Behind the Scenes of an Application

Karen* was a junior college graduate who wanted to apply to university in the United States. See how our consultant takes you step-by-step through her application and shows you how she got accepted!

Program applied to: University

Her background: Karen graduated from a junior college in Taiwan. A large number of clients complete junior college and work for several years before realizing the importance of getting a university education. Compared to recent high school graduates, these applicants have have practical experience and concrete goals. In my experience, these applicants have a clear idea about how a university education can benefit their careers. Junior college graduates, for the most part, are no less qualified than college graduates who are apply to Master's degree programs, but they are only granted university transfer student status. 

Her Weak Areas:

English proficiency: Like other junior college graduates I work with, Karen had a mature, positive attitude about her career. However, she was concerned about her English proficiency, because she lacked formal English training. She was so self-conscious about this that she wanted to explain it in her personal statement, which I dissuaded her from doing.

Standardized tests: Another concern was that she did not have time to prepare for the standardized tests.

What was our strategy? I helped Karen understand that it would be more wise to focus her Personal Statement on her positive attributes. If she still felt the need to explain her weak language abilities, she could include a letter with her application. From my perspective, she would do much better to highlight why she chose to obtain a junior college degree instead of an undergraduate university degree.

Writing the Personal Statement:

Focus on career goals: Karen developed her career career goals at an early age.  Through professional training and subsequent experience, she had more than five years of related experience, which definitely showed that she was focused on a single objective and had worked for many years toward the same goal.

I asked her to explain why she chose this particular field. She described her professional accomplishments in detail, and what she had learned from them. We also examined the the influencing factors in her career decisions.

Demonstrating her English skills: To compensate for her low TOEFL score, we emphasized her experience working with international companies, which gave her plenty of opportunities to use her English in a professional and personal context.

Proving that she could adapt easily: Admissions committees have reservations about transfer students from foreign countries, as they are often older than their future classmates who are just completing high school. Having completed several years of training at junior college and in a professional working environment, they are also more mature.  To reassure the admissions committee that she could cooperate and get along well with others, we emphasized how at her previous job, she had worked with people from all age groups and from different cultural and professional backgrounds.  Providing specific examples of group projects, we illustrated that she could indeed get along with her future classmates at the university.  We also gave examples of how she had contributed to group discussion and learning.

Letter of explanation: Karen took my advice and wrote a letter explaining the circumstances that had prevented her from adequately preparing for the TOEFL and other standardized tests: her demanding work schedule. Karen requested that she be admitted on probationary status and that prior to the start of the session, she would take an intensive English language course. As an alternative, she suggested a personal interview with the admissions committee to demonstrate her English skills.

Evidence of her qualifications: I also encouraged Karen include copies of her professional certificates and qualifications.  While this was not an application requirement, I felt that it would prove her commitment and constant striving to better herself and work toward her goals.