There’s no need to beat around the bush. You’re here to learn how to optimize your odds of admission to a highly selective college, and we at Ivy Coach are here to furnish you with the right information to make this happen. Elite college admissions might seem like a behemoth, but by breaking down the fundamentals and linking to helpful content on this college admissions blog, we’ll equip you with the tools you’ll need to assemble a highly competitive application. Let’s begin, shall we?

Ivy Coach’s Top Tips and Resources For Securing College Admission

• If you’re applying to college, it’s essential to understand the difference between The Common App., The Coalition App., and any other school-specific application portals (such as the University of California portal).
• At the end of the day, great grades and test scores form the foundation of a competitive college application. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, not even colleges themselves. Test-optional admissions, to put it simply, is malarkey. Check out the SAT profile and ACT profile of admitted Ivy League students, for example, to get a sense of your odds of getting into these top schools.
• Perhaps you’re not angling for Ivy League admission. Nailing your list of colleges you’ll apply to is just as important as assembling materials for those applications. How does one pick a safety school? Navigate application deadlines? Understand the difference between Early Decision I, Early Decision II, and Early Action? You name it, we have a blog for it!
• Say you have your list of schools, and you’re ready and rearing to take advantage of the Early round admissions boost. Now the real legwork begins. Here’s the ideal timeline you should be following:
  • As soon as possible (read: junior spring), ask two junior-year teachers in core subjects for letters of recommendation.
  • Read our how-to guide for getting into your top choice of school. If it’s a highly selective school in the United States, we most certainly have written about it!
  • Immediately get to work crafting and honing a singular hook. This is the unique, locally-focused pursuit you’ve used your high school career to further. And yes, the level of specialization required to be a competitive college applicant nowadays is entirely antithetical to presenting oneself as well-rounded on one’s application.
• Focus on presenting a likable personality bolstered by the right extracurriculars.
  • Bragging about expensive foreign travel, expensive pre-college summer programs, or otherwise flaunting your privilege are surefire ways to earn a rejection letter.
• Grades, test scores, and activities are one thing. But what about personal flair? College essays (because there is more than just the singular Common App. Personal Statement on any given application!) are your chance to flex your personality and your knowledge of the resources and opportunities available at prospective schools.
  • Competitive Why College? essays (as we at Ivy Coach like to call ’em) are chock full of specifics that apply to one college and one college alone. Writing about such specifics is a crucial way to demonstrate your interest in attending your schools of choice.
  • In order to further demonstrate your interest (because yes, admissions officers do indeed seek to admit highly enthusiastic applicants who want to attend their college, even if they’re not always honest), attend a campus tour.
• The best laid plans can go awry if you don’t pay attention to the deadlines for applying to your selected colleges. And after you apply, you may have to contend with being deferred or waitlisted.
  • Fortunately, Ivy Coach also maintains a robust set of blogs about navigating deferrals and waitlists from the nation’s top schools. Curious about Yale’s waitlist acceptance rate, for example? We’ve got you covered.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance With Elite College Admission

At the end of the day, you probably don’t know everything you should about getting into a highly selective college. And that’s okay! Instead of soaking up valuable time that could be spent assembling your application materials with researching misconceptions and misguided advice, turn to Ivy Coach’s team of former elite college admissions officers to do this heavy lifting for you!

We’ll help your child optimize their odds of admission to the school of their dreams. To get started with us, simply fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch.