Case study: Key’s acceptances to Harvard and Stanford

Context: Neither of Key’s parents went to a four-year college in the United States, and Key’s parents separated when he was younger.  Key was often alone in high school, so he had to rely on himself for most things. Key knew that would be true for applying to college as well. 

Student profile: Academically, Key is an excellent student, with a 3.98 unweighted GPA at a competitive public high school. He took 11 AP classes and 6 college classes at his local community college, receiving all A's. He received the AP scholar with distinction award for his performance on AP exams. He did not submit any standardized SAT/ACT scores. 

In terms of extracurriculars, Key was extremely involved in all types of government. He held various directorships/presidential positions, including being elected student body president for his school. He spent most of his summers as a paid intern working in local city government. 

In terms of awards, Key received the honor of being elected president for his local Model UN conference. He did not have any State or national awards.

Why Key joined Cohort: Key was not very close with either of his parents. He did not feel that he could ask them for college apps support, and he did not know how to approach college apps. His high school counselor was wonderful, but the counselor had hundreds of students in her caseload. Key wanted a bit more support than he currently had.

How Cohort helped: 1) Cohort helped him track his 20+ applications  2) Cohort mentors helped him achieve compelling essays based on his experiences.

1) Cohort helped Key manage 20+ application deadlines with the College Application Tracker (CAT). Each student gets a CAT that allows them to keep themselves accountable for every step of the admissions process, and Key regularly used this to track the status of each of his many applications.

2) Key started out writing essays that discussed how his parents' separation affected his worldview. He knew he wanted to write about this meaningful experience. What he didn't realize was the way he wrote it did not resonate with readers – he wanted to write something uplifting. His mentors very candidly told him that was not the case. Key felt that the advice of his mentors was invaluable, especially when it came to putting his thoughts on paper and translating that into narrative, which ultimately helped him get accepted to both Harvard and Stanford.