Student G Gets Accepted to Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkely!

Candidacy Building: 

• Meeting Reports: Throughout our work with Student G, we prepared and provided organized meeting reports for every session between Student G and her counselors.
• Academic Enhancement:
  • Course Selection: Each year, we helped Student G select her courses. We advised her to take challenging STEM classes to emphasize her interest in the field.
  • Standardized Test Planning: We planned Student G’s testing strategies. We advised her
    to take STEM-related AP classes and subject tests to highlight her focus and strengths.
• Extracurricular Enhancement:
  • School Clubs: We gave Student G a “school club research” assignment, asking her to compile a list of all the STEM-related student groups at her high school.
    • Science Olympiad: We advised Student G to join the Science Olympiad team in the 10th grade. This would help her showcase her interests through her extracurriculars.
    • Starting Her Own Club: We advised Student G to start a club at her high school to demonstrate leadership and we guided her through the process.
• Summer Planning:
  • Strategizing: Each summer, we recommended potential programs for Student G and helped her with the applications. We wanted to make sure that Student G took advantage of her summer. We encouraged her to attend programs or do internships related to her developing interest in biomedical engineering.
  • Outcome: Between 9-11th grade, Student G participated in something meaningful every summer to develop her expertise. Her experiences included programs at Harvard, a Pharmaceutical Company, and the Boston Leadership Institute.
• Academic Writing Seminar:
  • Pairing: We paired Student G with a Teaching Fellow who teaches college-level writing.
  • Outcome: During this seminar, Student G practiced close reading and learned to edit, revise, and draft several versions of her writing. In the end, she had written a 2-page research paper
  • Final Evaluation: Student G’s Writing Teacher evaluated her final work and recommended areas that she should focus on to improve her writing moving forward.
• Academic Mentorship:
  • Pairing: We connected Student G a researcher at a prestigious cancer center to further develop her interest in biomedical engineering.
  • Outcome: Through the Academic Mentorship, Student G wrote about her experience exploring technology that edits genomes and studying key concepts of gene editing. Student G developed a strong relationship with her Academic Mentor and received positive feedback after the program.
  • Plus: This mentorship supported Student G’s academic focus and also helped balance out her low test scores.
• School Exploration: As early as 10th grade, we began discussing potential colleges and assigning Student G school research assignments to start forming a balanced School List.

Application Counseling:

• Early Application Preparation: We prepared Student G for what to expect in the college application process at the beginning of 11th grade.
• Major Selection: Through all her extracurriculars, summer programs, and academic experiences, Student G developed a strong interest in the field of biomedical engineering and decided to pursue it.
• Application Persona:
  • Strategy: We wanted a unique Application Persona that would help Student G stand out from other STEM applicants as she would bring a unique approach to her interest in biotechnology. 
  • The Persona: After several years of Candidacy Building, Student G and her team developed a compelling Application Persona: “an emerging science leader who is passionate about synthetic biology and wants to ignite the awe-inspiring nature of science in others.”
• Progress Spreadsheet: We kept track of Student G’s meeting reports and all aspects of her work on this Application Counseling Progress Spreadsheet.
• School List:
  • School Research Spreadsheet: We used this spreadsheet to track everything related to potential schools including ranking, acceptance rate, and Former Admissions Officer feedback.
  • School Tour Reflection: We guided Student G in reflecting on her campus tours. By discussing what she liked and didn’t like at each school, we helped her narrow down her list.
  • School List Selection: We discussed Student G’s potential to be admitted to Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkeley. We identified these colleges as “reach” schools that interested Student G. Later, she decided to apply to both.
• Letters of Recommendation: We discussed who Student G should ask to write her letters, emphasizing the importance of selecting writers she has a strong relationship with. They then advised her on what each recommender should include in their letters.
• Personal Statement:
  • Brainstorming: We guided Student G through structured brainstorming exercises to
    determine her essay topic.
  • Editing: When they began polishing the personal statement with in-line edits. Student G and her counselors went through several rounds of rigorous edits and feedback in order to make her essay as strong as possible.
  • Final Version: Student G’s final personal statement told the story of how she fell in love with the field of biomedical engineering and how this curiosity about life has driven her forward.
• Supplemental Essays:
  • Strategy: We helped Student G use her Supplemental Essays to link her previous experiences and interests to her intended major.
  • Final Version: Student G’s Supplemental Essays showed her fun side and unique personality by elaborating on her interest in hard sciences and other interests like her passion for baking, all while connecting these interests to her intended major.
• Final Review: When Student G and her Graduate Coach had done several rounds of feedback, the application was ready for her Former Admissions Officer’s Final Review. Student G’s FAO analyzed her application as if they were still in the admissions office. Once she had applied her FAO’s feedback and did one more last-minute polish with her team, Student G clicked submit!