IvyWise counselors are former Deans and Directors of admission from top schools, bringing 410+ years of combined experience. They have read and evaluated hundreds of thousands of applications from students worldwide, from every type of high school system and curriculum, and have all sat in committee and made critical admissions decisions at top universities.
Our signature Roundtable simulates the real-world admissions committee evaluation process. Students benefit from the expertise of the entire IvyWise counseling team in addition to the guidance from their dedicated counselors.
You’re never alone! In addition to working with expert IvyWise counselors, families are also supported through the entire IvyWise experience by dedicated Client Relations Managers, who help to ensure that students are on track and that families are getting the most out of their IvyWise programs.
The admissions process is holistic, and so is our approach. We work with students to determine the best combination of college counseling, tutoring and test prep, and research mentorship to maximize outcomes and help them reach their academic and admissions goals.
Overall Acceptance Rate
|
IvyWise Acceptance Rate
|
The IvyWise Impact
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Amherst College |
9.56% |
46.2% |
5x |
Brown University |
5.97% |
23.9% |
4x |
California Institute of Technology |
4.13% |
30.0% |
7x |
Colgate University |
16.31% |
96.6% |
6x |
Columbia University |
4.46% |
37.9% |
8x |
Cornell University |
8.87% |
40.8% |
5x |
Dartmouth University |
7.05% |
26.1% |
4x |
Duke University |
6.64% |
43.3% |
7x |
Harvard University |
3.97% |
28.1% |
7x |
Johns Hopkins University |
8.06% |
12.8% |
4x |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
5.06% |
35.6% |
3x |
New York University |
13.93% |
58.0% |
4x |
Princeton University |
5.16% |
18.8% |
4x |
Rice University |
9.04% |
47.6% |
5x |
Stanford University |
4.17% |
27.3% |
7x |
University of Chicago |
5.95% |
42.5% |
7x |
University of Pennsylvania |
6.82% |
28.3% |
4x |
Williams College |
10.56% |
47.2% |
4x |
Yale University |
5.28% |
22.1% |
3x |
Students enrolled in long-term IvyWise college counseling programs work closely with their counselor to craft standout profiles, making the most of their high school year.
As senior year approaches, they receive bespoke application guidance, including unlimited access to Roundtable, ensuring their applications are polished, persuasive, and primed to maximize their chances of gaining admission to their top-choice schools.
Profile building starts now: Colleges evaluate all four years of high school grades, courses, activities, summer plans, and more, that’s why starting early is critical for a successful and stress-free college admissions journey. During this phase, IvyWise counselors dive deep with students, helping them lay a strong foundation early on. Sessions are impactful and introspective as IvyWise counselors get to know students, allowing them to take advantage of all opportunities available to them, with expert guidance through every step of the way. This includes working with students in 8th grade to help them choose 9th grade courses — setting their academic track through all four years of high school.
Crafting your “story”: Who are you now, and who do you want to become? As students enter 9th and 10th grade, IvyWise counselors continue to work with them to explore and refine their academic and extracurricular activities, crafting an authentic profile that tells their story. Colleges seek well-rounded classes of students with clear goals, so our counselors help students engage in meaningful activities aligned with their genuine interests. Our mission is to help students grow into their best selves—not a version someone else thinks admissions officers want to see—and tell a story that’s unmistakably their own.
Executing Your College Prep: Most high schools don’t start college prep until the second half of 11th grade. At IvyWise, we have been building a solid profile since 9th grade, so by the start of junior year students are ready to dive into the bulk of the college prep process. At this point, sessions are more frequent with more deliverables as IvyWise counselors leverage our tutoring and research services to help students to build a balanced college list, refine and execute a relevant testing strategy, plan for college visits, and more. All the work students have put in over the last 2-3 years is now coming together as they prepare for the application process in their senior year.
Telling Your Story: IvyWise counselors work directly with students to tell the story they’ve been building over the last four years through compelling and thoughtful college applications. This begins with a strategic application plan to maximize outcomes. Students work with their IvyWise counselor on all aspects of the application process, including brainstorming, drafting, editing, and refining the personal statement essay along with any supplements. Sessions are weekly, or even daily, as we work with students to tell their story through every application and submit them to IvyWise Roundtable, which helps students hone their applications before submitting.
