Ann came to Expert Admissions somewhat late in the process – at the beginning of twelfth grade – after working with another independent counselor for two years. The family felt that they needed more help and guidance than they were receiving, and Ann had her heart set on the University of Pennsylvania. Ann was a strong student at a highly competitive high school, but she was a bit overwhelmed by the application process. With admission so competitive at top colleges, she wanted to make sure she gave it her very best shot.
In a relatively short time, Dr. Norman worked with Ann to refine her list (several of the schools on her original list didn’t really fit her personality), complete her Common Application, and rework her application essays. Ann sent Dr. Norman the multiple essays she had attempted with her other counselor and Dr. Norman picked the one that Ann thought she would be least likely to pick – the essay that her other counselor vetoed because she felt it made Ann look “privileged.” Dr. Norman disagreed and thought the very specific travel experience Ann wrote about showed her adventurous side and her humorous side, not to mention the way that Ann thought about even simple things in fairly complex, mathematical terms. Ann went with the essay that spoke to Dr. Norman and they worked on several revisions to get the essay in its final form. Penn’s supplemental essays also needed to be completed, so they brainstormed and worked on those as well, moving away from the more generic approach Ann was using previously, and making them uniquely Ann.
Ann submitted her Early Decision application to Penn a week before the due date, and also completed the additional 12 applications for the other schools on her list. All applications, including those for Regular Decision, were completed before Ann heard back from Penn (who wants to be working on applications after potentially receiving bad news?). Thankfully, Ann was accepted Early Decision to Penn, and she couldn’t be happier.