Amnesty Int’l Rocks! (a Columbia University Success Story)
We’re big supporters of Amnesty International at IvyZen. Our students have started over 50 student chapters across the globe over the past 10 years and have collectively gathered over 10,000 signatures for more than a hundred political action campaigns! Today’s post talks about Amnesty International and the amazing work they do. In addition, we present a…
A Columbia Success Story: Creating a Unique and Compelling Theme
Creating a Unique & Compelling Theme for Ivy League Admissions Success + Columbia U Success Story If you have read our article about the Hedgehog concept for Ivy League admissions, then you already know what makes the IvyZen approach unique in the field of Ivy League admissions consulting. I’m talking, of course, about the concept of…
How to Create an Art Theme for Your College Application
Having a theme can give you a strong foundation on when working on your college applications. When the admissions committee sees that you have activities that are unified and well supported, they will know that they are dealing with a serious student and your application will be a lot more appealing. How do you build…
How to Create a History Theme for Your Application
As you may remember from last week, I will be spending the next couple of months discussing different academic themes that will help you stand out as a specialized and dedicated student on your college application. This week, I will talk about building a History Theme. Remember the 4 areas to cover when constructing an…
Why being Well-Balanced is a Negative Approach: A University of Pennsylvania Success Story
Theme vs. Well-Balanced Many consultants, high school teachers, counselors and parents think that because happiness in life requires a well-balanced approach, so success in college admissions does as well. Not so. This philosophy has been around for a long time but died years ago as admissions applications increased and admissions committees permanently changed the way…
How to Create a Research Leader Theme: A Stanford Success Story
I reluctantly took the meeting with David’s mom. While many consultants try to take 20-30 students a year, I focus on taking 8-9 of the very best students I can find. Students whom I can help and that will work hard towards goals we both develop. I was already at my 8th student so I was…
How to Get into an Ivy League Using the Hedgehog Concept
The Hedgehog Concept High achieving students are always looking to improve their chances of getting into Ivy League colleges. While there are plenty of people to give you advice on the perfect college essay, the perfect test score, and the perfect extracurricular activities to gain admission to top colleges, few offer a comprehensive plan for…
The Ivy League Guide to Extracurricular Activities
If you have been actively researching Ivy League admissions strategies, then you have most likely heard of the “spike” approach. Contrary to being a well-rounded student who participates in a variety of unrelated extracurricular activities, the spike approach encourages students to be very good at one thing and do everything they can to demonstrate this…
How to Create a Computational Biology Theme: A Stanford, Caltech Success Story
Richard was a biology super star at his school. He was the top student in the Biology Olympiad since the 9th grade at his school and recently qualified as a USABO finalist. He had attended a Catholic boarding school on the East Coast since the 6th grade and had been able to maintain a cumulative GPA of…
Dead weight: Seven extracurricular activities that aren’t as great as they tell you
Dead weight: Seven extracurricular activities that aren’t as great as they tell you As we have mentioned a number of times in our articles, choosing extracurricular activities that fit into your overall theme is a critical exercise. However, it seems to be a popular misconception that some extracurricular activities are all-purpose, classic, or good for all…