Scholar Success Story: Social Studies, Hip Hop, and Ivy League Results
Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. Those are the schools that sent Scholar Launch alumni, Student S, acceptance letters after she completed her advanced research program. Needless to say, she made an exceptional impression on both her Faculty Advisor and the various college admissions officers who welcomed her into their ranks. How? By developing a unique and meaningful research topic, which demonstrated academic curiosity, and crafting thoughtful college essays that honestly reflected on her transformative research experience.
Student S attended a public high school in California and came to us already equipped with clear interests: social issues, gender studies, and popular culture. However, she struggled to find an extracurricular activity or academic mentor that could help her combine these different subjects intuitively. After working with her to gain a better understanding of her needs and goals, we paired Student S with a professor of comparative literature and social studies from the University of Michigan. They immediately got to work brainstorming potential research topics.
Eventually, they decided to align her interests by focusing her project on the persistence of misogyny in hip-hop lyrics. Using literature and resources provided by her Faculty Advisor, Student S familiarized herself with women’s studies theory and the history of pop culture. She read academic papers and articles about the portrayal of violence in music. She also selected numerous lyrics from a wide variety of songs to further analyze their wording and patterns and identify misogynistic language. As she gathered the necessary information, Student S’s Teaching Assistant provided her with one-on-one guidance on essay writing and research publication.
After several weeks of dedicated hard work, she completed her final paper, The Persistence of Misogynistic Lyrics in Modern Rap/Hip-Hop Music: A Comparative Analysis. Not only did this scholar go on to present her research at the 4th International Women's Studies Conference in London, but she also earned multiple letters of recommendation from her Faculty Advisor to enhance her college applications. In addition to her phenomenal Ivy League admissions results, Student S was selected as a state’s delegate for the U.S. Senate Youth Program!
Her time spent researching with Scholar Launch was such a resounding success that she dedicated one of her supplemental application essays to her Faculty Advisor, stating: “I don’t think you know this, but each Saturday evening I went to sleep with excitement knowing the next morning I would be meeting with you… Instead of just staying theoretical in our discussions, you constantly applied concepts to real-world events and people. It reminds me to always connect what I learn to its human impact.” She went on to credit her professor for deepening her understanding of and appreciation for anthropology by helping her view the field as “not just a study within itself, but a unique perspective to apply to policy and international relations.”
Student S’s dedication to her academic passions is what led her to exceptional admissions results. And her story isn’t rare; this type of success is typical of Scholar Launch students who commit to their research programs and prioritize their goals. For information on how we can help you or your student earn one of those coveted acceptance letters from a top school, contact us.