This branded content article is sponsored by IvyWise
The college admissions landscape has always been challenging for students, but these days, it’s harder than ever — and it’s never too early, or too late, to start perfecting your strategic plan.
Students are tasked with creating college applications that need to be exceptionally strong, especially for those at competitive high schools. Every student is evaluated against others in their school when applying to college, so getting a student to stand out through their application — and rise above their competition — is imperative.
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“College admissions officers review applications in the context of an applicant’s high school and region, so they have high expectations for students from competitive high schools,” Dr. Kat Cohen, founder and CEO of IvyWise, the world’s premier educational consulting company, told The Post.
Dr. Cohen and the IvyWise team are well-versed in the NYC high school landscape, as they have worked with students from the most well-known schools, including Brearley, Chapin, Collegiate, Dalton, Horace Mann, Riverdale, Spence, Stuyvesant, and Trinity — as well as top high schools in the wider tri-state area and boarding schools popular among the New York elite. IvyWise is not just an NYC powerhouse: they work with students in over 80 countries, so they know precisely how students will be read, not only in the context of their high schools and region, but also in the context of the wider pool of global applicants. This is how IvyWise students get into selective schools at much higher rates, multiple times over the overall admit rates.
Many of the colleges and universities that have traditionally been popular among NYC students have seen stark decreases in their acceptance rates over the past few years — making expert guidance all-the-more critical. For example, Northeastern’s admit rate plummeted from 18.05% for the class of 2024 to 5.64% for the class of 2027 (class of 2028 data is not yet available). Similarly, those looking to stay in the city at NYU will find that challenging, too: their admit rate decreased from 16.20% for the class of 2024 to 8% for the class of 2028.
Students at competitive high schools are learning that they can’t rely on just getting good grades and need to focus on what will set them apart from their fellow high-achieving peers. With the constantly-changing landscape of admissions, many families are turning to expert consultancies, like IvyWise, whose team is comprised of former deans and directors of admission with over 400 years of collective admissions and real decision-making experience, to ensure their students get into their top-choice schools by creating bespoke high school roadmaps spanning all four years, including customized summer and test prep plans.
The secret sauce at IvyWise is their signature Roundtable service, which simulates the real-world admissions committee evaluation process. During the application season, the entire team of IvyWise counselors meets weekly to review students’ applications, including college lists, all essays and supplements, test scores, and more, giving students invaluable feedback and areas of improvement to implement before hitting ‘submit’ to their best-fit universities.
An IvyWise alum, who went to a competitive high school in New York, said of the service: “The Roundtable feedback was [immensely] helpful in this process. My essays were very well written because of all of [my counselor’s] personal feedback and the feedback that I received from Roundtable!”
While many people might assume that they have to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars to get expert college admissions guidance, at IvyWise, programs that include unlimited access to Roundtable start at $14,000. A comprehensive, multi-year college admissions counseling program is about $50,000, which is lower than at other consultancies that don’t employ former admissions officers. Cohen says, “We have a wide range of pricing, including serving 10% of our students pro bono.”
Cohen stresses how important it is to work with a counselor who has first-hand experience in admissions. “IvyWise counselors have sat in the room where these tough decisions are made, we know what colleges are looking for, and we understand the intricacies of enrollment management,” said Dr. Cohen, adding that the admissions landscape is far too complex and nuanced to trust your child’s future to someone with no admissions experience or might be just a graduate of a selective institution. “Every IvyWise college admissions counselor is a member of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) and westrictly adhere to the NACAC code of ethics,” she adds.
A parent from New York who used IvyWise’s services to help her daughter gain Single-Choice Early Action acceptance to Princeton, said: “It all went so smoothly. My husband and I felt comfortable staying out of the application process because we knew our daughter was in such good hands with [her counselor]. IvyWise allowed us to keep the peace during what could easily have been a miserable year. And ultimately, the results speak for themselves!”
