Q&A with Senior VP Grace: Command Education’s Unique College Admissions Expertise

A: We do have Senior Mentors who have worked in admissions offices at top schools; however, the essential expertise our Senior Mentors bring to the consulting process does not come primarily from reading applications, but from crafting them.

The seismic shifts of the last few years have led to greater transparency than ever before regarding admissions considerations, meaning that former admissions officers are no longer the only individuals who are privy to the particular considerations that matter to admissions committees. For instance, the lawsuit against Harvard revealed that admissions officers rate students on a scale of 1–6 (with 1 being the most desirable score) on the basis of their academic, extracurricular, athletic, and personal skill sets, as well as the strengths of their recommendations and their interview. Each individual reviewer’s scores are combined with others’ into a cumulative rating, which is the most critical factor in a student’s overall evaluation. Likewise, the results of the study that led to Dartmouth’s reinstatement of their standardized testing policy revealed that the submission of standardized test scores often benefits applicants, even if the scores do not align with students’ perceptions of what a “high” or “good” score is.

Finally, we rely on our years of experience mentoring students who have gotten into their dream schools—we look at the clubs they were involved in, the independent projects they built, the recommendations they secured, and the anecdotes they shared in their essays to identify the particular strengths of successful applications. Our results are the greatest asset we have to have to offer—we know firsthand what works, and we bring that knowledge to each family who works with us.

A: Given all of the newly publicized information about elite admissions that I’ve mentioned, the biggest question parents should be asking is not how do we know what colleges want, but instead how do we help students to become the kind of students colleges want. How do we guide students to discover their authentic interests and articulate those in unique ways in their applicant profiles?

It’s important to note that the admissions landscape has changed drastically—between ever-changing testing policies, the continued fallout from the pandemic, and the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action, the world of college admissions looks vastly different today than it did even five years ago. This means that former admissions officers are less equipped to help students prioritize what is important to admissions officers now than graduates who have recently succeeded in the process. Our Senior Mentors have successfully navigated the admissions process at the most elite and selective colleges in the country in recent years. We know that admissions committees are looking for intellectually curious, ambitious leaders—but more importantly, we know how to help students tap into their passions, develop and demonstrate these coveted characteristics, and do so in a way that is completely original and unique to help them stand out to admissions officers.

A: Many students don’t understand that they aren’t only compared to students across the entire nation— they are evaluated against their peers at their high school and other similar schools, as well as students who have similar interests. Colleges receive high school profiles along with students’ applications. These profiles offer insights into each school’s curriculum, academic opportunities, and resources available to students. Admissions committees use this information to gauge the academic rigor of a student’s transcript, as well as their level of self-motivation and involvement on campus—they want to know that students have taken advantage of every opportunity their school provides for them to deepen their engagement with their core passions.

Valedictorians and other students who have significant academic credentials will of course stand out in the classroom, but the majority of students—those who aren’t vying for valedictorian status—need to find ways to stand out outside of the classroom. We help students to identify and maximize the resources and opportunities they can take advantage of to further explore their passions and interests through passion projects, service to their communities, research initiatives, or extracurricular enrichment.. For instance, if a student is passionate about environmental science, we encourage them to attend beach cleanups or join environmental clubs—and create such opportunities if they don’t already exist at their school or in their communities. Our goal is to guide students to align their involvements and achievements with their interests and aspirations.

A: Senior Mentors encourage students to use our College List Generator (a resource that is publicly available online) to kickstart the process of building their personalized college list. We aim for every student to create a well-balanced list that includes a mix of about 4–7 reach, 4–7 match, and 2–3 safety schools. To determine where a student stands, we focus on two key metrics: the middle 50 percentiles of standardized test scores and GPA of admitted students at each school. If a student falls below the 25th percentile, a school is considered a reach school—and possibly too ambitious overall. Our approach is to meet students where they are and take their applicant profile to the next level from there—while we use these numbers to determine a student’s initial odds of admission, we help students stretch themselves and maximize every opportunity to succeed at even the highest reach school on their list.

We typically start crafting the college list in the spring of junior year, as students have a clearer sense of their standardized test scores, their intended major, and the type of school where they think they will fit in by then. Beyond rankings and program offerings, we also prioritize finding schools that align with a student’s personality and passions—we look at the extracurricular activities, student body, research opportunities, and campus community to determine whether a student will thrive.

A: Colleges care a great deal about community impact, so sourcing opportunities for students to explore their passions starts locally. Once Senior Mentors have a good understanding of a student’s interests, passions, and the kind of work they might enjoy doing, we look into opportunities within their communities through which they can pursue their interests. It is important for students to understand the problems that their own communities are facing—often, a student’s passion project or chosen area of impact comes organically from learning about a challenge within their community and finding ways to affect positive change using their talents. The best place to start is through students’ individual and family connections; if those do not yield an opportunity, we then expand our reach, looking online and helping students to network with members of their community they don’t already have relationships with. Whether it’s with non-profit organizations, political campaigns, public service offices, or through volunteering, becoming a changemaker in their local area helps students explore their interests and demonstrate to colleges that they will be active members of their future campus community.

Most importantly, our Senior Mentors stress that just because a position doesn’t exist in a formal manner doesn’t mean there is nothing to be pursued—we help students design opportunities that no one else is taking advantage of. There is no cookie cutter approach to the college admissions process—and we don’t seek to input students into cookie cutter opportunities. We use our extensive insights to help students find or build unique initiatives that allow them to explore their authentic interests, and eventually showcase their singular interests and passions on their college applications.

A: Local counselors may know the immediate landscape—but Command offers a national strategy and full-execution support designed for the most competitive applicants. We work with a select number of students to provide comprehensive, individually tailored mentorship that goes far beyond applications.

Our team helps students identify and secure standout opportunities (including competitive internships, research roles, and top-tier academic summer programs) that regional counselors are generally unequipped to navigate. At Command Education, each student benefits from one-on-one guidance with a full-time mentor and the collective insight of a best-in-class team. With consistent success across the Ivy League and beyond, we know what it takes to stand out, and we help families execute at that level.