High School Summer Plans

Summer Work Experience and Admissions

May 17, 2016

We used to get asked quite a bit, “How would work experience factor into my child’s case for admission?” Regrettably, we get asked this question less and less in recent years. And why? Because fewer and fewer students who come to us and who are seeking to earn admission to highly selective …

Nixing Summer Programs

March 26, 2016

Ivy Coach, as referenced on “The Huffington Post,” stands firmly against fancy summer enrichment programs (photo credit: King of Hearts). A number of folks have been writing in to us of late inquiring about summer programs. Maybe they’re thinking of sending their children to the Stanford Summer Enrichment Program. Or …

Google Science Fair Winner

January 7, 2016

Henry David Thoreau taught his readers to “simplify, simplify.” We happen to agree. So many students when applying to highly selective college admissions overly complicate their stories. They overly complicate their experiences, their accomplishments, their interests. They don’t heed the advice of the great transcendental American philosopher. And that’s their mistake. …

College Summer Enrichment Programs

July 28, 2015

We came across a radio segment on “Public Radio International” that we figured we’d share with our readers. The segment focuses on college summer programs. For those of you who read our blog regularly, you know where we stand on the topic of fancy summer programs. We think they’re a …

Importance of Summer Plans in Ivy Admission

May 21, 2015

Summer plans matter big time in Ivy League admissions! To paraphrase Dr. Seuss (who, it should be noted, attended Dartmouth College), “the time has come, the time is now.” No, this reference in the context of this blog has nothing to do with Marvin K. Mooney and everything to do …

Summer College Enrichment Programs

August 1, 2013

The Founder of Ivy Coach, Bev Taylor, has an article up today on “The Huffington Post” entitled “Summer College Enrichment Programs Are Sleep-Away Camps” in which she discusses how summer college enrichment programs are essentially a waste of one’s time and money. So many students and parents believe that attending …

Service Trips and College Admissions

August 11, 2012

Ivy Coach was featured in “The New York Times” this weekend in an article about service trips and college admissions. There are many parents out there who believe that it’s important to introduce their children to what the rest of the world looks like. Maybe their children have been raised …

Work and College Admissions

May 12, 2012

Work and college admissions success (as in employment during high school or over high school summers), contrary to popular belief, are not inversely related. There’s an all-too-common misconception out there that students should attend fancy, expensive summer programs to improve their odds of getting into highly selective colleges. This simply isn’t …

Summer and College Essays

May 3, 2012

For rising seniors, summer is the perfect time to write your college essays. You’re off from school. You’re not studying for tests, you’re not writing papers for AP classes, and you’re not going to school for several hours each weekday. While you shouldn’t allot all of your time this coming …