Alejandra M.

Alejandra attended a public high school in Mallorca where the International Baccalaureate was not formally integrated into the school system. To graduate, she managed both the Spanish Baccalaureate and the IB Diploma Programme simultaneously, sitting exams for both.

Her final IB score was 40 out of 45. Her extracurricular profile included community initiatives and music, but nothing that obviously differentiated her from applicants with national awards, research experience, or international recognition.

Her financial situation added another constraint. In order to attend university abroad, she needed financial support covering her tuition entirely.

Rather than trying to artificially build a stronger list of achievements in a short period of time, the work focused on understanding how Alejandra actually saw the world and identifying the experiences that had shaped her thinking.

Her discovery of her family history during the Holocaust became a turning point in how she understood her origins. From there, her involvement in traditional Majorcan practices, her role as a musician, her experiences navigating different cultures, and her family history were connected around questions of identity and belonging.

That narrative became the foundation of an application that presented a personal and reflective voice rather than trying to manufacture the image of an exceptional student.