Victoria helped me to write a personal… Victoria helped me to write a personal statement and she really kept me on track with all the timelines and all the elements I needed to do- essays, activity list, portfolio and creating a website to show my work in art, music and acting.

Fantastic support to our daughter in… Fantastic support to our daughter in her graduate school journey, both thoughtful and insightful, supportive and strategic. We are deeply grateful for the guidance and support!

IvyWise IvyWise, specifically Meg, provided our daughter with useful feedback in her sophomore and junior year, giving her advice on recommended classes, projects, and summer activities. During the application process Meg provided manageable timelines and constant support as my daughter worked through her applications. As our daughter heads off to her dream school, we are grateful to IvyWise.

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?

Premium Service with a Personal touch Ivy wise takes a very personal approach to an overwhelming task for both the Parent and the Student. Though the company is a Premium solution and provides the absolute top of the line service, the interaction between staff, counselor and family is very intimate and in depth.