The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Teacher recommendation letters are among the most important—yet also most overlooked—components of applications to highly selective colleges, with very few students thinking strategically about the type of information they provide their teachers.

In this episode, we examine three common questions found on teacher recommendation questionnaires that can unintentionally weaken an otherwise strong application. We explain why seemingly harmless prompts about academic struggles, intended college majors, and passions outside the classroom often create strategic problems and how students can instead provide information that better reinforces the overall themes of their applications.

More broadly, we disc...

In this episode, we answer an audience member question related to AI in admissions, specifically its use to pull student and parent data in order to forecast an applicant’s likelihood to “yield,” or enroll at a given college.

While AI has given more firepower to the process of tracking demonstrated interest and predicting enrollment, we reveal how colleges have long since been building “yield” models for years—despite many colleges and admissions officers making claims to the contrary.

Ultimately, we delineate between factors that can and cannot be controlled in the admissions data arms race—and hig...

Top colleges do not reward smart and talented students; they reward students who have harnessed their abilities toward impact in a specific area.

In this episode, using two student examples, we reveal the costs of operating without a plan—from constant jumping between interests and activities to allowing outside influences to dictate actions that are misaligned with a student’s admissions goals.

Ultimately, we argue that focus is about more than building an admissions “hook.” It provides students with a decision-making filter that reduces uncertainty, protects them from distractions, and helps ensure that years of hard wor...

For many students targeting top colleges, summer has become synonymous with college admissions. Summer programs, summer internships, and summer research are treated as though they are the key to building a competitive candidacy.

In this episode, we challenge this common view and explain why students, parents, and the college admissions industry at large dramatically overestimate the importance of summer activities.

We argue that exceptional candidates at top colleges build their resumes year-round rather than in short seasonal bursts––and don’t wait on deadlines, programs, permission, or ideal circumstances to make progress.

——
“The Game” is...

In this case study episode, we analyze the profile of a high-achieving junior interested in political science, public policy, and pre-law. Despite a 4.0 GPA, top 1% class rank, strong course rigor, and a 34 ACT, the student’s extracurricular profile currently lacks the type of focused depth and differentiation required to stand out among applicants targeting highly selective colleges.

We break down the strengths and weaknesses of the student’s academics, testing, activities, and awards, identify strategic challenges associated with positioning for political science and pre-law, and discuss how the student can build a more compelling admissions hook. Finally, we o...

In this episode, we break down a viral parent forum post from the family of a student allegedly admitted to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and MIT. The post argues that in today’s admissions landscape, even a traditional “spike” or hook––such as a student specialized in computer science, politics, or healthcare––is no longer specific or compelling enough for the most selective colleges.

Using the post as a starting point, we reinforce the growing importance of scarcity, hyper-specific positioning, and niche academic narratives in elite college admissions. At the same time, we also comment on the critical gap b...

In this case study, we walk through how to take a high-performing STEM student and strategically refine her profile to stand out at top colleges. We analyze academics, testing, awards, and extracurriculars—highlighting not just strengths but also subtle inefficiencies like gaps in core coursework, suboptimal testing strategy, and time spent on lower-ROI activities.

We next move on to identify and build a compelling theme that intersects multiple interests/activities the student has, spanning tech and music, as a way of differentiating her application from countless others similarly positioning for STEM areas––all while continuing to uplevel her sk...

In this episode, we break down how to think about high school course selection when different admissions “rules” seem to conflict. Using the case of an actual student, we explain why many students who are particularly strong in one area (e.g. STEM vs. humanities/social sciences) often create subtle red flags to admissions officers. Finally, we discuss the problems with the typical framing of “X vs Y” course selection decisions when deciding between classes and demonstrate how students can think more outside-the-box when solving admissions dilemmas so that they don’t make unnecessary trade-offs.

——
“The Game” is hosted...

In this episode, we answer five different college admissions questions from students and families, including how class rank affects students’ candidacies at top colleges and whether to drop a junior year AP class in which a student has a B average.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–...

In this episode, we answer four different college admissions questions from students and families, ranging from self-studying for AP exams to why so many college counselors continue to recommend summer programs that fail to impress top colleges.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle.

