My daughters Gracie and Charlotte… My daughters Gracie and Charlotte worked with IvyWise during their senior year of high school. Both girls had a great experience with their one on one counselors and felt that the guidance was invaluable. I also had the opportunity to communicate with the counselor to check in, but I immediately realized it was not necessary. The counselors were engaging and informative and put me at ease with the process. We also found the Round Table discussion very unique with incredible feedback. The girls had the opportunity to have all of the counselors (deans of admission from schools across the country... amazing!) from IvyWise reviewing their college essay. IvyWise is cutting edge on the cusp of everything current as far as college admission and the process. They work with the kids individually to help them focus on their strengths .. they help the children decide on their own. I would 100% use them again if my daughters decide to go to graduate school. My daughters were accepted to the schools that they targeted. They were thrilled. We all were so happy with the outcome!!

Harsh critiques I liked the fact that the counselors critically evaluated the essays. However, it seemed as if their goal was to make the applicant seem inadequate and unworthy of Ivy League schools. It felt like a condescending environment and process, in general with a primary goal to criticize instead of to help applicants constructively create effective, inspiring and impactful essays. We felt as if it was more of an attack on the inadequacies of an applicant’s essays and application, versus a supportive, educational environment that uses the experience of the counselors to optimize an application. There was almost no advice on how to reword or to rewrite essay prompts. Instead, there was only repetitive criticism. If you’re going to have a group of experienced admissions counselors, they should tie into their experience and expertise in helping applicants, write impactful and inspiring essays, with more direct guidance versus constant critiques without any real answers or solutions. Additionally, the cost to go through the process is extremely high, considering the input and guidance the process provided. For those reasons, I would not recommend IvyWise unless someone had $20k + to blow. I understand the idea of not giving applicants false hope, but what about SOME hope and real concerted guidance to get them as close as possible?