27-Year-Old First-Generation Queer Woman Receives Full Ride to Stanford as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar
After leaving home at age 17, Briana, a first-generation student, put herself through college at UC Berkeley. After college, she worked as a policy consultant dedicated to providing equal access to education for K-12 students throughout California. Briana knew that in order to pursue her goals, graduate school would need to be a part of the equation. So, she started researching the application process and set her sights on top education policy graduate programs.
While Briana was clear about her goals, she didn’t know where to start when it came to applying to graduate school. Briana was concerned that her 3.3 GPA might hinder her from being accepted into a top program. Moreover, she felt that her ability to maintain her financial responsibilities, including student loan debt and supporting her grandmother, would be impossible without significant funding for graduate school.
She shared with us, “I knew I was going to get into graduate school somewhere, but paying for it was the biggest anxiety point for me. I knew…that getting my acceptance letter was not enough.”
After coming across some information about The Art of Applying® on the Harvard Kennedy School blog, Briana scheduled her Breakthrough Call. While deciding to make the initial investment in our program was scary, Briana recognized the value of the holistic strategy we take to helping our clients craft their stories. In her words, “That strategy is worth a million dollars because there are so many unwritten rules of this game. You and [The Art of Applying® team] understand how to navigate those rules about social capital and class and education that a lot of us are trying to figure out.”
Briana’s graduate school dreams have in fact become a reality. After working with us, she has been named a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. So how does Briana feel now that she has been accepted to Stanford and has her tuition and living expenses covered? She said, “I feel like I won the lottery because my whole life is going to be different after this. I’m going to go to graduate school absolutely for free….I still pinch myself because I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world.”
Scholarships
- Stanford University Graduate School of Education – Knight-Hennessy Scholar: full-tuition, fees and a stipend for living expenses
Start Date: May 2019 | End Date: May 2020
Applicant Information
- Age: 27
- GPA: 3.3
- GRE: 322
- Work experience: 5 years as a policy consultant
- School: University of California, Berkeley
- Major: History
Acceptances
- Stanford University Graduate School of Education
- University of Michigan School of Education
Notable Quotes
Briana on her decision to make the investment in The Art of Applying® to apply to all her graduate schools:
“In comparison to how much you’re about to spend on graduate school, it is nothing. It doesn’t matter what graduate school you’re applying to or if you think you can get a great scholarship on your own. The likelihood is that the investment is going to, at the very least, be an equal return… You will legitimately apply to twice as many graduate schools with half the stress that you would do it on your own, because your consultant will help you figure out how to take [your work] and use it for the next school.”
Briana’s advice for other applicants who may be doubting their ability to get a Knight-Hennessy Scholars fellowship and get into the graduate schools they want:
“In a million years I didn’t think I could get the Knight-Hennessy… [But] there are so many people who could be Knight-Hennessy scholars, that could get into Stanford or could get into their first choice [school]. But, they have to be ready to do a lot of hard work on their own and really focus on themselves. The Art of Applying® helps them frame the work that they need to do and take that next step, because the entire graduate school process is so overwhelming. You have applications, essays and resumes but breaking it into little chunks and just taking the first step first is what made it all possible. That’s really what working with Kaneisha and The Art of Applying® helped me do.”
How working with The Art of Applying® has given Briana the skills and confidence to pursue her future goals:
“I realized that I was building a skill, more than just getting a service. You all were teaching me and coaching me how to do this properly… I feel so confident that I could apply to my PhD program. I could get funding from a PhD program, I can get other fellowships and other scholarships, because of the skills that I gained from working with my consultant, my writing coach, and working with you.”
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