How to Get into the Ivy League: The Secret the Tiger Moms Don’t Want You to Know

The landscape of elite college admissions has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. Whereas last generation’s college applicants were debate team captains and student paper editors, this generation’s college hopefuls are minting NFTs and trading Ethereum.

With larger applicant pools than ever before and acceptance rates dropping to precipitous lows, Ivy League and other top schools are looking for more than perfect grades and test scores. Given the unprecedented access that today’s applicants have to technology, information and online resources, colleges want to see applicants who have the enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity to investigate the world around them and chart their own path within it—all while making an impact in their communities.

In the midst of these evolving expectations from top-tier colleges, motivated Gen-Z applicants and their strategy-savvy parents have discovered the key to navigating the cutthroat admissions process: enlisting the expertise of a private college consultant.

But don’t expect a recommendation anytime soon—given the fiercely competitive nature of college admissions, many parents regard their college consultant as their best-kept secret. 

“When parents find an expert consultancy, they don’t want anyone else in their circle to get the same expert guidance and strategy,” says Roberta Seiler, Partner and COO of Command Education, a boutique private college consulting firm. “Parents who are in-the-know understand that the landscape of elite college admissions is more competitive and cutthroat than ever before. Top colleges are seeking to diversify their student bodies and are unlikely to accept multiple students from the same private school.”

Although they may have vastly different backgrounds and come from all over the world, the parents who work with Command Education are all seeking the same solution for their children: an individualized, white-glove approach to help their child not only gain acceptance to the most prestigious schools in the U.S., but also gain the independence and agency to take control of their education.

“With most prestigious schools having received a record-breaking number of applications in 2023, they could fill their incoming freshman class several times over with 4.0 GPAs and 1600 SAT scores,” says Christopher Rim, Command Education’s Founder and CEO. “Ultimately, what will make an applicant stand out to elite colleges and universities is authentic passion and specialized interests—developing those things requires years of strategic planning and well-informed guidance. We work like an incubator for students, providing support and expertise to help students develop their own passion projects, build a meaningful nonprofit or run their own company.”

Zoe, of New York, was one such student. She performed well at Trinity School, receiving mostly straight A’s and scoring a 1560 on her SATs. When she began working with Command Education Senior Mentor Wafa Muflahi, she had a clear passion for writing and spent time after school tutoring elementary school students in English. As she worked with Wafa to find opportunities to tutor non-native English speakers, Zoe became aware of the plight of newly arrived refugees to the U.S. and the lack of educational resources available to them. She hoped to combine her lifelong love of writing with her desire to aid refugees but wasn’t sure where to start.

Wafa worked with Zoe to source opportunities to connect with refugees in need. After extensive research, she partnered with a global aid organization that provided her with the contacts necessary to get her project off the ground. Zoe developed her own curriculum and started a book club for young refugees, through which she helped them strengthen their English language skills and introduced them to her favorite childhood novels and stories—from Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree to Homer’s Odyssey. Eventually, Wafa encouraged Zoe to expand the project’s original New York chapter to several chapters in her region, and Zoe became a promising name in refugee advocacy. By dedicating so much time and energy to her passion, Zoe not only made an impact but also earned admission to her dream school, Brown University.

“I have always known that Zoe was talented,” says her mom, Vanessa. “But I had no idea what she was truly capable of until she started working with Wafa. Command Education gave Zoe a competitive edge in the application process—I couldn’t have helped her achieve these results without their expertise.”

Vanessa isn’t the only parent to see her student open an acceptance letter to their dream school. Considering the consultancy’s successes, it is no wonder that parents are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars annually for Command Education’s services—and that they don’t want to share their secret. Over the last five years, 94 percent of students who worked with the firm were accepted into one of their top three schools, and during the 2021-22 application cycle, 100 percent of their students who applied early decision to Harvard University were accepted.