Kaneisha Grayson's Blog, page 19
October 19, 2019
Client Case Study: Karla
Karla knew that she wanted to take her career to the next level. She’d risen from the ranks of Teach for America to become a college access director at a nonprofit in the Bay Area. She knew she needed some quantitative skills along the way to a graduate degree, and initially came to The Art of Applying® in November 2017, just two months before the deadline for the MBA programs she thought would be the right fit.
She got waitlisted to just one of the schools she applied to, and could have given up on her grad school dream. But she had some powerful insights during that first application process, some on her own, and some through her work with The Art of Applying®. As she recalls, changing the letters MBA to MPP on her essay made her goals make so much more sense.
And guess what happened? She got accepted everywhere she wanted to go, including the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy, where she’s now attending with a full ride scholarship.
“I didn’t give up,” she reports proudly. “Part of me very well could have been, ‘forget this, it’s not gonna work out for me. I’ll apply to something maybe easier to get into’ … I could have very well gone to a lower-ranked MBA or MPP program. I think it feels good that I didn’t lose persistence and that I took time, because I think sometimes our own timelines get in our way.”
So while a 2018 entry into an MBA program wasn’t in Karla’s plan, a 2019 entry into an MPP program most definitely was.
Start Date: November 2017 | End Date: May 2018
Applicant Information
LatinaFirst-generation American and first-generation college studentSchool: University of ChicagoGPA: 3.6GMAT: 550GRE: 310
Acceptances
University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public PolicyUniversity of California Berkeley Goldman School of Public PolicyUniversity of Chicago Harris School of Public PolicyUCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Scholarships & Fellowships
Full tuition scholarship
Attending
USC Price School
Notable Quotes
“So when I heard about The Art of Applying®, I felt like I needed that expertise about admissions, because honestly, I was the first in my friend and family group to pursue those degrees … so for me it was really a matter of finding a thought partner. I think I had been talking about the MPP and MBA with lots of friends and family and no one could really encourage me or give me actually helpful advice. So I think that was a huge thing for me: finding someone that could actually look at my materials, look at my test scores, look at all of that for me and actually explain … I’ve done a lot of informational interviewing, but I think I really needed that support.”
“I’ve always been a really strong writer, but what I really needed was someone to help me connect the dots.”
“I needed that time to take the advice I had gotten and really do something with it.”
“I think [the Breakthrough Call] was going to be more like a sales pitch, but I come from the counseling background … and felt like it was counseling. At that point, I was like super stressed and frustrated and ready to give up, and so having someone hear me out who wasn’t biased … was the most helpful thing for me, processing out loud [to determine] where I was in the path and what that could mean.”
“It was an investment that actually paid off in the end, because if you really think about it, applying with all of your ducks in order is going to mean maybe better scholarships in the end. So, for me, investing in the front end was more helpful than having to figure out how to finance my intuition on the back end.”
“There were lots of ups and downs, like I mentioned. I was honestly super depressed after I got denied across the board, but I think for me, it feels good now. I didn’t give up. Part of me very well could have been, ‘forget this, it’s not gonna work out for me. I’ll apply to something maybe easier to get into’ … I could have very well gone to a lower ranked MBA or MPP program. I think it feels good that I didn’t lose persistence and that I took time, because I think sometimes our own timelines like get in our way.”
Client Case Study: Juan
Juan had a graduate school “golden ticket” when he came to The Art of Applying® — he worked in the public sector in Panama, and the government had already awarded him a scholarship at the school of his choice. But he wanted to get to the best school possible, and set his sights on Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, and its Masters of Public Administration program.
And then he worked with The Art of Applying® twice to get there. The first time, he came to us in October 2017, and only had a few months to try to get everything in shape. Though there was more to do than he could effectively complete in those few months, he saw value in what we offered him the first time, came back to work with us a second time, and got to celebrate his success.
He experienced what many of our clients experience — a walkthrough of his life story to find what graduate committees might find particularly resonant. In his case, it was his commitment to working in the public sector, and specifically to return from grad school to his home country to make it better.
