My Story
In high school, I was a National Merit Scholar Finalist with the highest SAT and PSAT scores in my graduating class. I was a year ahead in math and Latin. I had the highest grades in the hardest classes in my school. I had scores of 5 on ten AP exams. I was the president of several clubs, some of which I had founded. I was captain of the school’s Science Bowl team, which I had led to multiple upset victories, defeating schools like TJ, a major science and tech magnet school. I had won some of the school’s most prestigious awards. I had done plenty of community service, both in the U.S. and abroad. I was also a varsity athlete.
When the college rejection letters started pouring in, I was shocked. I even got rejected from some of my safety schools!
I was the classic case of “Great product, bad marketing.” I couldn’t have been a better student. And I couldn’t have been a worse marketer. Looking back, I can see how I made every mistake in the book, especially on my essays.
I was both angry and embarrassed that all the work I’d put in hadn’t worked. But once the anger subsided, I decided to learn what I’d done wrong.
By chance, I had read an article about getting into Brown University, which was my second choice school. I had followed the advice, added a few tweaks, and got in. So I read more articles and books. I listened to the stories of students who were the opposite of me: academically weak students who got into Ivies. I learned from admissions officers at elite colleges what really went on behind the scenes. I learned everything I could about elite college admissions.
Soon, I was on the cutting edge of Ivy strategy, creating new techniques that I taught to students, parents, and other admissions consultants. I discovered how principles of mythology and storytelling could dramatically enhance an application. Bit by bit, I cracked the code of Ivy admissions. Soon, it became less of an art, and more of a science.
The countless students I’ve helped get into Ivies have more than balanced out the rejection letters I got. Some were academic superstars, like I had been. Most weren’t. Once I understood how college admissions actually worked, I could show students how to hack the system.
