A 32-Year-Old Woman from Nepal Gets into Columbia SIPA with a $60,000 Scholarship
After earning her Economics undergraduate degree in New York, *Nysha dreamed for years of going to graduate school at the prestigious Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Being thirty-two, her job as a technology executive and her imposter syndrome kept her from beginning her application process until late in the cycle.
On what the graduate school application process was like before working with The Art of Applying®, Nysha said, “Nepal is underrepresented in Ivy Leagues, so I didn’t know if I had any chance of getting in. I knew that I could write well and could write a good essay, but I wasn’t sure where to begin from. I was a collective mess of nerves and that was the biggest factor because I was really close to not applying at all.”
With advice from her family, Nysha searched on Google for stories of people like her who had gotten into Columbia SIPA. She booked a Quick Call after being inspired by our client Harman’s success story.
In Nysha’s words, “So, I was frantically Google searching “SIPA” when I came across The Art of Applying®. I think you had recently just posted a success interview with one of your clients. She was from India and a woman so I felt, “Well, she’s Asian, she’s a woman, and she got in. Then I thought, ‘I’ll just take the call and see how it goes.’”
Nysha shared that she was nervous about how close the application deadlines were and whether or not The Art of Applying® would be able to help. Nysha shared about her Quick Call experience with her Breakthrough Coach, “After [the Breakthrough Coach] heard my story, she said, ‘You have a great story. We do not simply take any client, we only take clients that we feel like we can support and we can take as close to your goal as possible. So, if you’re okay to move forward, let’s do a full one hour Breakthrough Call.’”
When she decided to work with The Art of Applying®, Nysha said this, “I came into the cycle pretty late, around the end of September. Even though it was during the pandemic and I was traveling somewhere, I took that one hour Breakthrough Call sitting in the airport lounge because I didn’t want to miss a single day in the process. By the fifteen minute mark, I was sure that was an extremely productive conversation and I was already sold to work with The Art of Applying®.”
Nysha was nervous about whether her investment would pay off, but she valued the honest feedback from her consultant and the community of fellow applicants who encouraged her to work hard on her application. In her words, “My favorite part of working with The Art of Applying® without a doubt was working with my consultant. She was available every time I needed her and she was really transparent and honest, but equally supportive and comforting.”
Even though she joined us later in her application process, all of Nysha’s hard work paid off! Nysha was accepted to Columbia SIPA Harris with a $60,000 scholarship! What’s Nysha’s advice for applicants struggling to decide to get help with their applications from The Art of Applying®?
“The application process is such a personal process. You’re putting yourself out there, writing your own essays, etc. And I was like, ‘If I’m writing the essays, what am I getting from The Art of Applying® if I have to do the application on my own?’ Getting that guidance was something I was missing. And also just the cohort, not only the consultant. I made friends in The Art of Applying®. We communicate in chat, we support each other, and we celebrate each other, so that was invaluable.” Nysha shared.
Congratulations Nysha! We are so proud of you and happy to have been part of your journey to policy school.
Start Date: September 2020 | End Date: May 2021
Applicant Information
- GPA: 3.97
- GRE: 157 Quantitative, 155 Verbal
- GMAT: 740
- Major: Economics
- Work Experience: 7 years in technology
Acceptances
- Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) – $60,000 scholarship ($30,000/year)
- Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy – $54,000 scholarship ($27,000/year)
Scholarships
- Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) – $60,000 scholarship
- Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy – $54,000 scholarship
Notable Quotes
On deciding when to work with The Art of Applying®:
“Make use of the entire cohort [application process with The Art of Applying®]. April and May is the best time because you can work with your consultant more. I was very prepared in a sense. I took a lot of quant courses in undergrad and that really helped, but if you’re someone that doesn’t have that or aren’t sure, at least have that first call. Figure out where you’re at. There are multiple times where I wished I had applied earlier [to join the Application Accelerator®] to have the information I needed and would have made the best use of the program. With my job, there was so much I missed out on through The Art of Applying®.”
On what Nysha thought about the Application Accelerator®’s tuition cost:
“I saw in one of your videos that whatever tuition fees you pay, you’ll likely get them back in scholarships. I didn’t believe that video. Now having gotten a scholarship of $60,000 over two years, I guess it’s more show vs. tell.”
On taking the plunge of enrolling in the Application Accelerator® program and staying committed to it:
“I don’t know if this is common, but I paid right after the Breakthrough Call. [The Art of Applying®] had so many testimonials about getting into universities that are my dream universities that I thought, ‘Even if somebody is exaggerating, there has to be some level of truth.’ I was really coming to a black box. There was this huge fear of the unknown, but you have been in this business for a long time. So when I say I gambled [on paying the tuition and enrolling in the program], I really say I gambled because there was a sense of trust I felt I could give to The Art of Applying®.”
Want to have a success story like Nysha’s?
If you’re tired of putting your dreams on hold, not knowing where to start, or feeling like you might not be able to get into your top choice school, we’re here to help. Book a Quick Call with our team today to get started!
*Nysha is not her real name. Our client asked that we not share her real name in this post.
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