anonymous
USWorld class counselor and team World class counselor and team. Roundtable of senior counselors providing feedback was very helpful.
SJ
USHarsh 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?