Client Case Study: Boris

African Male Accepted into Harvard Kennedy School, UC Berkeley Goldman, and Cornell Johnson MBA

As a parent, a husband, and an MBA hopeful, Boris took on multiple roles, but never lost his zeal for achieving his dream of going to grad school. After working with The Art of Applying®, Boris successfully got accepted into his dream schools at Cornell University and UC Berkeley with a scholarship!

Service: Application Accelerator®

Join Date: May 2018 | End Date: May 2019

Demographics

• African
• First-time applicant
• Age: 33

Application Stats

• Major: Economics
• GRE Quant: 158
• GRE Verbal: 157
• GPA: 3.75

Acceptances

• Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)
• Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley 
• Cornell Johnson MBA

Attending

• Cornell CIPA

Scholarships

• UC Berkeley with a Department of Public Policy Fellowship

Notable Quotes

• “I was a little bit afraid that I might be a little bit older for such a program. But working with you guys, my consultant clearly told me, ‘Basically I was at that age as well’. So you shouldn’t be that worried. I also took a look at the class profiles and I think it’s about the average age to do such [a] feat.”
• “Scores are great. But they don’t represent the whole story. You’re more than numbers and that’s really something that The Art of Applying® will help you showcase wherever you are applying.”
• “Make them [your family] your allies and share your story. Share your dream with them and make sure that they are on board with you. They’re going to give you all the support that you really deserve. I know that working with The Art of Applying® is really really intense, but you need those allies—and if you do with you, you’re going to win for sure.”
• “[The alumni platform] helps you learn from others what they are going through and make you know that you are not alone.”
• “Whenever you try, either you win or you learn something and that lesson that you get from trying will help you actually get better.”