Elite Traveler Summer 2023

What Elite Colleges Want Now The New Era of Ivy League Admissions

By Halston Brown

If you think a perfect GPA and a 1600 SAT score will guarantee a spot for your child at Harvard or Stanford—think again. Rebecca Cohen, a freshman at Boston College, had her sights set on Yale when she applied last application cycle. “Everyone I knew was sure I would be accepted. I was a straight-A student, the captain of the volleyball team and president of the student government at my high school.” Her parents had both attended their fi rst choice colleges, and they assumed that they were more than equipped to help her gain admission to her dream school. When decision season rolled around, they were shocked to receive the news that she had been rejected from all three of the Ivies she had applied to. Rebecca’s mom Lisa recounts: “Rebecca was crushed—we had no idea where we had gone wrong. I felt like we failed her.” Rather than selecting high-achieving, well-rounded students, colleges seek to build well-rounded classes composed of students who have distinct passions, singular foci, and dynamic interests. “Most top-tier schools could fi ll their incoming freshman class several times over with 4.0 GPAs and 1600 SAT scores,” says Christopher Rim, Founder and CEO of Command Education, a boutique college consulting fi rm specializing in Ivy League and top-tier college admissions. “This means that elite colleges these days are looking for students with unique backgrounds or niche interests who are making an impact in their community.” Rebecca’s parents sought Rim’s help when their younger son,

Joshua, began high school. Rim explained to them that in order to become such an applicant, students must start exploring and tailoring their passions early in their high school career so that they can engage in meaningful experiences that convey their depth of engagement with their de fi ning interest. Joshua had high ambitions for his academic career, but he did not have a 4.0 GPA and experienced some bumps in the road along his academic journey. By working one-on-one with one of Command Education’s expert counselors, Wafa Mu fl ahi, Joshua not only demonstrated a newfound motivation for his school work and extracurricular activities, but his love of gaming fl ourished into a passion for computer programming, which he used to start a nonpro fi t dedicated to helping middle school students develop technological literacy and learn elementary coding. “We were paying $75,000 for our kids’ boarding school tuition and we assumed that the price tag would provide what it takes to get into top schools,” Lisa stated. “It wasn’t until we started working with Command that we realized how much more we should have been doing for Rebecca that the school simply couldn’t provide.” Ultimately, Joshua was accepted to Columbia, where he elected to major in computer science. Through the process, Joshua’s parents came to realize that high schools can only do so much. Parents may not have the time or the skills to convince teens how important it is to stand out—but luckily, experts canhelp. www.commandeducation.com Note: Some names have been changed for privacy purposes.