Our Philosophy

Finding Your Best Fit Colleges

No matter where a student falls along the academic continuum, the college match process is integral to success and happiness at the post-secondary level. This is no less true for high-ability students than it is for any other student. The Ivy League is not a monolith; each school has its own strengths, philosophy and culture. Are you interested in engaging in Columbia's wonderful core curriculum or having the latitude that Brown's open curriculum offers? Do you want to be in an urban setting at Penn, or be able to take advantage of the "great outdoors" at Dartmouth?

Here's a more important question: is an Ivy League college even the right choice for you? Is it your best match? There are multiple, wonderful colleges and universities beyond the Ancient Eight that may provide a much better fit, based on curriculum, size of classes, the advisement and mentorship provided by faculty, opportunities to do research with faculty, climate, the student body, and countless other factors.

For example: you may "fit better" at a liberal arts college, an engineering school or a music conservatory. You may be far happier at a research university that provides you with the ability to create your own major, which offers a specific program or interdisciplinary course of study, or that allows you to matriculate into a combined bachelor's/graduate program of interest.

A school that allows you the flexibility of delaying the declaration of a major until the end of sophomore year may be a better match than a school that requires you to apply to a specific college within the university, or a specific major within a given college.

You may "fit better" at a particular school because of scholarship awards you may receive, the ability to live on campus, the availability of career-related internships or coops, access to a specific club or activity, opportunities to perform community service or access to top-notch non-academic facilities.

It's ridiculous to select a school based on an artificial ranking. Many of the factors that comprise a college's reputation, such as faculty, curriculum strength, cutting-edge research, career services, and the ability of its students, are not easily quantifiable. Hence, any rankings must be taken with a grain of salt.

It's equally frivolous to select a college based on a decal you or your parents can put on the back of a car. Your college choice is not a trophy to be won; rather it should be based on research about the appropriateness of a given institution. After all, you'll be there for four years; perhaps more. You want to know that you'll be happy, flourish and learn. You want to be prepared for future academic, economic and professional success. Of course, if an Ivy League school or schools are great matches, we'll make certain that they will be on your college list.

IvySelect will assist you in finding your best fit, clarifying your options and demystifying the process of selecting colleges. We'll help reduce the stress in your trying to make sense of it all and wondering whether you've made the right selections. With our assistance, you'll be confident in your college application choices.

Why We Limit Our Practice to Working with Top Students

As the parent of gifted and highly gifted children, our Director developed a natural affinity for, and an interest in, working with intellectually engaged students seeking the best educational opportunities available. He enjoys working with students who exhibit a passion for learning and the motivation to challenge themselves academically, athletically and through extracurricular activities of real value. This has been, and continues to be, the guiding idea behind IvySelect.

To be blunt, specializing in working with high-ability students is not a particularly popular concept with many of his very able professional colleagues who work with students across the academic spectrum. Mr. Goran has heard on many occasions that top students don't require the same level or amount of help in the college admissions process as their peers who are less academically talented. He has also been told that there is more satisfaction to be had in helping less-able students. Furthermore, it has been suggested that it is unfair not to serve all students, and that limiting a practice to high-achieving students smacks of elitism.

Without question, all students should have access to able college admissions consultants. The vast majority of private counselors work with a continuum of students in all GPA ranges. We, at IvySelect, have chosen to leave that service to other educational consultants who feel so motivated.

We do so not because we are elitist. Rather, we believe that high-achieving students applying to top schools require MORE assistance than their fellow students applying to less competitive schools, and we want to help. The process of applying to selective and highly selective colleges is more stressful, more competitive and more time consuming.

With all due respect to our fellow consultants, we derive more satisfaction from helping diffuse the high level of stress that top students and their families often suffer, by guiding them through the process in a caring, calming and knowledgeable manner. We also understand that applying to selective colleges takes significantly more time than applying to less competitive colleges, due to the myriad supplemental essays, short answers, creative supplements, resumes, interviews, etc., that are part of the process. We spend that extra time with our students willingly, because we want them to make their best case for admission.

The extra time involved in the admissions process to selective colleges is not simply due to the quantity of work, because of supplemental essays and the like. It is also a function of the quality of the work — the extra effort involved in making students stand out, and presenting their finest effort through a variety of means, including strategic planning and the drafting, redrafting and polishing of essays that exude passion, creativity and authenticity.

At IvySelect, we have a clearly defined role and mission. We specialize in working with the top 25% of students for heartfelt reasons. As a result, we're excellent at what we do. The corollary is that our students are very successful, because we truly care about their happiness and achievement.

Positioning versus Packaging

Members of the college admissions community complain about some students being "packaged." Their gripe is that these students, whether of their own accord or at the direction of others, present an artificial picture in order to gain admission to selective colleges. The admissions community feels that this false representation undermines both the students and the process. We agree.

Packaging designed to foster a picture of a student that is not true, or that offers artificial interests, works against the student as well as the college. How can a best fit be made when it is based on deception?

Simply participating in an activity, or a group of activities, to pad a resume is wrong. Taking courses because you think it will impress an admissions officer is equally foolhardy. Packaging is about doing things because you think they will "look good" to the admissions staff at colleges. In the final analysis, packaging rings hollow.

The difference between packaging and positioning is more than a matter of semantics. At IvySelect, we take the time to really get to know you. We'll help you uncover academic and extracurricular interests that you didn't know you had. We will assist you in developing those interests that you already do possess.

The idea is not to "game the system." When we talk on the web site about strategic planning and positioning, it is about taking your activities, academics and interests and helping you present them in the most effective manner. We want you to explore, learn and develop your passions. Ultimately, you will be a more compelling and competitive candidate to top colleges if you pursue genuine interests and take them as far as you can. IvySelect will assist you in broadening your perspective, refining your interests and providing you with the tools to present yourself with passion and authenticity.