Episodes

8h ago

In this episode, we discuss one of the most strategic schools every applicant to top colleges should consider adding to their list and that may make or break their candidacy. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

2d ago

Why do elite colleges consistently reject “strong” applicants with impressive but scattered resumes? In this episode, we explain the strategic framework admissions officers use when evaluating applications—and why focus has become the dominant signal at top colleges. Drawing on admissions psychology and institutional incentives, we outline five reasons focused applicants outperform well-rounded ones. Finally, we address why not all focus is equally valuable: in oversubscribed areas like engineering, computer science, biology/pre-med, and business, focus alone is insufficient, and applicants in these areas must further differentiate their candidacies. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Dec 11

In this case study episode, we analyze the profile of a high-achieving junior targeting Yale and other top colleges, with strong grades, near-perfect test scores, and a deep set of extracurriculars spanning environmental conservation, theater, and ethics. Despite an impressive volume of resume activity, however, the student’s profile currently lacks the level of scarcity and scale required to truly compete at the Yale tier. These problems are compounded by further strategic liabilities, such as the particular strength of Yale’s environmental and humanities-focused applicant pool, as well as other demographic headwinds (over-represented minority and over-represented as a female in both humanities and Yale’s pool more broadly). We stress-test the student’s resume against Yale-level standards, identify the most advantageous positioning, and outline specific strategic moves—refining academic course selection, sharpening interdisciplinary narratives, and scaling high-impact initiatives—to close the gap between a strong profile and a truly Yale-caliber candidacy. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Dec 9

In this case study episode, we analyze the profile of a high-achieving 10th grade student targeting top engineering and STEM programs (MIT, Princeton, and Georgia Tech), with strong grades, advanced math/STEM coursework, and some early depth in STEM-relevant activities. Despite a solid foundation, however, the student’s extracurricular profile currently lacks a clear, differentiated through-line, as well as activities and awards that are necessary for benchmarking the level of technical ability required for elite STEM programs. We reorganize the student’s activities into thematic clusters and walk through several strategic paths—engineering depth, as well as promising adjacent themes such as women-in-STEM positioning and science communication—to significantly strengthen her candidacy. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Dec 4

In this case study episode, we analyze the candidacy of another high-achieving 10th grade student near the top of their class, with 7 AP courses by sophomore year and near-perfect test scores. However, despite their strong metrics, we highlight the biggest constraint in the student’s candidacy: their “hook” and resume-building. We dive deep into the student’s primary passions and academic strengths, including both music and math, and present several strategic paths forward with tactical steps to significantly improve the student’s resume and candidacy at top colleges. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Dec 2

In this case study episode, we break down the profile of an academically high-achieving 10th grader, with excellent “stats”: straight As in highly accelerated and multiple grade-ahead course rigor and a 1550 SAT before beginning sophomore year. Despite this student’s extremely strong metrics, however, their resume significantly lags behind and has the typical characteristics of most rejected profiles at top colleges: a broad number of highly common/cliche activities lacking any clear “hook” or compelling through-line supporting a focused and differentiated passion. We analyze these current deficiencies that will significantly hurt the student’s chances of admission to top colleges and discuss potential solutions. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Nov 25

The most selective colleges do not admit normal applicants; they admit exceptional applicants. And in order to be exceptional, students must first be an exception—or not like their other high-achieving peers, the vast majority of whom will be rejected by top colleges. In this episode, we cover six of the most common and cliché activities—sports, music, and more—that continue to fill the resumes of top college applicants, causing their applications to come across as bland, unremarkable, and easy for admissions officers at highly selective colleges to reject. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Nov 20

Want to have us analyze your current profile for top colleges in an upcoming episode? Email us at info@greatmindsadvising.com Unfortunately, despite possessing excellent grades, course rigor, and test scores, the vast majority of applicants to top colleges lack the type of compelling resume outside the classroom that actually differentiates accepted from rejected students. In this episode, we unveil the costly and potentially candidacy-ending resume mistakes that tend to beset many otherwise high-achieving students aiming for highly selective colleges. In particular, we discuss the case of junior year students who very often find themselves in a dilemma whereby their resume is severely lacking and yet they have very little time for the significant improvements required. We call attention to the limited number of “remaining moves” on the board these students have before the clock runs out and how they need to think strategically about factors such as value, risk/probability of success, and allocation of time and resources to potential resume-builders if they wish to preserve any chance of gaining admission to a top college. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Nov 18