Luckily for you, we caught up with the IvyWise experts! As students gear up for the new school year, here are the steps they should think about to help them stand out to college admissions officers.
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Standardized testing is a must … even when it doesn’t “need” to be.
Many of the most selective institutions either have already gone back to requiring standardized test scores or will be reinstating the requirement soon. Brown, Caltech, Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale will return to requiring test scores this year, while other universities like Georgetown, MIT, Purdue, the University of Florida, the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech have already returned to requiring tests when applying.
Colleges that remain test-optional will likely still expect students from competitive high schools to submit standardized test scores. “Optional” is not really optional for these students. At a competitive high school where students are more likely to take standardized tests and submit test scores, a student who does not do so could stick out poorly. For example, over 93% of Stuyvesant’s class of 2023 took the SAT, according to the most recent school profile.
The IvyWise team stays abreast of the latest testing policies and score submission data at selective universities. At Notre Dame, about two-thirds of the admitted class of 2028 submitted test scores, compared to 44% of all applicants. At Rice, a whopping 78% of admits to the class of 2028 submitted scores.
Automatically assume that your student won’t be able to score well on the ACT or SAT, so it’s not even worth trying? Not so fast: “As with anything in college admissions, starting early and building a strategic plan under the guidance of a true expert are crucial,” advises Dr. Cohen, “Standardized tests are marathons, not sprints. Both the SAT and ACT are coachable tests!”
If feasible, students should consider enrolling in test prep courses or working with a tutor. IvyWise’s test prep tutors have an average of 15 years of experience and have scored in the 95th percentile or above on the standardized test to which they teach. IvyWise keeps their fingers on the pulse of the ever-evolving standardized testing landscape, including the upcoming ACT changes for the online version in spring 2025 and paper-and-pencil in fall 2025, in order to be able to best tutor their students. They analyze the student’s diagnostic tests through computer analysis to determine which is the better test for the student’s individual strengths and pinpoint the areas of improvement to focus on, making the process as efficient and effective as possible.
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A personal statement must be exactly that.
The personal statement is a way for the admissions officer to draw back the curtain and see another side of the applicant, so it should tell an admissions officer something they can’t learn anywhere else in the application. All students are unique and complex, so they need to show different sides of who they are in their personal statements. Colleges are looking for intellectual vitality and diversity. This matters, so students need to dig deep!
IvyWise college admissions counselors really get to know their students personally to help them find their voices and bring their unique stories to life. One student had a gift and passion for music and composing, with an academic interest in STEM, especially math and physics. He originally planned on applying exclusively to music conservatories, but the student’s IvyWise counselor encouraged him to tie his STEM interests into his study of music theory and composition. This made him realize that research universities could also be a great fit for him, and he expanded his college list — ultimately earning acceptances to many top universities and music conservatories. He is thrilled to be enrolling at Harvard this fall! His personal statement revolved around the idea of “contrast,” using a compositional technique as a metaphor for his interests in STEM and music.
This is an example of where the importance of a trusted guide who has relevant admissions experience comes into play. When seeking help with your admissions journey, it is important to choose a counselor who has professional insight into exactly what admissions committees look for, like each of the counselors at IvyWise has. Merely having gone through the college application process as a student is not the same as having worked on the admissions side of the desk — oftentimes, those who claim they can help college-bound students just because they themselves got into top universities lack the crucial insight that is needed to properly advise students, especially given each student’s unique story, needs and goals. “But even having admissions experience isn’t enough – that’s why we also invest so heavily in professional development, sending our counselors and staff on college visits and to industry conferences,” Dr. Cohen adds.
Another parent, whose son got into Brown through Early Decision, said: “We can’t thank IvyWise enough for all of their help, guidance, patience, advice, etc. with our student these past few months (as well as with our other student 6 years ago!) and the fantastic job they did helping our student produce great applications.”