But he also found that the diversity of our team helped him. As a first-generation Panamanian, whose parents didn’t speak English, and who was the first in his family to travel to the United States to go to school, he felt heard and understood.
“So I will tell my fellow Latin Americans that in working with The Art of Applying®, you will feel like you’re working with somebody that understands your background,” he told us.
“What happens if nobody in your day-to-day environment understands how difficult it is to apply to grad school?” he asks. “You find that niche with The Art of Applying® — a lot of encouragement and a lot of positive energy to keep working and to keep applying.”
It was in that second time working with us that he got to fully experience what got him to a successful application: the mindset coaches helping him through the emotional aspects of the process, guidance on the essays, and even the calendars we provide to keep our clients mindful of their deadlines.
Start Date: October 2017 | End Date: May 2019
Applicant Information
26 years oldLatin American (first-generation Panamanian)School: Earlham College
Acceptances
Columbia SIPA MPA (Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs)
Scholarships & Fellowships
Scholarship through Panamanian government
Attending
Columbia SIPA MPA (Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs)
Notable Quotes
“I came across your website and I was really struck by the profiles of the consultants that work with you. And that’s what really got me motivated to look into the entire process with your team, and also, all the information you put out in the form of informational posts on the website. So that’s how the ball got rolling.”
“The first time I reached out to The Art of Applying® was October 2017 and I decided to work with your team and and it was a really wonderful experience. But because of timing — I don’t know if every applicant knows, but a lot of grad schools have their deadlines and December and in January, especially for public policy schools — that gave me very little room to improve things that were not my essays, and that’s essentially why I decided to apply a second time, and keep working with your team. I felt that the first time, I learned a lot, and your team really pushed me to think outside of the box.”
“I absolutely advise anybody who wants to work with The Art of Applying® to reach out as early as possible in your application process. Because you do need time to improve any test scores, you have to take supplemental courses, you have to reach out … to whoever is going to give you a recommendation … and to apply for scholarships. The Art of Applying® provides an amazing platform for you to apply for assistantships and scholarships, but you do need a lot of time for that … I would suggest you have to work on every single component of your application from a very early stage.”
“I expected my Breakthrough Call to be more about talking about The Art of Applying® and about what you offer, but instead, it was about finding my own path. In a way, I felt that I was receiving coaching on how to do things, even though I was not a client yet … it helped expose a lot of my background [to me] and really gave me a sense of why am I doing this … [at the end of the call,] I feel confident that this was really the path I wanted to move forward with.”
“I had a family loss when I was in the middle of my application process and I received a lot of positive support from The Art of Applying®. I actually received flowers at my house and that felt really personal … At that point, I felt that this was not just a client-business relationship, but [that these were] people who actually cared about my entire application process.”
“So I will tell my fellow Latin Americans that in working with The Art of Applying®, you will feel like you’re working with somebody that understands your background. If a lot of you never had a family member who studied in the US or in North America, or for that matter, if nobody in your family speaks English, The Art of Applying® provides a platform for you to navigate those vacancies in your application process. At the same time, they provide a platform for you to get support because, besides all the preparation process. It’s normal to feel very nervous and anxious about the process, and at least in my case, I was surrounded by a lot of friends that understood what I was going through. But what happens if nobody in your day-to-day environment understands how difficult it is to apply to grad school? You find that niche with The Art of Applying® — a lot of encouragement and a lot of positive energy to keep working and to keep applying.”
October 14, 2019
Client Case Study: Jen
Jen said that when she learned about The Art of Applying®, she was thinking about getting her application from 80 percent of its potential to its full potential. She knew she could only take it so far, and since she felt that time was of the essence — starting her MBA application process at age 29 — she wanted to make it count.
She was especially concerned for her husband, who would be supporting both of them while she pursued her MBA. If she could not only get into an MBA program, but get into one with a scholarship, that would be ideal.
We are happy to report that she achieved her ideal outcome!
