The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

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The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Great Minds Advising

27 episodes

1 week ago

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 assess 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 pr...

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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 assess 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 pr...

Show more...

Education for Kids

Episodes (20/27)

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

App Deep Dive: From Hook to ED Strategy

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 assess 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 pr...

1 week ago

3 hours 9 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

App Teardown for Student Targeting Yale & Stanford

In this episode, we break down the profile and application of a top student deciding between Yale and 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...

2 weeks ago

4 hours 15 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Most Overrated Aspects of College Admissions

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

1 month ago

2 hours 40 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

10 Ways To Ruin Your Admission Odds

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 sink student candidac...

2 months ago

31 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Is Legacy A Backdoor To The Ivy League?

In this episode, we answer three listener questions on the following topics: how to best strategically position a pre-law studenthow to take college courses that improve your candidacythe role of legacy in admission to top colleges and early 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 company ...

2 months ago

2 hours 15 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

3 Lies Admissions Officers Love to Tell

In this episode, we reveal three common pieces of misinformation that admissions officers so often convey to applicants and their families, breeding a false sense of complacency and a dangerously naive view of admissions at top colleges. In particular, we cover: how applications are actually reviewed, with many being discarded long before they are given a “holistic review” as admissions officers purportthe great myth of “test optional,” or that students failing to submit strong scores are not...

2 months ago

1 hour 24 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Exposing Top Private HS Matriculation Records

In this episode, we perform a case study analysis on acceptance and matriculation data from one of the top private high schools in the U.S. and a well-known Ivy League “feeder school.” We cover the following:Most Recent Year and 5-Year Ivy League MatriculationsIvy League Acceptance Data for “Unhooked” Students (i.e. non-legacy/donor, recruited athletes, etc)Hooked vs. Unhooked Student Acceptance Rates & GPAsDrawing upon this data, we argue that alluring college track records at many top U...

9 months ago

46 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Stanford Application Review

In this deep dive episode, we analyze the profile and application of a current high school senior applying to Stanford. We pinpoint many critical strategic mistakes affecting the quality of the student’s presentation across both the Common Application and the Stanford supplements––errors that are very often committed by top academic students in general and students targeting Stanford in particular.——“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.Great Minds Adv...

9 months ago

5 hours 41 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

“Help With My Vanderbilt Essay!” & Answering Other Student Qs

In this episode, we return to the popular online forum Reddit to answer college admissions questions from students across the country. In particular, we cover the following topics:Additional Information Section: Good or Bad?Including A Third Teacher or Supplementary RecommendationEarly Action Plans That Prohibit Early Decision To Other CollegesHelp With My Vanderbilt Essay!Strategic Implications Of Parent Colleges & BackgroundsSend Us A Question: info@greatmindsadvising.com——“The Game” is...

10 months ago

1 hour 30 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Application Strategy With HS Senior

For the first time, we analyze the profile of a current HS senior targeting three top colleges: WashU, Vanderbilt, & Michigan.While this student possesses a strong academic foundation (perfect GPA in 15 APs, 34/36 ACT, ranked #1 in HS class), he significantly lacks the type of extracurricular profile, depth, and admissions “hook” that will differentiate students targeting highly selective institutions. Given the student is already in the process of applying to colleges and cannot fun...

10 months ago

4 hours 1 minute

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

10 Ways To Build An Admissions Hook

In this episode, we cover ten primary ways students can build their admissions hooks to differentiate their applications at top colleges, the pros/cons of each activity type, and several highly common activities that tend to contribute minimally to—and even potentially jeopardize—a student’s odds of acceptance.——“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 appli...

11 months ago

2 hours 6 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Episode 16 — Do The PSAT & National Merit Matter?

In this episode, we break down the timeline and significance of the PSAT and various National Merit awards that are associated with strong PSAT scores:PSAT for students in grades earlier than 11th (e.g. PSAT 8/9 + PSAT 10)The PSAT/NMSQT exam in 11th gradeScore ranges for juniors who might be in play for National Merit awards connected to their PSAT/NMSQT scoresTimeline for PSAT/NMSQT score returnCalculation of the National Merit “Selection Index” that determines National Merit awardsCommended...

