I Want to Tell You a Story...

I'd like to tell you a story. It's a student success story. And in 14 years of coaching hundreds and hundreds of students...it's one of my all-time favorites...and the cool thing is the story is about to conclude...this very week.

It's a 4-year story. And I'll summarize it in 4, as-brief-as-possible, chunks.

Are you ready for it?

Let's do it.

March 25, 2020:
The world is reeling from this new virus called the "Coronavirus"...very few know what the ramifications are yet.  In the midst of this brand new global pandemic, our team receives an inquiry from a high school senior.  This is super rare--99% of inquiries we receive come from parents.  But a student? Proactively reaching out? I was impressed.

In fact, for the sake of this newsletter I dove into our company archives...and found the exact inquiry we received. Here it is (click image to expand):

I met with Melina and her mother, Phaedra the very next day. Here's a pic of Melina and Phaedra together! Two incredible people:

As you can imagine, I was immediately impressed with Melina's poise, maturity and organization, especially for an 18 year old.  She told us she was willing to do whatever it took to increase her chances of getting into her dream school, Vanderbilt.

This is music to our ears--when we find students who are truly, deeply, willing to take the consistent action we ask them to...well, let's just say, those are the exact type of students whose lives we can change.

On March 27, 2020, Melina and Phaedra joined our 'Waitlist Program' (Note to readers - for a plethora of reasons, we now have retired this program, deciding we'd instead prefer to give 100% of our waitlist materials away for free, instead.  Here's where you can find those materials if you do happen to know anyone currently waitlisted).

From March 27 to April 30th, Melina did everything we told her to do. And I mean EVERYTHING.  She was ALL-IN...and so were we.  It was honestly incredibly fun, having a student who was so committed--it didn't even feel like work, it wasn't a slog, there was no "Hey we asked you to do this...and you haven't yet, what's up?"  Never once.  She hit every marker, every due date we gave her, every deadline.

College waitlists open up on May 1.  It was a 1 month sprint to help her do everything she could to get into Vanderbilt.

May 1, 2020 (on the very first day the Vanderbilt waitlist opened):
I get this text from Melina, still saved in my screenshots to this day:

I would love to say I was surprised....

But I'd be lying.

I knew our coaching was elite. I knew our decade-long track record of success would support her.  And after seeing her actually apply our coaching for the last month, I knew if ANYONE was getting off that waitlist, she was at the top of the list.

I just didn't think she'd get the call on DAY 1!  (9 years, 364 days after I, myself, ALSO got off the Vanderbilt waitlist, by the way).

...

(Fast forward 18 months)

...

September, 2021:
Melina is a sophomore at Vanderbilt, living her best life.  I had a wedding in Nashville and went on a morning run through my alma mater's campus.  Half way through my run, I had this thought: "Melina's on this campus somewhere...I'd love to actually meet her in person for the first time ever!"

One text later, and here we were, standing out front of my former sophomore year dorm (talk about a nostalgia moment!):

...

(Fast forward 31 months)

...

Today:
It's Melina's graduation week.  She graduates this Friday.  4 years goes by fast.  It feels like just yesterday we were looking in the eyes of an 18 year old who had no idea what her future held, but who looked us in the eyes and said: "I'll do whatever it takes."

She certainly did.

We may have provided the structure, the coaching, the guidance...but SHE put in the work to achieve the results.

She got into her dream school.  And had four incredible years at her dream school because of that work.

And, this week, she concludes the Vanderbilt chapter of her life.

Want to congratulate her? Shoot her a brief congratulatory note (she doesn't know I'm sending this out to my greater newsletter, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind receiving a few congratulatory notes from strangers this week).

Oh, and if you're wondering what Melina's future holds?  She's off to graduate school, where I'm certain she will thrive.

But guess what?

Melina is a true A-player. And my rule in life is when you find A-players, keep them on your team.

So I'm excited to announce that after graduation, Melina will be joining the CollegeConsulting.us team!  Via this newsletter, she'll be sharing her insights, tips, advice & more...aligning with our mission to give back to the next generation of college-bound students.

Stay tuned for Melina's first post introducing herself.  But for now, I've given her one job:

Enjoy every last moment at Vanderbilt!

If there's any student I've seen in 14+ years of coaching who deserves to soak in the last moments, she's the quintessential example.

Congratulations, Melina!  We're proud of you.

Sincerely,
Jack

P.S. - Do you have a highly motivated high schooler (min. 3.7 GPA) like Melina was? We specialize in changing the lives of these exact types of students. If you'd like, you can learn more here.