Its stu...

In this episode, we analyze 2025–26 early admissions data at arguably America’s most famous high school, Phillips Exeter Academy. Drawing upon the Exeter data, we reveal the hidden advantages that actually drive top college acceptances, from demographic scarcity to unique academic positioning and narratives.

While many families targeting top colleges often attribute acceptances to students’ core profiles and elite high school pedigrees, we use the data to show how the vast majority of students earning admission to top colleges actually stack other strategic factors to their advantage to create scarcity in the applicant pool and beat out fellow...

In this episode, we reveal five “rules of the game” of elite college admissions and why the process is fundamentally different from almost every other performance domain students—and their parents—are used to.

The core idea is simple: admissions outcomes can be modeled like a points-based competition, where the students with the highest “candidacy point totals” earn admission. Points come from obvious sources like grades, course rigor, and test scores, but also from factors such as a student’s hook, resume strength, institutional value (diverse, legacy, etc), decision plan advantages (like Early Decision), and other forms of differentia...

Course selection has arrived for many students and is just around the corner for many others. 

In this episode, we shed light on a particular “hidden trap” that many students fall into when beginning their selected courses, causing them to remain in classes that jeopardize their transcript, and ultimately, their candidacy at top colleges.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading...

Many applicants to top colleges obsess over “activities” and significantly overlook the value of more informal pursuits such as hobbies. 

In this episode, we break down seven major advantages of a student’s hobbies––from piggybacking on existing uses of a student's discretionary time to signaling high degrees of intrinsic motivation and coming across to admissions officers as potentially “less performative” versus other more formal extracurriculars.

We discuss how hobbies can play a pivotal role in identifying a student’s core passion and interest––their admissions “hook”––and even make their way into a student’s application via the activitie...

Many students and families waste time solving the wrong “problems” or worrying about the wrong things in admissions.

In this episode, we debunk five common anxieties that don’t meaningfully move outcomes, from overthinking a student’s number of SAT/ACT sittings to visiting schools that will not play a significant role in a student’s ultimate application strategy.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the comp...

Families with younger students often treat building a college candidacy as a long, low-intensity process simply because the deadline is far away. 

But, in this episode, we explain why this common mindset destroys one of the most precious competitive advantages––and any hope for differentiation among extremely talented applicants––when it comes to earning admission to elite colleges.

We argue, instead, that top outcomes don’t come from spreading effort thin over many years but rather from urgency, intensity, and compounding skills long before pressure forces action and everyone also starts “trying their hardest” as well.

Usi...

In this episode, we discuss the strategic implications of “school fit” and “college preferences” for students who are specifically aiming for admission to highly selective colleges.

When competitiveness and admissions strategy are layered in, many students end up with a highly fragile candidacy and a high risk of striking out on many, if not all, top colleges when their “preferences” end up eliminating too many colleges, especially those that are most viable.

Finally, we argue that weaker candidates with more flexible top college preferences often earn better outcomes than superior candidates whose preferences tend to be much more...

In this episode, we discuss one of the most strategic schools every applicant to top colleges should consider adding to their list and that may make or break their candidacy.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle.

Its students have recently gained admission to...

Why do elite colleges consistently reject “strong” applicants with impressive but scattered resumes? In this episode, we explain the strategic framework admissions officers use when evaluating applications—and why focus has become the dominant signal at top colleges.

Drawing on admissions psychology and institutional incentives, we outline five reasons focused applicants outperform well-rounded ones.

Finally, we address why not all focus is equally valuable: in oversubscribed areas like engineering, computer science, biology/pre-med, and business, focus alone is insufficient, and applicants in these areas must further differentiate their candidacies.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam...

In this case study episode, we analyze the profile of a high-achieving junior targeting Yale and other top colleges, with strong grades, near-perfect test scores, and a deep set of extracurriculars spanning environmental conservation, theater, and ethics.

Despite an impressive volume of resume activity, however, the student’s profile currently lacks the level of scarcity and scale required to truly compete at the Yale tier.

These problems are compounded by further strategic liabilities, such as the particular strength of Yale’s environmental and humanities-focused applicant pool, as well as other demographic headwinds (over-represented minority and over...

