College Application Coaching

College applications are too consequential to not be perfect. Even the smallest error can weaken the whole, shattering an otherwise flawless application. Ivy Scholars College Admissions Consulting will empower you to take control of your student’s future. Here’s how we do it.

Where We Begin

Ivy Scholars has developed a five phase approach to crafting college applications, based on our success with over 300 students. This curriculum has delivered exceptional results: on average, our students are 3x more likely to be admitted into their top schools. Our process begins with your free consultation.

Mentor Matching

After signing up with us, your student will be paired with one of our mentors , based on their needs and learning style. Our mentors have been educated at the world’s top universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Oxford, Johns Hopkins, and Rice University. They know what it takes to get into the most selective institutions, and they’ll give you the tools to get there.

The Ivy Scholars Way

PHASE 1

College Application Fundamentals

Our first step in crafting an exceptional college application is understanding what admissions officers are looking for. Before beginning any writing, your student and their mentor will spend two hours understanding what happens behind the scenes in admissions offices. Next, they will compose their college list based on each student’s needs and abilities.

PHASE 2

Perfecting the Portals

Most colleges weigh 25% of their admissions decision on a student’s extracurricular involvement and character. The goal of phase 2 is to leverage your student’s unique stories and interests to craft an activities and honors list that highlights their achievements and ambitions.

PHASE 3

Writing your Personal Statement

Over 70% of the applicants to MIT are academically qualified, yet they’re rejected. Why? They write mediocre essays about trite, non descriptive topics; discussing sports leadership, band struggles, or treacly volunteering with formulas admissions officers have seen a thousand times. During phase 3, your student will craft a compelling and memorable personal statement that sets them apart from the sea of applications.

PHASE 4

Strategic Supplementals

Admissions offices use supplemental essays to determine whether students align with the values, mission, and vision of their institution. Sadly, this means many qualified students are weeded out. At Ivy Scholars, we know exactly what each school is looking for. Stanford, for example, wants to see students learning for the sake of learning. In Phase 4, we use our knowledge of what schools want to help students demonstrate how they will fit with each institution using their supplemental essays.

PHASE 5

Post Submission Support

Submitting college applications is just the beginning. After submission, we’ll help your family apply for financial aid, guide your student through their course selection, and make sure your student is ready to ace their admissions interview. Finally, we’ll take your student through our final lesson: How to College*.

*Laundry lessons not included.

The Ivy Scholars Competitive Advantage

Our results speak for themselves.

Last year, our personalized approach, attention to detail, and college admissions expertise led our students to be

3x Times

more likely to get into their top-choice school.

Ivy Scholars college coaching will help

get you in

transform your application today

Ivy Scholars in review

We help student where they come to us, from longer engagements, beginning in Junior year and working through the summer:

Sasha's first call with my son lasted three hours. Not only did Sasha ask about academics, he asked about my son's artistic vision, personal motivations, and life goals. Afterwards, my son told me that Sasha really cared about him. I agreed. When I talked to Sasha, he asked questions like "what are your dreams for your son?" that nobody had asked before. It felt like he was a counselor and not trying to sell me something. Ivy Scholars had a playwright and poet on staff named Matt, whose work fit perfectly into my son's art. Matt was authentic, kind, thoughtful, and funny. My son loved working with him. He guided my son on his art, on publishing and getting recognition. The year he spent getting to know my son before the college application process made a huge difference. Matt and Sasha really listened to the challenges facing our family. They also helped us navigate a difficult family situation between my son and his father. By the time they started writing, they were good friends and understood each other, so they could write better together, slowly tuning into my son's best qualities and framing his story. Especially in the pool of Chinese students, my son's Personal Statement had heart and showed his artists' soul. It was real and genuine. My son was comfortable with how he presented himself in his essays.