Even though she had to take her GMAT three times to get a score she felt was workable, and even though she worried about the layoffs and reorgs dotting her tech-heavy work history, she was able to get in Cornell’s MBA program at the Johnson Graduate School of Management. And she didn’t just get in: She was awarded over $100,000 worth of scholarship funding during the two-year program.
Jen found that The Art of Applying® was different from the very start. She called around to a number of companies that say they help people get into MBA programs. As she notes, “I just felt that The Art of Applying® offered the most personalized approach. There were many where I felt that they just wanted to rattle off my stats and then tell me that I didn’t stand a chance to get in anywhere. But I felt that the team at The Art of Applying® seemed to genuinely care about my story and I could already feel like they were going to set me up by helping me position that story in the best positive light.”
We offered her the kind of support she was expecting — help with her telling her story in her application essays — but we offered her support she wasn’t expecting.
“The Art of Applying®. really recognizes that this is a very stressful and emotionally draining process,” she observes. “You’re really evaluating who you are as a professional, and who you want to be, and that can be, for people who are very passionate about their careers, that can be very challenging. So, beyond just the essay support and the admission support, there was also an element of emotional support as well, and I thought was just invaluable and a surprising benefit of working with The Art of Applying®.”
Start Date: September 2018 | End Date: May 2019
Applicant Information
29 years oldAsian-AmericanSchool: University of California, BerkeleyGPA: 3.5GMAT: 710
Acceptances
Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management
Scholarships & Fellowships
Forte Fellowship of $51,500 a year for two years
Attending
Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management
Notable Quotes
“The Art of Applying® was actually recommended to me by a good friend of mine. But I think I wasn’t really ready to take the plunge until I’d done a little bit of research. So I actually called a number of different companies and went through some of their initial calls. I just felt that The Art of Applying® offered the most personalized approach. There were many where I felt that they just wanted to rattle off my stats and then tell me that I didn’t stand a chance to get in anywhere. But I felt that the team at The Art of Applying® seemed to genuinely care about my story and I could already feel like they were going to set me up by helping me position that story in the best positive light.”
“My Breakthrough Call … was about an hour long … so already, they were spending more time with me. Basically, they ran through my entire story, all my hopes, aspirations, concerns, what I was hoping to get out of working with The Art of Applying®. It was a very detailed interview, to make sure that The Art of Applying® and I were the right fit for each other. So it already felt different from the other admissions consultants, who were clearly just trying to make a quick sale.”
“I am one of those perhaps insane applicants that spends too much time on GMAT Club, on Reddit, on Poets&Quants, so it’s not that I entered this process knowing nothing about what to expect with admissions. However, I was looking for people who were experts, who would take out some of the ambiguity from the process. And I was able to assess whether I felt like you guys were experts, because I saw this content that you guys were publishing. I read through it and there was a lot of really great stuff in there.”
“I was really surprised by the robustness of the program and how much you guys offered … support from my consultant, brainstorming through my narrative, taking out the juiciest bits to focus on in my essays, having experts to proofread and tell me if I was veering off course, or if something didn’t make sense. I also appreciated just having someone on my side that I could just ping me and ask questions with throughout my Accelerator period. And I also appreciated how I think The Art of Applying® really recognizes that this is a very stressful and emotionally draining process . . . you’re really evaluating who you are as a professional, and who you want to be, and that can be, for people who are very passionate about their careers, that can be very challenging. So, beyond just the essay support and the admission support, there was also an element of emotional support as well, and I thought was just invaluable and a surprising benefit of working with The Art of Applying®.”
October 5, 2019
Client Case Study: Nina
Many people start the MBA application process without a clue as to what to do. Others only have some idea of how to get started. Nina*, however, came prepared. She had already finished her tests and requested her recommendation letters. She had a polished resume and a strong network of people for support.
However, when it came to writing her personal essays, Nina felt stumped. She wanted someone to bounce her ideas off of and make her story come to life. Her ambition and resourcefulness led her to reach out to The Art of Applying®. After working with our team, she landed four acceptance letters from Stanford Graduate School of Business, Wharton, Columbia Business School, and Harvard Kennedy School!
