Case Studies

Case Study: Northwestern University

Name: Melissa, Illinois (USA)
Academics: 3.6 GPA, 1500 SAT, AP scores in English Language (5), US History (5), AB Calculus (5), and Comparative Government (4)
Triangle of Talent Focus: Innovative Leadership at the School Newspaper

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Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper is a common accomplishment (every high school has this role), but Melissa went above and beyond to transform her school’s newspaper when facing budgeting and readership challenges. ThinkSTEP encouraged her to highlight the win-win scenario for transforming the newspaper into a digital periodical. The student proposed improvements at almost no cost to the school: she found a classmate to make a newspaper app and found a parent to donate a couple of computers, cameras, and scanners. Not only did the student save the school printing costs, but she also increased readership by 50% that school year. With her Triangle of Talent secure, it was a no-brainer that she could achieve admission to Northwestern University’s journalism school, one of the best in the world.