written essays we had ever read. He communicated the same in his supplement essays, always viewing them as a way to express himself. He eagerly hit the submit button. Six weeks later he sent a text that simply said, “I got in!”

Nancy and Tim

Turkey

Multiple Classmates

Tufts, NYU

Clients: Nancy and Tim

Nancy’s family works for the State Department and has hosted several international community presentations for The Short List. We met Tim at the presentation they organized for us in Istanbul, Turkey. It was clear from our first meeting that Nancy and Tim were good friends. They had just returned from a school trip to Nepal and were eager to share their experiences with us. They also shared their stories.

Nancy’s family moved from Bangkok, Thailand, to Istanbul at the start of her junior year. She found that the quickest way to make friends after each move was to become involved and that was how she discovered theatre. Arriving in Turkey was no different, and she found herself quickly cast in a school production. She also began to take up guitar and singing, and soon began considering a life in the performing arts. She began looking for schools with strong acting programs.

Nancy and her mother traveled back to the United States in the spring of her senior year for several interviews and auditions. She rehearsed her songs and monologues while we helped her prepare her resumé and prep for her interviews. She returned a week later and waited for the results.

When Tim came to The Short List he was very clear on a few things: he wanted to have an urban college experience at a school with a strong international student population. Having lived in Paris, Madrid, and Istanbul, Tim was accustomed to a diverse and cosmopolitan community. He had always enjoyed math and science in school and had a real passion for technology. So as he started thinking about a college major, he realized it had to be something that would incorporate math, science, and technology, and focused on schools with computer engineering.

Tim was also able to make a trip to the US, so we worked with him to maximize his campus visits and prepare him for his interviews at a number of schools that met his criteria. Later, as Tim worked through his college essays, we pushed him to reveal the interests and passions he had as a student and individual. He was able to express himself in beautiful essays that were infused with his wry humor. The only question that remained was whether his colleges would recognize his unique qualities.

When April finally arrived, both Nancy and Tim received news that they had been accepted to top universities. Nancy is now a freshman in NYU Tisch School’s nationally ranked acting program, and Tim is just hours away in Boston at Tufts University where he is enrolled in their highly acclaimed engineering program.