Nina asked that we not share the audio of her interview publicly, so we’ll just share her stats, results, and some of the best quotes from her client testimonial interview.
*Nina is not her real name. Our client asked that we not share her real name in her case study.
Service: Application Accelerator®
Start Date: July 2017 | End Date: May 1, 2018
Applicant Information
Indian-AmericanFirst-year applicantGPA: 3.60GRE: 327 Work experience: 3 years
Acceptances
Stanford Graduate School of BusinessHarvard Kennedy School Wharton School at the University of PennsylvaniaColumbia Business School
Notable Quotes
“Throughout the process, I have been really diligent on getting myself so far, and just towards the very end, I realized that having some structure and having someone to bounce ideas off of for my essays was something I really needed, to get a second opinion.”
“I think I’m someone who just likes to trust myself so much and have a strong inner compass, but to be able to trust someone with this very emotional and personal process was a cool opportunity. I’m really glad I did that.”
“To women out there who sometimes might have Imposter Syndrome about whether they should apply to a certain school, I think that you should never feel like you can’t apply to a certain degree program if you don’t have certain experiences or backgrounds.”
“Don’t ever sell yourself short. Reach for the top school. Do your research. Think about what types of programs you want to be in. And within those programs if those schools have the resources, [then] you’re a good fit.”
September 28, 2019
Client Case Study: Humam
Humam started a management consultant business right after getting his undergraduate business degree. He grew his business to an impressive degree, but he eventually became more interested in culture change in organizations and wanted to start a company specializing in helping other companies transform their cultures. But to do so, he knew an MBA would be essential. He also knew that his grades and GMAT scores, taken together, might not be enough to get him into the program he wanted. He also knew, after taking the GMAT eight different times, that the score was what it was. He needed help getting into business school with the score he had.
And that’s where The Art of Applying® came in. Humam reached out to us, had a Breakthrough Call, and we began working together. Our team believed that he was a good candidate despite what the numbers might have indicated.
As Humam noted, “I knew generally what I wanted, but I didn’t know if it made sense … I didn’t know if it was good enough to put on an application. I didn’t have a lot of confidence in what I wanted, and I couldn’t articulate it. I wasn’t specific enough, and yet I wanted a great story.”
Through our process of helping clients be introspective and reflect on their career goals, and in working with our mindset coaches, Humam was able to transform his vague ideas into a directed and compelling narrative—and it’s a narrative that helped get him into the MBA program of his dreams!
Start Date: September 2018 | End Date: May 2019
Applicant Information
29 years oldManagement consultantReapplicantSchool: Simon Fraser UniversityMajor: BusinessGPA: 2.54GMAT: 690
Acceptances
IESE Business School MBA Program (University of Navarra, Barcelona)
Attending
IESE Business School
Notable Quotes
“I thought at the time that if I had those stats, that I had no chance of getting in anywhere. That was my story and I was happily wrong about that.”
“I hoped that you [The Art of Applying®] would help me with my goals. I knew generally what I wanted, but I didn’t know if it made sense… I didn’t have a lot of confidence in what I wanted, and I couldn’t articulate it. I wasn’t specific enough, and yet I wanted a great story … I knew I wanted to get somewhere, but I had no idea what tools I had, what I’m good at, what I’m not good at … So that’s what I hoped to get out of the introspection process.”
“So the advice I have is book the Breakthrough Call and bring who you are as a person to it. And this way, you’ll know exactly if it’s right for you or not. And I’ll bet it is.”
September 24, 2019
Client Case Study: HB
Our client, Himanshu, who we affectionately call HB, had one Masters program under his belt, and an impressive resume filled with professional jobs from all over the world: investment banking in Hong Kong, consulting in Singapore, Shanghai, and the Middle East, and eventually coming back to Singapore to launch a financial services startup. He also discovered along the way that he was passionate about making small businesses more effective, and he wanted to attend a graduate policy program for experienced professionals to help him make that dream come true.