Want to have us analyze your current profile for top colleges in an upcoming episode? Email us at info@greatmindsadvising.com Early decision, or placing a binding commitment, is the strongest possible signal of demonstrated interest at any top college and is often rewarded with a significant increase in a student’s chance of admission. In this episode, however, we consider how colleges at which a student is not applying early decision view their applications and what other signals a student who is not applying ED should or should not send. In addition, we zoom out and discuss how various top colleges view common themes and activities in students’ applications relating to service, leadership, and summer programs–-particularly focusing on how students should best tackle their resume-building in a way that actually stands out, versus blends in, at top colleges. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Nov 13

Top colleges look to admit students with focused passions or “hooks” that they’ll uniquely contribute as part of the incoming freshman class. However, not all hooks—or the intended college majors they’re associated with—are created equal. And certain hooks/academic areas may even jeopardize students’ ability to earn admission to a top college at all. In this episode, we spotlight what we deem the “worst major” or hook for getting into a top college. We identify nine different reasons this area of interest is so strategically disadvantaging and discuss the many pitfalls to beware—and navigate—for students going down this path. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Nov 11

In this episode, we dig into early vs. regular decision acceptance rates, what a deferral in the early round signals about a student’s chance of admission in the regular decision round, and how to understand and correctly analyze deferrals at various top colleges before potentially making other high-stakes decisions. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Nov 6

Top colleges fundamentally look to admit future high-impact scholars and leaders. In this episode, we analyze three characteristics or “signals” top colleges aim to identify in their applicants that are highly predictive of future promise. We explain why different components of the application should showcase different traits, and why sending the right signals in the right places can be the difference between acceptance and rejection. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Nov 4

In this episode, we break down one of the most misunderstood topics in college admissions — how many times you should take the SAT or ACT. We cover the ideal test scores for top colleges, explain why retaking the tests carries virtually no downside, how to think about risk vs. reward, and why one top college’s “submit all scores” policy doesn’t change the strategy for most students. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Oct 30

For the first time, we reveal the anatomy of a “perfect” activity when applying to top colleges. Using real past examples, we illustrate why this activity is so differentiating and leaves almost every other resume-builder for elite admissions in the dust. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Oct 28

Assuming you haven’t been living under a rock since the 90s, you (hopefully) know by now that top colleges no longer want “well-rounded” students. The same old boring applicant admissions officers at top colleges see in droves––the student who plays sports, the violin, is editor of the school newspaper, and class president. The type of profile that makes admissions officers at highly selective colleges fall asleep. But there’s a catch: one part of a student’s candidacy where admissions officers do expect a high degree of well-roundedness and balanced proficiency. And we cover it in this episode. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Oct 23

In this episode, we upack what top colleges actually expect from your math track. While many students targeting top colleges will have similar course rigor, we introduce a simple “two-slider” model to determine more precisely what math and other course levels are optimal. We consider a particularly difficult case study to further illustrate additional constraints on course selection—such as admissions officers’ strong expectation students complete four years in all core subjects—and candidacy nuances such as overall time allocation to course rigor vs. hook and resume-building. Ultimately, we reveal how admissions officers at top colleges view students’ course selections and rigor––and how to best allocate time and attention to all the various components of one’s candidacy to ensure the highest ROI. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Oct 21

In this episode, we dismantle the mythology of overrated concepts in admissions counseling such as “demonstrated interest.” We show why most of what students and families are told when it comes to applying to top colleges barely moves the needle and can even hurt a student’s candidacy by diverting attention from higher-priority concerns. We share a simple two-factor analysis for evaluating admissions guidance—particularly for students targeting highly selective institutions—and reveal some simple calculations that get to the heart of a student’s candidacy, how it will be viewed by admissions officers, and why many common admissions “tactics” are fatally flawed and can lead to rejection. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Oct 13