In this case study episode, we analyze the profile of a high-achieving 10th grade student targeting top engineering and STEM programs (MIT, Princeton, and Georgia Tech), with strong grades, advanced math/STEM coursework, and some early depth in STEM-relevant activities.

Despite a solid foundation, however, the student’s extracurricular profile currently lacks a clear, differentiated through-line, as well as activities and awards that are necessary for benchmarking the level of technical ability required for elite STEM programs.

We reorganize the student’s activities into thematic clusters and walk through several strategic paths—engineering depth, as well a...

In this case study episode, we analyze the candidacy of another high-achieving 10th grade student near the top of their class, with 7 AP courses by sophomore year and near-perfect test scores. 

However, despite their strong metrics, we highlight the biggest constraint in the student’s candidacy: their “hook” and resume-building. We dive deep into the student’s primary passions and academic strengths, including both music and math, and present several strategic paths forward with tactical steps to significantly improve the student’s resume and candidacy at top colleges.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought...

In this case study episode, we break down the profile of an academically high-achieving 10th grader, with excellent “stats”: straight As in highly accelerated and multiple grade-ahead course rigor and a 1550 SAT before beginning sophomore year.

Despite this student’s extremely strong metrics, however, their resume significantly lags behind and has the typical characteristics of most rejected profiles at top colleges: a broad number of highly common/cliche activities lacking any clear “hook” or compelling through-line supporting a focused and differentiated passion.

We analyze these current deficiencies that will significantly hurt the student’s chances of admission...

The most selective colleges do not admit normal applicants; they admit exceptional applicants. And in order to be exceptional, students must first be an exception—or not like their other high-achieving peers, the vast majority of whom will be rejected by top colleges.

In this episode, we cover six of the most common and cliché activities—sports, music, and more—that continue to fill the resumes of top college applicants, causing their applications to come across as bland, unremarkable, and easy for admissions officers at highly selective colleges to reject.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell...

Want to have us analyze your current profile for top colleges in an upcoming episode? Email us at info@greatmindsadvising.com

Unfortunately, despite possessing excellent grades, course rigor, and test scores, the vast majority of applicants to top colleges lack the type of compelling resume outside the classroom that actually differentiates accepted from rejected students.

In this episode, we unveil the costly and potentially candidacy-ending resume mistakes that tend to beset many otherwise high-achieving students aiming for highly selective colleges. 

In particular, we discuss the case of junior year students who very often f...

Want to have us analyze your current profile for top colleges in an upcoming episode? Email us at info@greatmindsadvising.com

Early decision, or placing a binding commitment, is the strongest possible signal of demonstrated interest at any top college and is often rewarded with a significant increase in a student’s chance of admission. 

In this episode, however, we consider how colleges at which a student is not applying early decision view their applications and what other signals a student who is not applying ED should or should not send.

I...

Top colleges look to admit students with focused passions or “hooks” that they’ll uniquely contribute as part of the incoming freshman class.

However, not all hooks—or the intended college majors they’re associated with—are created equal. And certain hooks/academic areas may even jeopardize students’ ability to earn admission to a top college at all.

In this episode, we spotlight what we deem the “worst major” or hook for getting into a top college. We identify nine different reasons this area of interest is so strategically disadvantaging and discuss the many pitfalls to beware—and navi...

In this episode, we dig into early vs. regular decision acceptance rates, what a deferral in the early round signals about a student’s chance of admission in the regular decision round, and how to understand and correctly analyze deferrals at various top colleges before potentially making other high-stakes decisions.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its stude...

Top colleges fundamentally look to admit future high-impact scholars and leaders. In this episode, we analyze three characteristics or “signals” top colleges aim to identify in their applicants that are highly predictive of future promise. 

We explain why different components of the application should showcase different traits, and why sending the right signals in the right places can be the difference between acceptance and rejection.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into th...

In this episode, we break down one of the most misunderstood topics in college admissions — how many times you should take the SAT or ACT. 

We cover the ideal test scores for top colleges, explain why retaking the tests carries virtually no downside, how to think about risk vs. reward, and why one top college’s “submit all scores” policy doesn’t change the strategy for most students.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic in...

