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IvyWise in the News
PERSPECTIVES: CVs to take you to the top of the class:By PRECIOUS WILLIAMSOctober 20, 2001
Wealthy US parents are turning to super tutors to get their children into elite universities. "We all lead such busy lives now that the only way to make sure our children get into the right universities is to hire a private tutor," says Adam Toomey, a Manhattan doctor. "Everyone in our circle has had to hire one." Despite costing more than Dollars 400 an hour, hiring private "college-prep" tutors is becoming as common as using personal trainers and psychiatrists among New York's elite parents. "It's really becoming the only way to guarantee your child gets into university," says Toomey. "We will pay whatever is necessary."
In Toomey's case that amounts to Dollars 20,000 a year in school fees and a further Dollars 25,000 in private tutoring for his son, Luke. "The only way to ensure that your child makes the right connections and enjoys financial security throughout life is by getting him or her into a superior university." Katherine Cohen, 34, and a graduate of Yale, has one of the most impressive success rates in the Dollars 2.5bn private tutoring industry, offering a "platinum" package that includes 24 face-to-face brainstorming sessions and weekly hour-long telephone-coaching sessions - all for Dollars 28,995. "But if you can't afford the platinum package, I can offer a`la carte packages," says Cohen. "Or you can buy the college application reviewing programme which takes about two or three hours and costs about Dollars 1,000." The idea for IvyWise, as she calls her company, was born when Cohen worked at the Yale admissions office as an application reader, while studying for her PhD in Latin American literature. It was the ideal background. "I learnt which applications to accept and which to reject. What I know is that you can't just send in an application and get in - whatever kind of grades you have," she says. "You have to have good grades, of course. But I also teach youngsters to manage their time and prioritise. It's not a joke. I instil a sense of responsibility in them."
Cohen's youth and good looks endear her to her predominantly teenaged students who refer to her as "very cool and really inspiring". But clients admit she is tough. "Katherine will never say 'Oh that's fine'," recalls Alejandro Landes, a student at Brown University and a former IvyWise client. Cohen says: "During the first meeting I will evaluate their academic history, their out-of-school activities and their goals. Then we will create a strategy. Kids need to know how to represent themselves and how to make the most out of hobbies, activities, summer trips, awards and honours, internships. The applications need to be very detailed, organised and easy to read." Cohen's clients - a monied mix of bankers, entertainers, politicians and lawyers - are all vying for places for their offspring at the same small handful of elite universities, including Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth and Columbia. These students' private schools already offer free in-school access to some of America's leading college preparation tutors. So what can the likes of Cohen offer that school-based tutors cannot provide themselves? Nothing at all, according to one top university admissions tutor, who prefers not to be named.
"Using a private college counsellor is a joke, because the good private schools already have perfectly competent college counsellors of their own," he says. "And this entire 'Dartmouth- or-die' desperation is getting out of hand. The private tutors are feeding off parents' insecurities and neuroses. We laugh at these things in our profession." Harvard admissions tutor William Fitzsimmons is equally dismissive. "Just the idea that there are only 10 or 20 or 30 colleges in the country that one can go to is really ludicrous," he says. "Rather than celebrate a student being admitted to five colleges, they obsess about one college they are not admitted to." However, Cohen insists that 70 per cent of her clients are accepted by their first-choice universities each year. In addition to brushing up academic skills and essay-writing techniques, the tutors will also agonise over the choice of teacher to write a letter of recommendation to a particular university admissions tutor, and which outside sources such as coaches or employers should provide references. They also host brainstorming sessions over take-away pizzas and set up mock interviews that they videotape and then analyse with students and parents.
"Avoid being too subtle," advises private tutor Michelle Hernandez, author of The Insider's Guide to Getting Into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges. "Don't try to hide your ace behind a wall of modesty." Catherine Testa, who lives in Manhattan and whose 15-year-old daughter Dawn is a Harvard hopeful, says the preparation deemed necessary for college entrance almost caused her to have a nervous breakdown earlier this year. "I made the mistake of not securing a private college counsellor early enough and now it is too late to get one at all," she says. "Dawn is at one of the best day schools but getting your child into a great private school is not even half the battle any more. It seems doubtful that Dawn will get into college at all now." Testa's fears are not unfounded. Children of wealthy and well-connected parents, such as Dawn Testa, might have once enjoyed an advantage in gaining admission to America's elite universities, but much has changed. According to Cohen, wealthy children could even be at a disadvantage because admissions tutors are increasingly more interested in diversity than privilege.
Tutors such as Cohen capitalise on their ability to tip the balance back in their clients' favour - once their hefty fees have been settled. In Cohen's case that might mean calling admissions offices to pitch for individual students, or boosting a student's CV by fixing up internships through Cohen's network of well-connected friends. Testa agrees and intends to hire a private college-preparation tutor for her daughter early next year. "Having family connections and being at the top of your classes in all subjects no longer seems to mean a thing; it's really necessary to groom our children to market themselves successfully," she says. "We just can't afford to be careless any more. We all know the (non Ivy League) colleges are so appalling these days that anyone can get into them. So, more than ever, an Ivy League education really is the only option." But Cohen insists that while most of her clients are admitted by the top 19 US universities, "it's not all about getting kids into the universities of their parents' choice. It is a very time-consuming, holistic process. The student has to show that he or she is a responsible, well-rounded citizen. Donating Dollars 10m to a college simply will not necessarily secure your admission."
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