Masterclass Registration – Oct 15th @ 7pm ET (Zoom) In this episode, we tackle the question of whether “gifted and talented” programs and designations like Johns Hopkins CTY or Davidson Young Scholar actually matter to top colleges. While these labels may sound impressive, we break down why admissions officers may view them as redundant with other more relevant components of a student’s application and how they can even backfire if framed poorly. Ultimately, we emphasize that students applying to top colleges––regardless of whether they’ve been labelled “gifted and talented” or not––should instead focus on demonstrating the practical impact of their abilities, especially as related to their hook or field of interest. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Oct 8

Masterclass Registration – Oct 15th @ 7pm ET (Zoom) Elite college admissions isn’t just about “getting to apply to Stanford” or “taking your shot at Penn”—it’s about layering every possible decision and advantage so that when the time comes, you’re not playing a lottery like everyone else. In this episode, we challenge students and families to reverse engineer the process from the perspective of a senior applying to college and understand how just like a savvy poker player or investor, winning candidates compound optimal moves and progress over years to mitigate risk and stack the deck in their favor. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jul 24

In this episode, we analyze the application strategy of a high-achieving student preparing to apply Early Decision in the 2025–26 cycle. We evaluate her academic and extracurricular profile, explore how to elevate her thematic positioning around identity, language, and global impact, and cover which colleges offer the best strategic fit for her ED choice. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jul 15

In this episode, we break down the profile and application of a top student deciding between Yale/Stanford for early action in the upcoming 2025-26 application cycle. We analyze both the strengths and weaknesses in her profile, identify admissions hooks that portray the most compelling view of her resume, and overhaul the initial draft of her application, optimizing critical themes and through-lines while removing potentially costly errors that could jeopardize her chances of admission to top colleges. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jun 10

Much of what students and families worry about or hear in college admissions actually matters less than they know. In this episode, we expose the most overrated pieces of the process—and traditional guidance—from the importance of leadership, service, and GPA weighting to launching “passion projects” or communicating with admissions officers. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

May 27

In this episode, we flip the script and walk through the 10 fastest ways to sabotage your college admissions chances—so you can do the opposite. From staying “well-rounded” to avoiding commitment to a hook, we discuss common traps that smart students fall into. We cover why being passive and waiting for permission or perfection when it comes to resume-building are silent application killers—and how trap essay prompts, misaligned majors, or poor testing strategy can hurt student candidacies. By emphasizing the most frequent ways students jeopardize their odds at selective colleges, we shed light on how you can avoid the same pitfalls. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

May 21

In this episode, we answer three listener questions on the following topics: how to best strategically position a pre-law student how to take college courses that improve your candidacy the role of legacy at top colleges and early application strategy —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

May 13

In this episode, we reveal three common pieces of misinformation that admissions officers often convey to applicants and their families, breeding a false sense of complacency and a dangerously naive view of admissions at top colleges. In particular, we cover: how applications are actually reviewed, with many being discarded long before they are given a “holistic review” as admissions officers purport the great myth of “test optional,” or that students failing to submit strong scores are not at a disadvantage how the limitations of students’ high schools––such as lacking course offerings, missing high-value extracurriculars, or issues such as grade deflation––can be penalized by admissions officers if students don’t take the initiative to overcome them Finally, we emphasize the importance of understanding admissions at the most selective colleges is not about sugarcoated notions of fairness or “having done enough”; rather, it is a fierce competition that rewards those willing to maximize their candidacy to the greatest possible extent and do “whatever it takes.” —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Nov 7, 2024