Looking back, Sasha's talent is that he can see where your strengths lie, even when you don't see them. The truth is, although we don't always realize it, everyone has a unique story to tell. Sasha helped me see mine, and with his big-picture insight I was able to write the application that truly encapsulated my life and vision. He inspired me to dig deeper and write better, challenging me to revise and revise until my essays were the most passionate and authentic work I had ever written. As clichéd as that sounds, that's really what universities are looking for. In retrospect, it makes sense - in the real world passionate (not simply intelligent) individuals are the ones who make a difference in the world, and those are the individuals colleges would like to have associated with their brand. In the end, I was accepted to the college of my dreams, a feat I could not have achieved without the direction Sasha lent to me. Essays (and the personal narrative you develop through your application) matter so much, and can literally make or break your application. I have seen so many of my 'qualified' friends receive rejections because they wrote contrived essays that didn't truly represent who they were; conversely, I have also seen so many friends with shorter resumes accepted because they were able to articulate their story in a genuinely passionate and authentic way - I fall into the latter category.

Before I reached out to Ivy Scholars, I was absolutely nervous and afraid of the whole College admissions process. I truthfully did not know where to start, and or how well I would present myself to the admissions committees. Working with Ivy Scholars helped me fine tune my writing skills and allowed me to present myself as best as I could. Having worked with them for several weeks, I was able to craft my work into something that stood out to the Admissions Committees. As a result, I was admitted into my dream school and given the opportunity of a lifetime. Throughout my childhood, Harvard College was seen as nearly impossible to be accepted to, however, through hard work and perseverance, this dream became reality. This was not done alone. Thanks to Ivy Scholars, I was able to be seen as an individual who was unique and stood out from the rest, and am forever grateful for the work that was invested in me from this fine company. If you are struggling with College Admissions and where to start, look no further. You will have no regrets when choosing Ivy Scholars and be able to turn your dreams into reality.

To shorter, more focused engagements, beginning in the summer or at the start of senior year:

We worked with Ivy Scholars during my son's senior year. I was concerned that we may be too late to take advantage of college advising but Sasha and team quickly and confidently directed us through the steps to ensure no deadlines were missed. Sasha's knowledge about schools, what they looked for in candidates, and how to maneuver the application process was invaluable. As a parent, Ivy Scholars brought peace of mind to an area that was frankly overwhelming. This service was invaluable in the knowledge that we gained throughout the process. He has also met with my freshman daughter to provide guidance for her high school courses, career paths, extracurricular activities, and more.

Ivy Scholars was very helpful to us as we confronted the college admission process for our oldest child. We hadn’t thought about college admissions since we applied to college many years ago and, frankly, we did not have the time we felt we really needed to focus on this. Upon contacting Ivy Scholars, we had a very helpful initial call that enabled us to understand the entire process as well as the timeline. Our initial in person meeting was invaluable in making sure that our student was engaged in the process and took ownership of his applications. It also helped our student determine exactly which colleges he wanted to apply to. It is often difficult for students to write about themselves but Ivy Scholars helped guide our student in the types of things he should include in his essay to showcase the things colleges are looking for in an essay and application. Additionally, Ivy Scholars facilitated the process of obtaining letters of recommendation. All of this helped our student to be accepted into his top choice program while making sure our student was engaged without us having to nag him about the entire process. I would recommend Ivy Scholars to anyone that wants to take the stress out of the college admissions process.

Even if you think it’s too late, we can still help you make your collegiate dreams come true; we work with students even if they come to us after the Early round of decisions is passed:

It's a true pleasure for me to write about Ivy Scholars who helped my son get into some top-tier universities. After early admission failure in mid-December, my son was scared and we contacted Sasha to ask for his help with personal essays. He had only two weeks to apply without much preparation. Sasha and his staff immediately jumped in to help my son. Charly, Mateo and Nick were all phenomenal to work with to make sure every part of the essays were taken care of. What makes IvyScholars better than others is their layered approach of supporting and reviewing by multiple staff members. Every essay that my son composed was revised and edited by ALL of them. That helped him to get different perspectives and come up with an amazing set up write ups. My son got his admission to Stanford, Rice and UT to name a few. A big shout out to Charly especially, who challenged my son with many thought provoking ideas till the final day of his applications. I highly recommend ambitious kids to call Sasha if they dream about great schools. Good luck Sasha and team!