For the first time, we reveal the anatomy of a “perfect” activity when applying to top colleges. Using real past examples, we illustrate why this activity is so differentiating and leaves almost every other resume-builder for elite admissions in the dust.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25...

Assuming you haven’t been living under a rock since the 90s, you (hopefully) know by now that top colleges no longer want “well-rounded” students. The same old boring applicant admissions officers at top colleges see in droves––the student who plays sports, the violin, is editor of the school newspaper, and class president. 

The type of profile that makes admissions officers at highly selective colleges fall asleep.

But there’s a catch: one part of a student’s candidacy where admissions officers do expect a high degree of well-roundedness and balanced proficiency. 

And we cover it...

In this episode, we upack what top colleges actually expect from your math track. While many students targeting top colleges will have similar course rigor, we introduce a simple “two-slider” model to determine more precisely what math and other course levels are optimal.

We consider a particularly difficult case study to further illustrate additional constraints on course selection—such as admissions officers’ strong expectation students complete four years in all core subjects—and candidacy nuances such as overall time allocation to course rigor vs. hook and resume-building. 

Ultimately, we reveal how admissions officers at top colleges vi...

In this episode, we dismantle the mythology of overrated concepts in admissions counseling such as “demonstrated interest.” We show why most of what students and families are told when it comes to applying to top colleges barely moves the needle and can even hurt a student’s candidacy by diverting attention from higher-priority concerns. 

We share a simple two-factor analysis for evaluating admissions guidance—particularly for students targeting highly selective institutions—and reveal some simple calculations that get to the heart of a student’s candidacy, how it will be viewed by admissions officers, and why many common admiss...

Masterclass Registration – Oct 15th @ 7pm ET (Zoom)

In this episode, we tackle the question of whether “gifted and talented” programs and designations like Johns Hopkins CTY or Davidson Young Scholar actually matter to top colleges. While these labels may sound impressive, we break down why admissions officers may view them as redundant with other more relevant components of a student’s application and how they can even backfire if framed poorly. 

Ultimately, we emphasize that students applying to top colleges––regardless of whether they’ve been labelled “gifted and talented” or not––should instead focus on demonstrating the pr...

Masterclass Registration – Oct 15th @ 7pm ET (Zoom)

Elite college admissions isn’t just about “getting to apply to Stanford” or “taking your shot at Penn”—it’s about layering every possible decision and advantage so that when the time comes, you’re not playing a lottery like everyone else.

In this episode, we challenge students and families to reverse engineer the process from the perspective of a senior applying to college and understand how just like a savvy poker player or investor, winning candidates compound optimal moves and progress over years to mitigate risk and stack the deck in...

In this episode, we analyze the application strategy of a high-achieving student preparing to apply Early Decision in the 2025–26 cycle. We evaluate her academic and extracurricular profile, explore how to elevate her thematic positioning around identity, language, and global impact, and cover which colleges offer the best strategic fit for her ED choice.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellenc...

In this episode, we break down the profile and application of a top student deciding between Yale/Stanford for early action in the upcoming 2025-26 application cycle.

We analyze both the strengths and weaknesses in her profile, identify admissions hooks that portray the most compelling view of her resume, and overhaul the initial draft of her application, optimizing critical themes and through-lines while removing potentially costly errors that could jeopardize her chances of admission to top colleges.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Mi...

Much of what students and families worry about or hear in college admissions actually matters less than they know. 

In this episode, we expose the most overrated pieces of the process—and traditional guidance—from the importance of leadership, service, and GPA weighting to launching “passion projects” or communicating with admissions officers.

——
“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.

Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellenc...

In this episode, we flip the script and walk through the 10 fastest ways to sabotage your college admissions chances—so you can do the opposite. 

From staying “well-rounded” to avoiding commitment to a hook, we discuss common traps that smart students fall into. We cover why being passive and waiting for permission or perfection when it comes to resume-building are silent application killers—and how trap essay prompts, misaligned majors, or poor testing strategy can hurt student candidacies. 

By emphasizing the most frequent ways students jeopardize their odds at selective colleges, we shed light on how you ca...