The IvyWise Roundtable is a unique experience that you can’t find at any other educational consultancy. As part of our team-based approach to counseling, students benefit from the entire team’s expertise in addition to the one-on-one guidance from their dedicated counselors.
Our signature Roundtable simulates the real-world admissions committee evaluation process that is used at top universities across the country. During the application season, the entire team of IvyWise counselors meets weekly to review students’ applications, including college lists, all essays and supplements, test scores, and more, giving students invaluable feedback and areas of improvement to implement before hitting ‘submit’ to their top-choice schools. This gives students an extra layer of support, allowing students to feel confident that they are submitting the best possible applications.
The holistic admissions review process is complex, and our counselors, with their extensive experience at a diverse array of colleges and universities in the U.S., know what goes into making these difficult admissions decisions.
The IvyWise Roundtable gives students the opportunity to have all their application materials reviewed multiple times by this mock admissions committee, giving them valuable feedback that they can’t get anywhere else.
This allows students to receive an extra layer of support from the entire team of expert admissions counselors in addition to their personalized, one-on-one counseling.
This team-based approach, along with our holistic approach to admissions counseling, has yielded fantastic results — with IvyWise students 5x more likely to gain admission to top schools.
Once students have drafted their applications, they submit their materials for review at the upcoming IvyWise Roundtable session.
During the Roundtable, IvyWise counselors recreate the committee review process used at top universities in the U.S. Each application and its associated materials are carefully examined, with the team discussing the student’s strengths, areas for improvement, and more. The entire team of expert counselors provides feedback, which is compiled by the student’s individual counselor.
After Roundtable, students meet one-on-one with their counselors to review the feedback and develop a strategic plan to implement suggestions, ensuring their applications are as strong as possible.
Students can continue resubmitting their materials to the IvyWise Roundtable as many times as needed until they feel their applications are the best representation of who they are as a student and person before submission.
In addition to direct admissions experience, IvyWise counselors have specialties in a number of specific areas that can give an added layer of support for students with unique guidance needs. Some common specialties include:
Athletics: IvyWise has counselors who can guide families through the intricacies that student athletes may face if they plan to compete inter-collegiately in NCAA Division I, II or III.
Visual and Performing Arts: For students applying to arts or music programs, an IvyWise counselor can help them showcase their talents in a creative and engaging way and can provide feedback on portfolios (such as art work, recordings, written pieces, etc.), while explaining how these supplements fit into the larger application picture.
Learning Differences: Our counselors have extensive experience advising students with learning differences, whether helping families find colleges with LD support or addressing these learning differences in applications. We work hand-in-hand with families to equip students with the confidence and tools they need to achieve their goals. Our counselors are trained to interpret psych-ed evaluations and IEPs, understanding how they impact students both in and out of the classroom.
Looking for expert feedback in a fast-tracked, targeted program? IvyWise offers short-term senior programs that give families access to expert college application advice to help students prepare their applications, or even offer guidance after their applications are done. While these programs don’t include access to the IvyWise Roundtable, students still benefit from personalized guidance from a member of our team of admissions experts.
The IvyWise Application Boot Camp is ideal for students who are coming to us later in the process and want to tap into IvyWise’s counseling services in a focused, fast-tracked, and affordable program. Seniors will work with an IvyWise counselor on all aspects of the Common Application, including personal and activity statements, as well as the supplement for a top-choice school.
You’ve already completed your Common Application and the supplement to your top-choice school, but are you sure it’s ready for submission? Get your application read by a former admissions officer before it really counts! An IvyWise counselor will provide comprehensive evaluation of all application aspects and make suggestions for improvement.
Are you submitting a portfolio with your college applications? The IvyWise Portfolio Review gives students a thorough, expert review of all elements of their completed portfolio and, if required, an artist’s statement by a former admissions officer and artist who reviewed applications and portfolios for both undergraduate and graduate-level art programs.
You’ve already completed the admissions process and the results are in — but they’re not what you expected. IvyWise counselors provide expert insight into what comes next. They will review all of the student’s application materials and provide a strategic plan to help maximize the chances of admission.
Enhancing philanthropic giving is important to all colleges and universities, and can play a unique part in the college admissions process in some circumstances. At IvyWise, we provide development and philanthropic counseling with a former Ivy League development and admissions officer with over 20 years of experience. Your counselor will explain the development process from the point of view of a highly selective university and discuss development priorities and methods for pledging or making a major gift.