U.S.-Turkish dual citizen reapplicant accepted to Dartmouth Tuck MBA Program
Though Keri is from Southern California and did her undergraduate studies in her home state, she transformed her life and perspective moving to Turkey eight years ago, getting a job with a top TV network, and gathering experience she’s looking to parlay into a consulting or a business development director role.
To make that step, she knew she needed to get an MBA, but didn’t succeed the first time she applied working with an independent solo admissions consultant. By her own assessment, Keri felt she was a mediocre applicant. She had eye-opening experiences as a Turkish dual citizen, but hadn’t been able to develop those experiences into an essay that fully captured the depth nor complexity of her experiences for an admissions committee. She didn’t even apply to the schools that were the best fit for her post-MBA goals.
It was in meeting with us that she got perspective on how to better her application, with an accompanying revelation about “being accepted to a school that wants me as much as I want them.”
She credits the Breakthrough Call with The Art of Applying® as motivating her. “It made me think: Maybe I should have done that with my application, or maybe that should have happened or maybe that’s what I’m a little weak in … it sparked something in me, like I could do more. I can do better. And I could do better. I mean, within a 90-minute call with your team, I had ways that I could be better as a person, as an applicant, an individual.”
Being in Istanbul, she found the online communities and group call-in sessions to be particularly helpful in connecting her to applicants from back home in the U.S. She even said of the calls, “I planned my week and my month around those calls!”
For Keri, her success in the program wasn’t just getting into an Ivy League MBA program; it also involved the changes she made in her life as a result of being part of the program.
“It was like an entire mindset, like ‘be a better person.’ We have like the whole ‘be a better person on like the GMAT or the GRE side,’ and then you have the ‘be a better person on the tutoring, the homework, the consultant side.’ So it’s just, in my opinion, it’s transformative.”
Start Date: April 2018 | End Date: May 2019
Applicant Information
- U.S. and Turkish dual citizen
- School: state school in California
- GPA: 3.2
Acceptances
- Dartmouth University Tuck School of Business MBA Program
Scholarships & Fellowships
- undisclosed scholarship amount received after working with The Art of Applying® team on the financial aid appeal process
Attending
- Dartmouth University Tuck School of Business MBA Program
Notable Quotes
“The first time [I applied with another admissions consultant], looking back now … it was just a mess. It was rushed. I knew I had a target, but I didn’t know how to get to that. I didn’t know the journey. I didn’t know what needed to be put into it … my story, my application … an okay GPA … just everything [made me] just a mediocre applicant [with] just a really mediocre story.”
“I think working with your team … opened my eyes and made me a better person.”
On the Breakthrough Call:
“I felt incredibly comfortable. I told my story and just certain questions that were asked … it made me think, maybe I should have done that with my application, or maybe that should have happened or maybe that’s what I’m a little weak in … it sparked something in me, like I could do more. I can do better. And I could do better. I mean, within a 90-minute call with your team, I had ways that I could be better as a person, as an applicant, an individual. So it felt right. And I think we just we signed up right then and there.”
On the Facebook groups:
“We’re judged based on a couple of numbers and essays, and having that community, having that support, was incredibly important to me because I’m so far away from home. None of my friends are going through this process.”
On the Q&A calls:
“I planned my week and my month around those calls! I’m incredibly thankful for them, because it’s a time where everyone comes together and we’re able to bombard you with questions.”
“I mean, it wasn’t just like a tutoring thing. It was like an entire mindset—like ‘be a better person.’ We have like the whole ‘be a better person on like the GMAT or the GRE side,’ and then you have the ‘be a better person on the tutoring, the homework, the consultant side.’ So it’s just, in my opinion, it’s transformative.”
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