When Omar Tantawi was growing up in Lebanon, he had one association with the United States: It was somewhere far away. He had no idea that one day he would pursue a doctoral degree at MIT. After high school, he learned about a scholarship for low-income students to the American University of Beirut, and college sparked his interest in North American graduate programs. However, without the knowledge and support to refine his materials, all of his initial applications were rejected. “At the time, I was devastated and didn’t really know…
