Ghanaian applicant accepted to George Washington University International & Comparative Law LLM Program
Sarah moved from Ghana to the United States to pursue a law degree, and successfully pursued law school. But, she knew that she wanted and needed more education to pursue her goals. She saw an LLM program in international law as particularly important to her dream of working for the United Nations or another international organization. She knew that she didn’t want to settle for what she’d done to date.
What she was able to learn in working with us, reinforcing her own research going into the program, was that she didn’t need to have a “stellar GPA,” as she put it, to succeed. She came to learn that it was all about the presentation.
“You don’t have to have a stellar GPA to be able to get into the schools,” she emphasized. “It’s how you present yourself to them. And if you think that you’re legit, and if you think that you’re capable, and if you think that you’re the real MVP, they will definitely think so, too.”
She honed in on a top-five LLM program, at George Washington University, that put a premium on an applicant’s individual story. She worked on her narrative diligently throughout the process, relaying her experience growing up in Ghana and tying that to her interest in advancing women’s rights. And even though she was prepared to write her essays, and did a lot of work on that front, we were able to provide guidance.
“I think it’s refreshing, when you have someone sign off on your work and say, hey, this is great, and this is what you should focus on and all that,” she noted, adding, of our process. “It’s helpful.”
She got accepted by GWU, got waitlisted at Emory University, and felt encouraged that she was able to move closer to her dream.
“The admissions office is not going to believe that you are great until you see yourself as great,” she says by way of encouragement. “And that’s one thing I’ve learned. And so you have to really believe that you can achieve what you want to achieve, you can achieve going into these great schools. Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t feel like you deserve the worst. Because you deserve the best … If your goal is to get into one of these schools, set that goal and go for it. Don’t let a low GPA or low standardized test scores stop you.”
Start Date: October 2017 | End Date: May 2018
Acceptances
- George Washington University International & Comparative Law LLM Program
Attending
- George Washington University International & Comparative Law LLM Program
Notable Quotes
Sarah knew that she didn’t want to settle on just her law degree.
“Part of my story is that sometimes you feel like because of your GPA and your scores, you feel like you can only take what you can get … and that’s how I felt with my law degree.”
Sarah knew that for the LLM program, it was all about the essays:
“You don’t have to have a stellar GPA to be able to get into the schools. It’s how you present yourself to them. And if you think that you’re legit, and if you think that you’re capable, and if you think that you’re the real MVP, they will definitely think so, too.”
Sarah learned about The Art of Applying® through a webinar that gave her hope:
“When I watched the webinar, that was the very first time I have ever heard that not having a stellar GPA — in fact, I thought, it was too good to be true — that [even though you didn’t have] a stellar GPA, that you can still get into these schools … I found myself compare myself to these people who got into great schools, and they seem to have these stellar GPAs. So it was encouraging to hear.”
Sarah learned self-belief as she went through the program and utilized it in her applications:
“The admissions office is not going to believe that you are great until you see yourself as great. And that’s one thing I’ve learned. And so you have to really believe that you can achieve what you want to achieve, you can achieve going into these great schools. Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t feel like you deserve the worst. Because you deserve the best … If your goal is to get into one of these schools, set that goal and go for it. Don’t let a low GPA or low standardized test scores stop you.”
Sarah found our editing input made her essay writing go better:
“I think it’s refreshing, when you have someone sign off on your work and say, hey, this is great, and this is what you should focus on and all that. It’s helpful.”
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