HB also knew what he needed to help him apply: As he put it, “I wanted advice—on how to make it not just an application, but a winning application, on how I could best position it whether it could be just a couple of sentences, whether it could be the whole repositioning of the essay, or positioning my resume or CV. Those were the things I was most keen to learn.”
When HB signed up to work with us at The Art of Applying®, he found a community of fellow applicants and consultants that helped him through, and even after an initial rejection to one school he had his eye on, was accepted to two of his top three choices within five hours.
“It was a moment for champagne and a lot of tears,” he told us. We’re all about those kinds of moments!
Start Date: August 2018 | End Date: May 2019
Applicant Information
ReapplicantInternational applicantPrivate sector professional applying to policy schoolProfession: Management ConsultantSchool: M.A., Singapore National UniversityMajor: Applied Finance
Acceptances
Columbia SIPA MPA-EPMJohns Hopkins SAIS
Attending
Columbia SIPA MPA-EPM
Notable Quotes
“As a consultant myself, I wanted advice—on how to make it not just an application, but a winning application, on how I could best position it whether it could be just a couple of sentences, whether it could be the whole repositioning of the essay, or positioning my resume or CV. Those were the things I was most keen to learn … It’s a process of self discovery, because it involves a lot of reflection.”
“I expected … a lot of guidance, a lot of strategic advice which could help shape any application … Seven months into the process and reflecting back, I think, that it was a game, set, match, as they say in tennis. That’s exactly what I expected, and that’s what I was able to take from The Art of Applying®, and it showed in my results.”
Reflections on initially being rejected from a school:
“Exactly in 30 days [from my first school rejection], I received my first acceptance, and within five hours from then, I received the second acceptance. So it was a moment for champagne and a lot of tears.”
Reflections on the sense of community we have among our clients at The Art of Applying®:
“It was always helpful because you indirectly get a lot of your questions answered. It’s a great platform…and an opportunity for you to get the answers to the questions which you feel are important. So that was great … the ecosystem was very helpful.”
September 13, 2019
Client Case Study: Gabriela
Gabby was very accomplished before we met her. She’d completed a Bachelors in International Relations and a Masters in International Studies. She’d worked for a major think tank in Washington D.C., and then with the Defense Department.
Gabby got married, moved back home to start a family, and as a working mom, began doing work with Latin American immigrants. It was different from what she did in D.C., but was rich and rewarding — and it inspired her to pursue an MSW degree.
The question that she kept coming back to was, “What am I going to do for the next 30 years?” The Art of Applying® helped her to find that answer for herself.
Start Date: October 2018 | End Date: May 2019
Applicant Information:
Age: 34GPA: 3.7 (undergraduate) and 3.8 (Masters)School: Texas State UniversityMajor: International Relations, plus a Masters in International Studies
Acceptances
Columbia UniversityUT Austin
Notable Quotes
“I thought to myself, “You know what? I tried it once before. I wasn’t successful. I’m going to do it the right way for me, and that was to contact [The Art of Applying®] for that help because I really wanted it. And I think that’s the important thing here: I wanted it so bad and I was going to reach out to get professional help, because [there was] something I was doing wrong, why I couldn’t get it … probably more my personal essays and putting the whole package together.”
Reflections on the Breakthrough Call:
“He asked me 101 questions to get to know me better. At the end of that call, it must have been about 45 minutes, he recapped my entire life within five minutes. At that point, I’m thinking, he really listened to my life, he got it … that gave me confidence.”
Reflections on working with our team:
“That first phone call … I had circled it on my planner. I was just looking forward to just tell this consultant everything that I wanted to tell her, and we got to build a relationship. She understood where I was going. We started working on those essays, and it was hard work in the beginning, it was intense because it’s a six-week accelerator program. The process makes sense to me. Now I look at it, and the six weeks makes sense because you’re giving all you have to put together these beautiful pieces of work . . . and after the six weeks are done . . . you start tweaking other things and applying it to other applications because you’ve done the hard work. I really enjoyed it. The process, it just flowed, it made sense.”
“The way I justified it was [that] I really want this. This means a lot to me. This is going to change the next 30 years because that’s my goal for the long term. You’ve got to think of the long term goals.”
