Hacking College Admissions: How We Got Into Every Ivy League School + $4 Million in Scholarships
By Frog Tutoring, Harold Ekeh and Victor Agbafe
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Hacking College Admissions - Frog Tutoring
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Introduction
A Word from FrogTutoring
In the increasingly competitive world of college entry, everyone needs an edge. Acceptance rates have fallen overall, with the top 100 universities accepting between 5.7% and 33.6% of applicants who apply.¹ The stakes are even higher for students who are determined to go to Ivy League schools, where acceptance rates are rather low relative to the number of applications received, generally under 10%.² Our goal with this guide is to give you the information you need to get into the college of your dreams despite these
discouraging figures.
The competitive pressure surrounding college is being felt by students, parents, and schools alike, and the resources and knowledge surrounding college entry are spread extremely thin. For instance, a 2014 Bloomberg Business article states that the college consulting industry serves 750,000 students applying to college annually, but a single high school guidance counselor is responsible for assisting an average of 473 students. This means many students are underserved, or not served at all.³
This need for individual attention drives many to seek college consultants, and 26% of students who get into top schools have used such services These services carry quite a hefty price tag, with hourly services such as individualized tutoring ranging from $85 to $150 dollars/hour and package consulting services that assist the student from application through registration ranging from $3,000 to $40,000.⁴ Some consultants offer guarantees to get students into certain schools, often at a steep price.⁵
Unfortunately, there is no single method to universally ensure a particular student will be accepted to an Ivy League university—or any college for that matter. However, there are several actions that all students can take in order to increase their chances of getting into the school of their choice. Further, while it is certainly advantageous to work with a consultant, hire a private tutor, or take a preparatory class, not everyone can afford those privileges; however, with a lot of hard work and motivation, it is possible to be successful in the college application process without those advantages or financial resources. This how-to guide will help empower all hard-working students to get into good schools.
This book is designed for both students and parents. For parents, we hope to offer advice that will allow you to guide your children through the college application process. Some of the advice offered within this guide is useful to know long before entering high school, and since many students do not realize until they are juniors or seniors in high school where they want to go to college, or sometimes even if they want to go to college, we opted to include parents in our audience. This way, engaged parents can offer appropriate encouragement at the proper moment. For students, we hope to offer in-depth advice on how to identify your goals and use them to get into the school of your choice. The earlier you realize your educational goals, the better; that way, you can focus your studies and activities in order to meet those goals.
The organizational structure of this book is meant to meet all of these audiences’ needs. The guide opens with the stories of two students, Victor Agbafe and Harold Ekeh, to help you understand their lives, achievements, and methods for success. Both got into all eight of the Ivy League schools—Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University—as well as other top schools, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, and Vanderbilt University. Together, they were offered nearly $4 million in scholarship money.
Next, you will find 10 sections of advice on critical areas of college applications preparation: Academics, Volunteer/Extracurricular Activities, Summer, the Pre-Application Process, Test Preparation, Applications, Supplemental Materials: Essays and Résumés, Post-Application, Scholarships, and The Choice. At the beginning of each section, Victor and Harold offer their personal stories and experiences, which are told in such a way that we believe is relatable to other students so that they can realize their own full potential.
Following these reflections, FrogTutoring offers tips and advice to consider when approaching the application process. We have also provided worksheets for students to complete to help identify their goals and organize the process for achieving these goals. Sometimes, these worksheets include guiding questions that help with brainstorming interests and desires. Other times, we provide tables for you to complete to organize your interests and goals and visually map out the process of achieving them. Finally, we have included several appendices that provide additional resources for the various parts of the application process, including sample application essays, websites, other books that can help you prepare for the SAT/ACT, websites that can help you decide which colleges to apply to, and even an organizational chart to help you figure out how much money you need to budget for the application process.
We hope that you enjoy hearing Victor’s and Harold’s stories and that you are inspired by their experiences and diligence. The guidance you will find here should thoroughly prepare you to begin your journey to academic success and personal empowerment. Whether you are a student or a parent, we are here to ease your journey and remove some of the stress of planning for the future. Good luck!
¹Top 100 – Lowest Acceptance Rates.
US News. N.p., 2013. Web. 15 June 2015.
²Jacobs, Peter. Ivy League Acceptance Rates: Class of 2019.
Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 15 June 2015.
³Waldman, Peter. How to Get Into an Ivy League College-Guaranteed.
Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 14 Sept. 2014. Web. 15 June 2015.
⁴Tsouvalas, Dean, and Taylor Carter. Six Things to Know Before Hiring an Independent College Counselor.
Student Advisor, Oct. 2012. Web. 15 June 2015.
⁵Waldman, Peter. How to Get Into an Ivy League College-Guaranteed.
Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 14 Sept. 2014. Web. 15 June 2015.