FAQ

We offer three different services.

1) Essay Coaching provides all the help you’ll need to apply to college: generating a strategic college list, writing your application essays, editing your activities list, and defining your “personal narrative” so that your application is focused and compelling.

2) Candidacy Building involves helping you explore your interests and activities in the years leading up to the college application process.

3) Private SAT/ACT Tutoring entails one-on-one coaching, using a study program tailored to your specific learning pace and academic needs.

For details and pricing on all of our services, click here.

Of course. Every year, we help dozens of students craft personal essays and supplemental essays that help them get into the Ivy League and other top-tier schools. Read a few samples here.

Candidacy building involves working with high school students when they’re still freshmen, sophomores or juniors (the earlier the better), and helping them develop their coursework, summer activities, extracurriculars and signature achievements (such as a capstone project) so that they’ll be a strong and compelling candidate when it comes time to apply to college.

You can read a case study here.

Of course. While we occasionally put prospective clients in touch with our past students, we’ve streamlined the process by listing some recent testimonials here.

The more competitive the school, the more you need to submit your scores, even if they’re a bit below the school’s average.

Based on recent studies, colleges now know that SAT and ACT scores are the single best predictor of grades in college, so withholding your scores leaves out crucial information.

Also, a low score might not hurt you at all if it’s really good for your school, since you’re ultimately judged against your peers from the same region.

Note that starting in Fall 2024, a number of top universities will once again require standardized test scores including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Caltech and UT Austin. Schools that already require scores include MIT, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, etc.

Pre-college summer programs are excellent for a variety of reasons: exploring a career interest, meeting like-minded friends, and interacting with faculty at a top college that can turn into a promising internship, research program or a glowing reference letter. But just attending one won’t necessarily improve your odds of getting into a top college.

Why not? Because universities are sensitive to the fact that many students can’t afford these summer programs, and have to work menial summer jobs instead. So will it help you grow on a personal level and demonstrate your intellectual vitality? Absolutely! But will it help you get into a top college? Probably not, unless it’s part of a broader candidacy building effort on your part.

Generally speaking, it will not. First, you have to understand that many university programs are not actually hosted by the university itself; they’re hosted by a third party organization that simply rents out space. So there’s no connection to the university. But, there are other summer programs that are sponsored by the university itself, and taught by their professors and grad students. These programs can boost your admissions odds, but only if you go above and beyond the scope of the summer program, and convert experience into an opportunity to do advanced-level research with your professor or somehow turn the experience into something notable.

You have to remember that Yale is sensitive to the fact that many families can’t afford these programs for their kids. So just participating isn’t quite enough to impress them. You need to accomplish something more with the experience, which is something that we help you do.

On the one hand, leading universities want you to challenge yourself in high school with as many advanced-level courses as you can. On the other hand, they don’t expect you to excel at everything. If you’re a super-talented writer and aspiring journalist, they don’t need to see you take AP Chemistry. And in this case, getting an A or an A- in regular Chemistry is probably better than logging a C in AP Chem.

While it’s true that forming a nonprofit has become a bit of a cliché these days, it can still work for you. The most important thing that colleges are looking for in your extracurriculars is impact. What kind of positive, profound impact have you had on your community: whether that’s your school, your town, or the world at large? Whether you achieve this through a nonprofit or some other endeavor really doesn’t matter, as long as you get it done.

AP (Advanced Placement) an IB (International Baccalaureate) classes are the gold standard of highly selective universities, but if they’re not offered at your high school, or they don’t offer the particular courses you want, then signing up for a Dual Enrollment course (taking college courses online or in-person) is a good back-up option. Any of these options show that you’re hungry for college-level academics, and you really can’t go wrong with any of them. But since AP and IB courses are standardized nationally, they should be your first-choice.

The major difference between AP and IB is that with AP courses, you can pick and choose whatever courses you want. But with an IB curriculum, you have to fulfill a number of core requirements to graduate with an IB diploma. Neither one is necessarily harder than the other. But AP courses are fast-paced and feature lots of multiple choice exams, whereas IB courses are slower, more in-depth, more interdisciplinary, more discussion-based, more global-minded, and require more extensive essay writing. They are both excellent preparation for college, and they typically receive similar credit at most colleges.

