Bev Taylor, Founder of Ivy Coach, has been featured in an article of “The Dartmouth,” America’s oldest college newspaper. The article, entitled “Unspoken use of private consultants affects admissions” and written by Zac Hardwick, describes the impact of private college counselors on the admissions process to highly selective colleges such as Dartmouth. As written in the article on private college consultants, “Though many Ivy League students have used consultants, this fact is not well known, said Bev Taylor, founder of Ivy Coach, a New York-based college-consulting firm. The firm boasts that 100 percent of its students were accepted to one of their top-three choices.”

The article in “The Dartmouth” goes on to say, “Taylor said admissions officers and the press scorn private counselors. ‘It’s all about the haves and the have-nots,’ Taylor said. ‘Admissions offices will always want to go to bat for a kid who they feel has grown up with disadvantages, as opposed to the kid who has grown up with advantages.’ Taylor said she keeps her work strictly ‘behind-the-scenes’ and encourages advisees to do the same. ‘We tell our students, ‘Don’t talk about it,’’ Taylor said. ‘It’s not necessary to tell anyone.’…Taylor said Ivy Coach and similar companies seek out former admissions officers to hire as consultants. ‘The admissions at Dartmouth, for example, requires that admissions officers work for two years,’ she said. ‘And after two years, we hire them.'” We sure do!

We’ve always found it quite ironic that so many admissions officers at highly selective colleges speak poorly of private college counselors. It’s these same admissions officers who come work for us after a couple of years of great training in admissions offices at top colleges like Dartmouth. One of the points these folks often make is: “Why do students need a private college counselor?” Our answer? The same reason they need an SAT or ACT tutor. The same reason they need a chemistry tutor. The same reason they need a rabbi to teach them their Haftorah for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah. The same reason they need a clown coach if they aspire to be a clown. You get the idea. And, by the way, all of these folks get paid too — including the rabbi. Shanah Tovah on this Erev Rosh Hashanah!