“I knew I was a good, decent writer. But what I didn’t know was how to tell my story. And that’s what I didn’t understand 10 years ago, that the story is what’s important, that the admission committee wants to see that. And the only way they’re going to see that is through that personal statement. And I think that was the piece that I was missing. And at the end of the drafts, maybe four or five drafts, I was proud of myself … I did this. This is my story. This is my life, and of course, it makes sense. You want to tell it and tell it the best way possible, that people can believe in you, that you are the right candidate for that program.”
September 5, 2019
Client Case Study: Ellie
Ellie is a prime example of the application miracles that can happen with our help. Though Ellie had solid post-college work experience, namely seven years in Chevron’s corporate offices after a successful internship there, she had two strikes against her. She had a lowish GPA, and by her admission, she “hit a wall” with her test scores, only reaching 570 on her GMAT and 308 on her GRE despite several attempts to bump them up. When she tried to apply to MBA programs the first time on her own, she was waitlisted by all three schools she chose.
Then she turned to The Art of Applying® for help. Two of the schools that waitlisted her the first time around, UT Austin and Boston University, accepted her after she went through our Application Accelerator® program. A third, Rice University, also accepted her — and all three offered her significant scholarship money! While Boston University offered $50,000, both UT Austin and Rice pledged full scholarships.
Service: Application Accelerator®
Start Date: November 2018 | End Date: May 2019
Demographics
30 years oldLatina (Mexican-American)First-generation college studentReapplicant Working in Chevron’s corporate offices
Application Stats
School: University of Houston Major: Supply Chain Management and AccountingGPA: 3.39GMAT: 570GRE: 308
Acceptances
McCombs School of Business at University of Texas at AustinJones Graduate School of Business at Rice UniversityQuestrom School of Business at Boston University
Scholarships
Full scholarship to UT AustinFull scholarship to Rice$50,000 scholarship to Boston University
Notable Quotes
“I think what got me to say, ‘Yes, let’s do it’ was the fact that I was taken seriously. I was listened to. And there’s a structure to it. It’s not like you’re just saying, ‘Hey, I’m signing up for X thing and now I’m in a pipeline of I don’t know what.’ And so, just knowing that there is structure, that there is a method behind the madness, it just seemed like the right thing to do.”
“Sometimes, you need an external view to get to really see what are your pain points are, what might someone consider as . . . kind of questionable. So, just having an objective view from someone of myself . . . I knew that you could help me with that.”
“With my essays . . . I needed some help in terms of tightening up the language, and digging deeper into my story. What I did not count on [getting help with] was the school selection . . . I came into the game thinking I’m Round Two. I’m right at the cutoff point . . . I was actually going to leave off UT Austin for this application season, but in one of our monthly calls, [Kaneisha said], “I really think you need to add that back in.”
“I’m a big believer in having a strong mental health and around all of that. And so, I realized that there is such a thing as mindset coaches and it was really helpful, especially being away from family and friends who I could really lean on in times of feeling stressed or feeling like I’m insufficient … having that one-on-one coaching session just allowed me to be vulnerable and in the whole process. I felt like, yeah, let’s just bring down these walls and let’s just get real … that was really helpful.
August 30, 2019
Client Case Study: Ella
Ella has taken an unconventional route to an American graduate business program, both personally and professionally. Ella immigrated from Kazakhstan in 2011, and went through community college before finishing a four-year degree in Chemical Engineering. But Ella’s an entrepreneur at heart, and though she loves engineering, she’s already thinking about what she’ll be doing when she finishes her engineering career.
So she came to The Art of Applying®, had a fantastic Breakthrough Call where she decided that business school was the right step for her, and then met her goal of being accepted for the same type of deferred admissions program for college seniors that Kaneisha Grayson, The Art of Applying®’s founder was admitted into for her Harvard MBA. Through her acceptance to the Future Years Scholars Program at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Ella can stay at her job now and enter school two to four years from now — when she’s fully ready to make the leap.
Service: Application Accelerator®
Start Date: February 2018 | End Date: May 2019
Demographics
Originally from Kazakhstan, immigrated to the U.S. in 2011First-time applicantApplied as a college seniorWorking in her first full-time job as a process engineer at Texas Instruments for her 2-4 years of deferment
Application Stats
School: State College of Florida with a 4.0 GPA School: University of Florida with a 3.92 GPAMajor: Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering
Acceptances
University of Virginia Darden School of Business
Scholarships
University of Virginia Darden School of Business Future Years Scholars Program
Attending
has the non-binding option to attend University of Virginia Darden School of Business in 2-4 years
Notable Quotes
“My Breakthrough Call was amazing. I was really able to get excited and inspired, and I thought that even though it might seem like a big investment at the time, I do realize it’s an investment in yourself. The biggest thing I got out of working with The Art of Applying® was to realize what I actually wanted to do — in going through the process, realizing what my actual goals are. So now looking back, I think it was a very, very successful investment … My Breakthrough Coach really wanted to get to know me and where I was headed. So that alone helped me realize what I wanted to do, to get closer to realizing my goals.”
“Just listening to other clients, and seeing what they’re going through in their decision making, being on the monthly calls and weekly calls, [helped me in] understanding that everyone has a different path. I gained a lot of confidence in sticking to my passions. Before, I thought there was this perfect applicant and people needed to strive to work on Wall Street or whatever. And I realized that it’s not really needed… I felt like I was part of this community. And even though we weren’t applying to the same schools or the same degrees, I know I’ve made connections and I can always reach out to anyone in that group and ask for anything.”
“Even though you might not get into your first, top-choice business school, or even if you don’t get admitted at all, working with [The Art of Applying®] just helps you understand where you’re headed and what you want to do. I know it did for me.”
August 22, 2019
Client Case Study: David
David was a first-generation college student who had success in college at Loyola and in his first job out of college in Washington, D.C., but needed something more “next level” than his usual support system of peers when he decided to apply to MSW programs. He turned to The Art of Applying® to craft his story and for help with preparing his applications.
He was accepted by three different programs offering varying levels of support, and opted for Washington University in St. Louis, which presented him a full scholarship to aid him in pursuing his dreams.
Service: Application Accelerator®
Start Date: April 2018 | End Date: May 2019
Demographics
Age: 28First-time applicantPublic Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) alum
Application Stats
School: Loyola University of ChicagoMajor: Sociology and International StudiesGPA: 3.46Work experience: Six years
Acceptances
Washington University (St. Louis)University of ChicagoUniversity of Pennsylvania
Scholarships
Washington University in St. Louis with full ride scholarshipUniversity of Chicago with 75% scholarshipUniversity of Pennsylvania with over 55% scholarship
Attending
Washington University
Notable Quotes
“In my background, I had a lot of success, I was doing a lot on my own. I had fellowships in undergrad. I had fellowships after, which is what brought me to my job in D.C. I had communities of people who were giving me a lot of good advice. But it was different to think about my own process, to really have someone … responsive to my internal personal questions, really thinking about how I build my own personal profile, with my set of goals, not influenced by the advice I was getting, which was very much cookie cutter to whatever process that they had either for their law schools or their Ph.Ds or their own degrees.”
“I think it was an investment in myself to think about what profile do I really want to develop, not just for this application, but for my future … knowing that I had that sounding board, knowing I had a community of people who are also asking those questions.”
“Having a community of people … who make it their job to counsel and coach other people, [who] have a perspective about how people will discern through these things that … might be really helpful for you. So if you have these really tough questions about where you want to go in life or how a certain school or a certain degree might fit into your plan, then you might want to consider, do you have those folks in your community to help you answer those questions? Do you have peers who are also going through that and you want to be able to suss that out with them? Or do you also have some questions that you feel you really need to go to the next level, and get professional help [to get answers]? … When you want to become a better writer, you’re going to hire a writing coach. Same thing here: How do you think about putting your best profile together and think about setting the best set of goals that are going to get you really what you genuinely want and need?