In this episode, we perform a case study analysis on acceptance/matriculation data from one of the top private high schools in the U.S. and a well-known Ivy League “feeder school.” We cover the following: Most Recent Year and 5-Year Ivy League Matriculations Ivy League Acceptance Data for “Unhooked” Students (i.e. non-legacy/donor, recruited athletes, etc) Hooked vs. Unhooked Student Acceptance Rates & GPAs Drawing upon this data, we argue that alluring college track records at many top US high schools—particularly top private high schools—often derive not from the school’s “name brand” but rather from a disproportionate number of students with other well-established admissions advantages. Finally, we discuss the highly limited applicability of overall high school track records to individual cases—particularly to “unhooked” and overrepresented minority students (e.g. Asian/Indian)—and the harmful effects of relying on school track records or any type of peer comparisons in the admissions process. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Oct 23, 2024

In this deep dive episode, we analyze the profile and application of a current high school senior applying to Stanford. We pinpoint critical strategic mistakes affecting the quality of the student’s presentation across both the Common Application and the Stanford supplements––errors that are very often committed by top academic students in general and students targeting Stanford in particular. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Oct 4, 2024

In this episode, we return to the popular online forum Reddit to answer college admissions Qs from students across the country. In particular, we cover the following topics: Additional Information Section: Good or Bad? Including A Third Teacher or Supplementary Recommendation Early Action Plans That Prohibit Early Decision To Other Colleges Help With My Vanderbilt Essay! Strategic Implications Of Parent Colleges & Backgrounds Send Us A Question : info@greatmindsadvising.com —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Sep 24, 2024

For the first time, we analyze the profile of a current HS senior targeting three top colleges: WashU, Vanderbilt, & Michigan. While the student possesses a strong academic foundation (perfect GPA in 15 APs, 34/36 ACT, ranked #1 in HS class), he significantly lacks the type of extracurricular profile, depth, and admissions “hook” that will differentiate students targeting highly selective institutions. Given the student is already in the process of applying to colleges and cannot fundamentally alter much of his profile at this very late stage, what can we do to help? In this deep dive episode, we devise a comprehensive strategic plan for the student’s applications that will make best use of the strengths he does possess at the time of application, as well as leverage other strategic factors and late-stage candidacy building opportunities to maximize the student’s chances of admission despite many significant obstacles. In particular, we cover the following: Student Profile & Analysis The Missing “Hook” Problem Strategic Positioning: Factors & Liabilities to Consider for Direct Admit Business/Engineering Analyzing Student’s Responses to Common Essay Prompts Devising New, Optimal “Hook” For Student Late Stage Resume-Building: “Low-Hanging Fruit” Opportunities Still Available to Reinforce The Hook Decision Planning: Optimal Use of Early Decision 1, Early Decision 2, & Early Action Overall Application Psychology + Strategy Optimal Reporting of Test Scores (ACT, AP) Personal Essay: Content Considerations, Reinforcing Hook, Traps/Cliches, and Structure Activities/Honors/Additional Information: What To Include, Order, Relevance to Hook, and Writing Compelling Descriptions WashU Supplement: Major Selection & Why The Hook Isn’t = Major Per Se Optimal “Why Major” Essay Response: Content, Structure, Considerations Optimal “Community” Essay Response: Approach for Diversity vs. Non-Diversity Students, Why So Many Students Write “Cliche” Essays, and Devising Outside-the-Box Answers Submitting Q1 Senior Grades —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Sep 6, 2024

In this episode, we cover ten primary ways students can build their admissions hooks to differentiate their applications at top colleges, the pros/cons of each activity type, and several common activities that tend to contribute minimally to—and even potentially jeopardize—a student’s odds of acceptance. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Aug 27, 2024

In this episode, we break down the timeline and significance of the PSAT and various National Merit awards associated with strong PSAT scores: PSAT for students in grades earlier than 11th (e.g. PSAT 8/9 + PSAT 10) The PSAT/NMSQT exam in 11th grade Score ranges for juniors who might be in play for National Merit awards connected to their PSAT/NMSQT scores Timeline for PSAT/NMSQT score return Calculation of the National Merit “Selection Index” that determines National Merit awards Commended Student and National Merit Semifinalist Awards & How Score Cutoffs Are Determined For Each Timeline for Notification to Seniors How Significant Are National Merit Awards at Highly Selective Colleges? How Should National Merit Awards Be Presented In Applications? Some top colleges that sponsor National Merit Scholars and the top college with the largest National Merit Scholarship —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Aug 22, 2024