Honestly, it really doesn’t matter. Colleges gladly accept both. But, it is worth noting that the tests are slightly different, and there are some students who perform considerably better on one than the other. So, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to take a practice test in both, and see if there’s a major difference in your score. But don’t sweat it too much, because most students will perform equally well on both.

Bear in mind that while many leading universities are technically “test optional,” the vast majority of admitted students to Top 20 universities (between 70-80%) submitted test scores, so it obviously benefits you to do so. That said, if your scores fall below the average for any school, we not recommend not submitting them.

Demonstrated interest. While some universities claim that they don’t take “demonstrated interest” into consideration (probably because they don’t want thousands of applicants calling their admissions office for no reason), there’s no doubt that universities prefer students who really want to go there.

One of the best ways to demonstrate your interest is to forge a connection with a professor in your intended major. Many forward-thinking freshmen and sophomores in high school will visit their favorite college’s website, write down the emails of some professors, read their books or published articles, and then reach out to them expressing interest in guidance or research opportunities.

If a professor decides to take you under her wing, she can become a strong advocate for you when it comes time to apply to that school. It also provides great fodder for an essay about why you specifically want to attend that school.

It does improve your odds of admission, considerably. But it may not be for the reason you think. Leading universities don’t lower their admissions standards for Early Decision applicants. So if you weren’t going to get admitted through Regular Decision, then you’re also not going to get admitted through Early Decision, sorry.

Where Early Decision helps you is when you’re a “bubble candidate,” which means you’re right on the cusp of getting in. Here, applying ED can help you because: 1) universities like to lock down their different departmental needs early in the process, and 2) universities are obsessed with something called their “Yield Rate,” which is the percentage of accepted students who actually enroll. Since Early Decision candidates sign a binding commitment that they’ll enroll if admitted, accepting a bunch of ED candidates is one of the easiest ways for colleges to pump up their Yield Rate.

To learn more about the advantages of Early Decision, click here.

We work with 20-30 students every year in different capacities. Unlike other college consulting firms, we are a small boutique agency that specializes in personalized service. We never farm-out work to part-time employees or consultants. We handle everything in-house, from test prep to candidacy building to college applications. This ensures that our clients receive the highest-level of service from start to finish.

It all depends on what you make of it. Whether you attend public school or private school, leading universities want to see that you’ve made the most of the opportunities you’ve been given. The better your school, and the more resources you have available, the more universities will expect from you. Ultimately, you’re judged against the other students at your school. So wherever you go, make sure you stand out. And remember: it’s much easier to stand out if you’re a big fish in a small pond.

That said, there’s no denying that one of the biggest factors that influences your work habits, career ambitions and future wealth is what types of friends you surround yourself with. If your friends are all gunning for the Ivy League, you’re much more likely to end up there yourself. We are, to a large degree, a product of our environment.

Every year, numerous organizations such as U.S. News & World Report “rank” the best universities in America based on a number of criteria, including: academic reputation, job placement, social mobility, faculty resources, alumni donations, etc. And while no one should take these annual rankings as gospel, they do provide a helpful guide for students and parents.

Instead of worrying too much about a university’s exact ranking (which means nothing), focus instead on where it generally fits in among its peers (which means a lot).

Also, be mindful that while some universities (particularly some large public universities) may not be highly ranked in general, many have specific colleges within them or academic departments that rank among the best in the nation. Some of these programs are just as hard to get into as Ivy League schools.

One of the most important things you need to realize about high school is that it’s an audition for college. And with limited time available in your schedule, you need to show college admissions committees that you’re capable of impressive achievement in your extracurricular activities.

There’s nothing wrong with playing sports in high school. There are tons of personal benefits, including physical health, mental health, team-building, stress relief, leadership, performing under pressure, developing grit, etc.

But if you’re not good enough to get recruited for athletics, then you need to ask yourself whether all that time you’re spending on sports is taking away from precious time you could be using to build an impressive résumé of achievement in some other important area.