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Go the extra mile — or two — with extracurricular activities
There are no objectively “good” activities for all students to be involved in — an activity is valuable as long as it is authentic to the student and reflects who they are and what matters to them. When it comes to evaluating extracurricular activities, admissions officers are looking for depth, leadership, impact, responsibility, and how these activities relate to the applicant’s interests. Students — especially those at competitive high schools — should think about going outside the classroom to find additional opportunities to make an impact.
“[My IvyWise counselor] was a huge help in narrowing my interests in engineering. She pushed me to explore my interests, whether it was taking an online course or doing a summer internship. I could never have accomplished what I did without the help of [my counselor] and the whole IvyWise staff,” recalls an NYC-based student who got accepted to Cornell University.
An IvyWise counselor recently worked with a student who attended a tri-state area boarding school and was interested in atmospheric science. The IvyWise team helped him develop his interest in meteorology by identifying a wonderful summer program for him — Hurricane Camp at the University of Miami. IvyWise also suggested that he start two weather-related clubs, one at school and one outside of school. His counselor also guided him to enroll in the most rigorous science courses available at his high school and ultimately build the right college list of schools that would allow him to pursue his passions. All of this targeted interest development led to very successful applications, and he is currently set to attend the University of Michigan, his top choice, in the fall.
IvyWise not only finds commonalities between a student’s interests, but they also offer Research Mentorship, a program that pairs high school students with Ph.D. mentors to learn how to conduct college-level research, complete 20-plus-page papers, and give them the opportunity to become published researchers before graduating from high school. This gives students a competitive edge and helps them stand out in the admissions process.
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Make summers count!
The summer months are a great time for students from competitive high schools to be productive and stand out from their peers. College admissions officers look at how applicants spent their summer breaks — so be thoughtful and impactful when developing your summer plans!
Long vacations and short community service experiences are usually not impressive, as more selective schools want to see commitment, and quality and meaningful experiences that last at least four weeks. While summer 2024 may be winding down, students should start thinking of creative ways to spend summer 2025, as it will be here before they know it! As Dr. Cohen puts it, “Often, interesting summer activities are those the students develop themselves — such as launching or expanding an initiative supporting a local cause, starting and running a small business, or conducting a niche independent research project. We help students think outside the box. I always say, ‘If you can’t find it, found it!’”
Dr. Cohen recalls a student who made the most of her summer: “Our team recently worked with a student from NYC to provide personalized and specific recommendations for extracurricular activities that would leverage her knowledge of French and her interest in medicine. Following our suggestions, she set up a volunteer internship at a local health center, where she spent 6-8 hours per week with a team conducting a study on remote monitoring of hypertension in an underserved community. This community included French-speaking immigrants, allowing her to utilize her language skills. Additionally, the student worked with one of our tutors to raise her ACT score from 29 to 35. She ultimately gained acceptance to Stanford!”
Map out your course selection ASAP
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Plan your course load ahead of time, since college admissions committees look at all four years of high school and it’s important to keep up good grades and take rigorous courses. Dr. Cohen says, “Be proactive and go in with a plan. Don’t let high school ‘happen’ to you.” If a student is applying to a highly selective college but has taken only one or two advanced classes while many more were available to them, it is likely that the admissions officer reviewing that applicant will question whether that student is prepared or motivated enough to handle the academic rigors of their institution.
Students can also consider further exploring their interests through courses at local community colleges, academic summer programs at university campuses, or online courses. “Selective colleges want to build well-rounded classes made up of specialists who have defined interests in certain fields or subject areas and have developed that handful of interests throughout high school to become knowledgeable in those subjects — and intend to continue pursuing those interests in college,” says Dr. Cohen.
Clearly, there’s a lot to do. Feeling overwhelmed? We sure would be if we were in high school these days! But expert guidance from teams like IvyWise can help to alleviate the stress. Contact IvyWise today to build a personalized college prep strategy that is manageable and will maximize your chances of admissions success.