In this episode, we dive into the many different types of “demonstrated interest” and the particular case of contacting admissions officers: Why “demonstrated interest” is generally overrated and over-discussed compared to other candidacy-building factors for students targeting highly selective colleges “Strong” vs. “weak” demonstrated interest: defining highly strategic forms vs. mere “checkbox” items Other types of “quasi-demonstrated interest” or “yield signaling” that can affect admissions odds 80/20 rule for demonstrated interest and maximizing leverage The poor risk-to-reward ratio of admissions officer contact and why it constitutes “weaker” demonstrated interest at top schools Ideal vs. less ideal conditions for contact Yale admit example —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Aug 5, 2024

Admissions Masterclass In this episode, we cover the much more strategic attitude—versus a purely “instructions-following” mindset—students should take into the application process for each and every piece of information admissions officers will view, including components that might seem like pure “data entry.” We highlight negative perceptions and various red flags that can be associated with variables such as (1) parent occupations, (2) students' future plans/career interests, (3) inclusion of social security numbers, (4) description of activities and accomplishments, and (5) writing style. Taken together, we show how subtle variations in a student’s responses can alter the perception of their uniqueness, likability, and even the authenticity of the application itself. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jul 30, 2024

Admissions Masterclass Think college summer programs are helping your case for admission to highly selective schools? Think again. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the widely popular—and vastly overrated—college summer programs in which so many high school students enroll and why almost all of them fail to actually impress admissions officers at top colleges. We discuss several critical issues with these programs, including why they are often looked down upon by selective colleges, the significant opportunity costs associated with not pursuing other higher-value and more impressive activities, and why such programs may even hurt a student’s case for admission by signaling privilege or tipping a student’s top-choice school to other colleges on their list. We consider proper use cases and best practices for college summer programs, recommending these programs be used sparingly and adjacent to much higher-value activities rather than assuming a primary role in a student’s resume. Finally, we address the shortcomings of many other types of programs or summer experiences for students targeting highly selective colleges, such as purely recreational camps, teen tours, extensive family or personal travel, and—yes—even that service trip to Guatemala. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jul 24, 2024

Admissions Masterclass In this episode, we dissect the candidacy of a student from the Wall Street Journal piece, "To Get Into The Ivy League, Extraordinary Isn't Always Enough These Days." The piece spotlights Kaitlyn Younger, a Texas high school senior with a 3.95/4.0 unweighted GPA in 11 AP courses, 1550/1600 SAT, top marks on AP exams, and a rank of #23/668 (top-3%) in her graduating class. Younger applied to 12 colleges, was rejected by 9, waitlisted at 1, and only earned admission to two safety schools, including Arizona State, which she now attends. We highlight several critical errors or failed opportunities in Younger's profile, including her highly common resume and presentation as a "well-rounded" student. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jul 16, 2024

In this episode, we respond to questions in the popular online forum Reddit from students across the country. In particular, we cover answers to the following: Which letters of recommendation do I send? How important is course rigor freshman and sophomore year? How do you come up with your college essay topic? Which GPA do colleges use? What are my college chances? —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jul 11, 2024

Many students and families heavily rely on the college acceptance data (GPA/test scores vs. college outcomes) of past applicants from their high school to make high-stakes decisions about their school list, selection of early decision colleges, and likely overall college outcomes. In this episode, we break down how past college acceptance data is reported at many high schools, and the significant limitations and shortcomings of using such data for students applying to the most selective colleges. In particular, we cover the following: The Limited Predictive Power of GPA/Scores When Applying to Top Colleges The Necessity of Only Comparing to Past Applicants Who Applied Under the Same Decision Plan (ED, EA, RD, etc) Why Graph Averages Are Misleading How To View Outliers and Avoid Wishful Thinking Data Expiration: What HS Graduating Classes You Should Be Using The Imperfections of Self-Report Data and Various Inaccuracies/Missing Information The Importance of Sample Size and the Tradeoff With High Quality Comparison Cases Complexities of Test Score Reporting: Test-Optional, Superscores, and Beyond Limitations of GPA, Accounting for Senior Year Grades, and Why The GPA Admissions Officers See Is Often Not The One Reflected in HS Data Systems Final Takeaways: Best Practices for Analyzing and Using High School Acceptance Data —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jul 2, 2024

