28-year-old African-African woman accepted to Michigan Ross and Ford MBA/MPP, Chicago Harris, Duke Sanford, and Georgetown McDonough and McCourt MBA/MPP
J’Taime has an incredibly personal story of resilience combined with a professional background that made her well suited to top policy and business school programs.
While in college, J’Taime experienced the devastating loss of her father as well as losing her new baby while in an intense Teach for America program in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward.
J’Taime describes herself as “surviving rather than thriving” through some of that adversity, but had always found ways to apply for scholarships and programs, keeping her eye on grad school as part of her goal to work with children and legislative policy in her nonprofit education calling.
She notes, “All these boxes that people assume you need to check off don’t actually have to be checked off—if you have a compelling story and you’re passionate.”
But she also recognized the value of The Art of Applying® when it finally became time for her to start the graduate school part of her life plan.
She poses a great question: “Yes, I could do this for myself … but how much more efficient could I be if I had a team helping?”
She thought she’d be leaning on our team primarily for help on her essays, but she soon found that the mindset coach was valuable, helping her overcome some personal adversity when she first started working with us. And despite battling “Imposter Syndrome” throughout the process, wondering if she should apply to a less competitive school, she ended up getting into multiple programs—and with lots of money to pay for it!
J’Taime’s success is so well deserved, and we are so proud of her!
Start Date: August 2018 | End Date: May 2019
Applicant Information
- 28 years old
- African-American
- First-generation college student
- School: Wake Forest University
- Major: Sociology
- GPA: 3.4
- GRE: 154V, 158Q, 4.5 AWA
Acceptances
- University of Michigan Ford MPP
- University of Michigan Ross MBA
- University of Chicago Harris MPP
- Duke Sanford MPP
- Georgetown McDonough MBA
- Georgetown McCourt MPP
Scholarships & Fellowships
- Michigan Ford: Rackham Master’s Award (Full Funding) + $21,084 living stipend + healthcare coverage
- Michigan Ross: Half Tuition totaling $69,000
- Chicago Harris: $30,000 per year
- Duke Sanford: Helen F. “Sunny” Ladd Fellowship in Education Policy (Full Funding) + $22,500 living stipend + $4,000 graduate assistantship
- Georgetown McDonough: Consortium Fellowship (full funding)
- Georgetown McCourt: $7,500 per year
Attending
- University of Michigan Ford MPP
- University of Michigan Ross MBA
Notable Quotes
“I was in awe … speechless. In going through this process, unfortunately, I had a lot of Imposter Syndrome. There are many times that I asked myself, “Am I aiming too high for the schools I’m applying to? Outside of one school, all the schools I applied to were Top Ten schools. Many times, I asked myself, do I need to apply for this program or that program just to make sure that I get in somewhere? So when I opened up that [acceptance] letter, I screamed.”
“Even though I had difficulties in undergrad, I still remained a high achiever; I still worked hard to live up to my potential. But because reality slapped me in my face multiple times after undergrad, and I had to shift from thriving to surviving, there are many moments where I felt as if I had built myself. So this has shown me that my story may not have been perfect, but it was my story and things happen for a reason. And I have a story to tell, and even though those difficult things happen, they have been motivating factors for me.”
Reflections on finding The Art of Applying® blog:
“I read every single article on the blog. I took notes on them. It was so helpful. And so what happens, [I thought] if the free information is that helpful…how helpful will the actual paid material be?”
“Yes, I could do this [application process] for myself … but how much more efficient could I be if I had a team helping?”
“Initially, I thought, oh, this is going to be great, because I need somebody to help me with these essays … I don’t know too much about how much I can change my GRE scores, but I definitely have control of the essays. But it was so much more than that. I remember … in my first consultant call, she gave me a roadmap to success within that first call … It was way more than just help with essays; it was a roadmap to help you with not feeling ‘this is too much or too overwhelming.’”
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