Mindset : The New Psychology of Success pdfdrive com

The  Growth-Mindset  Step.
Think about your goal and think about what you could do
to stay on track toward achieving it. What steps could you take to help yourself
succeed? What information could you gather?
Well,  maybe  you  could  apply  to  more  schools  next  time.  Or  maybe,  in  the
meantime,  you  could  gather  more  information  about  what  makes  a  good
application:  What  are  they  looking  for?  What  experiences  do  they  value?  You
could seek out those experiences before the next application.
Since  this  is  a  true  story,  I  know  what  step  the  rejected  applicant  took.  She
was given some strong growth-mindset advice and, a few days later, she called
the school. When she located the relevant person and told him the situation, she
said, “I don’t want to dispute your decision. I just want to know, if I decide to

---

apply  again  in  the  future,  how  I  can  improve  my  application.  I  would  be  very
grateful if you could give me some feedback along those lines.”
Nobody  scoffs  at  an  honest  plea  for  helpful  feedback.  Several  days  later,  he
called  her  back  and  offered  her  admission.  It  had  indeed  been  a  close  call  and,
after reconsidering her application, the department decided they could take one
more person that year. Plus, they liked her initiative.
She  had  reached  out  for  information  that  would  allow  her  to  learn  from
experience  and  improve  in  the  future.  It  turned  out  in  this  case  that  she  didn’t
have to improve her application. She got to plunge right into learning in her new
graduate program.