In this episode, we review the profile and applications of a premed student who was rejected from both of their early decision schools, roughly top-25 to top-35 national universities. This student attended a top-1% US high school, possessed a 3.9 unweighted GPA, 99th percentile test scores, took 15 AP/honors courses, and had what many would consider an excellent resume filled with many “leadership positions” and “service activities.” In our case study, we break down several of the student’s application weaknesses and errors, including the following: The Difficulty of Premed Positioning The Importance of All HS Grades, Not Just Overall GPA The Importance of Relevant Coursework (e.g. Premed = STEM course rigor/grades) Analyzing Test Scores by Subject/Section vs Overall Scores Awards That Matter/Don’t Matter for Admission Resume Analysis Why Leadership & Service Aren’t Enough Highly Common/Cliche Activities That Don’t Separate Students Branding of Activities Application Mistakes Poor Essay Hooks/Endings “Kitchen Sink Syndrome” (too many themes) Poor and Non-Unique School Knowledge/Details Failure to Show Intellectual Promise Misplacement of Information & Voice (Narrative vs. Analytic) Throughout Application —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jun 25, 2024

In this episode, we cover many factors—including costly mistakes, myths, and traps—related to students’ school selection. In particular, we address the following: School Visits Why it doesn’t make sense to visit highly selective colleges before mid-11th grade Prioritization of best and best-fit colleges for visits, especially schools that offer binding/restrictive early plans (such as Early Decision) Decision Plans Different types (ED1/2, REA/SCEA, EA, RD) and how much each improves your admissions odds How your decision plan may improve/hurt your odds of admission more than merit-based factors (GPA, course rigor, test scores, resume, etc)The Myth of School List “Balance” “REA/SCEA” Schools 7 schools whose early plans are the highest-risk The “top college with the worst decision plan” How ED and Decision Plan Selection Can Make or Break Your Candidacy Measuring risk vs reward Admissions Traps Yielding: how overqualified students get rejected Shell Plans: decision plans used by colleges to lower acceptance rates/increase prestige and under which students have no real chance of admission The “Game” of College Admissions: How Colleges Outmaneuver Students Via Targeted Marketing, Tracking, & Forecasting Intent to Enroll —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jun 18, 2024

In prior episodes, we’ve determined that top colleges seek not only students with excellent grades, course rigor, and test scores but also students with compelling admissions “stories” or “hooks” related to their academic/intellectual passions and how they will contribute to their future college—and hopefully, the world—in some specific, unique way. However, just as with students’ “metrics” (grades, rigor, scores), a focused resume is still not necessarily sufficient for gaining admission to highly selective schools. And many students build their “hooks” in areas that are the most competitive, highly common, and may lead admissions officers to question whether the student is perhaps just using the college as a stepping stone to a “prestige career.” In this deep dive episode, we dig into the strategy of how students build their hooks, how to make them more unique, and how to analyze evidence for students’ passions while also considering the practicalities of time, competition, and more. While students often build their focus in areas that minimize their chances of standing out in top applicant pools, we hope this episode will help many have a better sense of the considerations that should go into picking optimal candidacy-building paths and how to “course correct”—or reposition—one’s hook as needed over time all the way up until final presentation in the applications to ensure the best odds of admission. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jun 12, 2024