11 months ago

1 hour 19 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Episode 15 — Should You Contact Admissions Officers?

In this episode, we dive into the many different types of “demonstrated interest” and the particular case of contacting admissions officers:Why “demonstrated interest” is generally overrated and over-discussed compared to other candidacy-building factors for students targeting highly selective colleges“Strong” vs “weak” demonstrated interest: defining highly strategic forms vs. mere “checkbox” itemsOther types of “quasi-demonstrated interest” or “yield signaling” that can affect admissions od...

11 months ago

1 hour 21 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Episode 14 — Application Red Flags To Avoid

Admissions Masterclass Registration (8/7 via Zoom)In this episode, we cover the much more strategic attitude—versus a purely “instructions-following” mindset—students should take into the application process for each and every piece of information admissions officers will view, including components that might seem like pure “data entry.”We highlight negative perceptions and various red flags that can be associated with variables such as (1) parent occupations, (2) students' future plans/caree...

12 months ago

47 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Episode 13 — The Truth About Summer Programs

Admissions Masterclass Registration (8/7 via Zoom)Think college summer programs are helping your case for admission to highly selective schools?Think again. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the widely popular—and vastly overrated—college summer programs in which so many high school students enroll and why almost all of them fail to actually impress admissions officers at top colleges.We discuss several critical issues with these programs, including why they are often looked down u...

1 year ago

1 hour 25 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Episode 12 — An Extraordinary Applicant?

Admissions Masterclass Registration (8/7 via Zoom)In this episode, we dissect the candidacy of a student from the Wall Street Journal piece, "To Get Into The Ivy League, Extraordinary Isn't Always Enough These Days."The piece spotlights Kaitlyn Younger, a Texas high school senior with a 3.95/4.0 unweighted GPA in 11 AP courses, 1550/1600 SAT, top marks on AP exams, and a rank of #23/668 (top-3%) in her graduating class.Younger applied to 12 colleges, was rejected by 9, waitlisted at 1, and on...

1 year ago

1 hour 7 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Episode 11 — “What Are My College Chances?” & Other Student Qs

In this episode, we respond to real questions in the popular online forum Reddit from students across the country. In particular, we cover answers to the following:Which letters of recommendation do I send?How important is course rigor freshman and sophomore year?How do you come up with your college essay topic?Which GPA do colleges use?What are my college chances?——“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorshi...

1 year ago

1 hour 35 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Episode 10 – How To (Actually) Interpret Acceptance Data

Many students and families heavily rely on the college acceptance data (GPA/test scores vs. college outcomes) of past applicants from their high school to make high-stakes decisions about their school list, selection of early decision colleges, and likely overall college outcomes. In this episode, we break down how past college acceptance data is reported at many high schools, and the significant limitations and shortcomings of using such data for students applying to the most selective ...

1 year ago

1 hour 6 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Episode 9 — Rejected Premed Case Study

In this episode, we review the profile and applications of a premed student who was rejected from both of their early decision schools, roughly top-25 to top-35 national universities. This student attended a top-1% US high school, possessed a 3.9 unweighted GPA, 99th percentile test scores, took 15 AP/honors courses, and had what many would consider an excellent resume filled with many “leadership positions” and “service activities.”In our case study, we break down several of the student’s ap...

1 year ago

51 minutes

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Episode 8 — School List Mistakes & Myths

In this episode, we cover many factors—including costly mistakes, myths, and traps—related to students’ school selection. In particular, we address the following:School VisitsWhy it doesn’t make sense to visit highly selective colleges before mid-11th gradePrioritization of best and best-fit colleges for visits, especially schools that offer binding/restrictive early plans (such as Early Decision)Decision PlansDifferent types (ED1/2, REA/SCEA, EA, RD) and how much each improves your admission...

1 year ago

1 hour 5 minutes