She was the Valedictorian of her high school. Perfect GPA in over twenty advanced classes, taking Calculus BC by 10th grade and college math courses by 11th grade. All perfect/near-perfect test scores, tennis captain, multiple leadership positions, a scholarship to a prestigious math program, and state math champion. To boot, as a female applying for math/engineering, she was an underrepresented applicant and hailed from a U.S. state that might be seen as contributing to campus diversity. Yet, this student was rejected from each and every Ivy League school to which she applied, Stanford, and other highly competitive colleges. So what went wrong? In this episode, we do a deep dive into one of the most critical “soft factor” components top schools use to differentiate candidates: the essays. In particular, we analyze this student’s Harvard supplement, revealing the mistakes she made—from writing about cliche topics many students discuss to including content that would have been more effective if placed in other components of the application. By revealing these costly—although highly common—application errors, we hope to shed light on why this student failed to gain admission and how you can avoid making the same mistakes. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

Jun 4, 2024

Summer is upon us, and many rising seniors—if they haven’t already—are turning their attention to college applications. Among the most important components they will be tackling is the Common Application “Personal Essay”, often simply called “the college essay.” For almost all students, this will be the most important essay colleges read, and for some, it may even be the only one they read. But there’s just one problem: almost every student writes the wrong type of essay. In this episode, we break down why the title “Personal Essay” is itself misleading and fails to tap into what many top colleges seek: students not merely with personality but those with a purpose. Students who show promise as future scholars and leaders capable of impacting their college—and ultimately, the world—in some singular, hyper-specific way. Merging both the “personal” and “intellectual” qualities colleges seek, we discuss how students should go about tackling this essay, illustrate with examples, and argue the much more strategic, proactive approach we introduce must be adopted across all application components. Finally, for students earlier in the college process, we motivate the importance of building the kinds of candidacies—and reference experiences—from which stand-out essays will ultimately be formed and without which many essays will fall short regardless of how well they are crafted. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

May 28, 2024

College admissions has never been more competitive: high GPAs, strong test scores, and a well-rounded resume—once sufficient for an acceptance—are now common features of most applications to highly selective colleges. In this episode, we reveal what top colleges nowadays seek: students with compelling admissions stories centered around a focused academic passion, or “hook.” Using the process we’ve employed with our own students to help them gain admission to top colleges, we break down how students need to go about identifying their own unique narrative, how to build and continually reshape it over time, and how their approach should differ depending on how close—or far away—they are from actually applying to colleges. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

May 21, 2024

When many parents applied to college around three decades ago, college lists and outcomes assumed a fairly predictable, linear order. You had your “safeties,” schools to which you were almost certain to be admitted, your “targets,” schools to which you could reasonably expect to be admitted, and “reaches,” schools to which you would most likely not be admitted. Nowadays, however, college outcomes seem less predictable than ever, with students often being rejected or waitlisted even at schools that might be classified as “safeties” and “targets.” What is going on? In this episode, we distill the variation in outcomes to different application components and requirements at various colleges, the decision plans under which a student applies at each college, and other factors such as “yielding” (whereby a college pre-emptively rejects an overqualified student viewed as unlikely to enroll). While many may claim that admissions is a random process, we instead take the perspective that there are systematic differences between applications that students can control and other differences of which they can at least be aware so as to optimize the precision—and reduce the variability—of their outcomes. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

May 14, 2024

You’ve probably heard of Early Action, but do you know what Single-Choice and Restrictive Early Action are? Seven of the top colleges (Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, CalTech, Georgetown, and Notre Dame) offer one of these unique sub-types of Early Action that place significant restrictions on the other colleges to which students under these plans may apply. In this episode, we analyze what these plans entail, why Single-Choice and Restrictive Early Action are often confused, and what they can mean for your admissions prospects if you are targeting one of the schools above. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

May 7, 2024

While many students and parents are caught up with AP exams, senior course selection, college visits, college essays, requesting teacher letters of recommendation, in this episode, we reveal the one thing that absolutely every high school junior must do right now if they want to ensure they are on the path to admissions success at top colleges. And spoiler alert: you’re probably not doing it. Admissions Masterclass —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web : greatmindsadvising.com Contact : greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter : greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email : info@greatmindsadvising.com FB : facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG : instagram.com/greatmindsadvising