"The Game" podcast

[Anonymous]

Started listening but it's very alarmist! Anyone consider their advice with success or just ignore? They recommend a high degree of curation. Doesn't seem genuine and wouldn't AOs see through it all?

[Anonymous]

Like everything, take a little bit of it and use what you want to your benefit.

He has the same idea about an academic hook (or application person - from Ingenius Prep or Soundbite from SH) - its all the same stuff, just repackaged.

I found some of it helpful - esp for UMC kids.

I thought the long *6 hr* Stanford app review was helpful. But I like super in the weeds.

[Anonymous]

Love your safety options.

[Anonymous]

That podcast was also discussed in an old post:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/100/1217721.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love your safety options.

And be strategic with your ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Started listening but it's very alarmist! Anyone consider their advice with success or just ignore? They recommend a high degree of curation. Doesn't seem genuine and wouldn't AOs see through it all?

He's only talking about T20.
Passion and curation go hand-in-hand nowadays to a certain extent - that's the whole point behind summer programs, academic contests, ECs with national impact etc. Its only needed for T20. Some of his "curated ideas" seem too over the top for me (and I know schools like Stanford and Yale don't like it; but other schools EAT it up).

There are lot of other resources out there. This is just one.

[Anonymous]

The host actually has no college admissions experience. Everything he says is essentially based on his speculations.

[Anonymous]

The host's bio:

Sam
Director of Great Minds Advising
Sam graduated from the University of Southern California and is a published scientist, having spent four years as a neuroscience researcher at Columbia University. Building upon his experiences in research and academia—as well as over a decade in educational services—Sam spearheaded the Great Minds Advising program, a premium college consulting service serving students nationwide from Westchester and NYC to Silicon Valley.

Sam is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and is frequently sought after as a college admissions expert by outlets such as New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Bloomberg, NBC, and the BBC.

He writes a popular college admissions newsletter reaching over 2,500 people nationwide and hosts the podcast, "The Game: A Guide To Elite College Admissions," in which he breaks down the strategies students can employ if they wish to beat the game of elite college admissions.

Vague = no relevant experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The host's bio:

Sam
Director of Great Minds Advising
Sam graduated from the University of Southern California and is a published scientist, having spent four years as a neuroscience researcher at Columbia University. Building upon his experiences in research and academia—as well as over a decade in educational services—Sam spearheaded the Great Minds Advising program, a premium college consulting service serving students nationwide from Westchester and NYC to Silicon Valley.

Sam is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and is frequently sought after as a college admissions expert by outlets such as New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Bloomberg, NBC, and the BBC.

He writes a popular college admissions newsletter reaching over 2,500 people nationwide and hosts the podcast, "The Game: A Guide To Elite College Admissions," in which he breaks down the strategies students can employ if they wish to beat the game of elite college admissions.

Vague = no relevant experience

That’s most college counselors. To be honest, most of us could be college advisors now.

If you’ve done this for a couple of kids and you’ve been clued into a variety of resources, you know what makes a strong application. You can also recognize a weak application.

I would never pay for a full service college advisor. Pick and choose and get the best advice… Ad hoc advisory services… essay help… Application reviews from former AO…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The host's bio:

Sam
Director of Great Minds Advising
Sam graduated from the University of Southern California and is a published scientist, having spent four years as a neuroscience researcher at Columbia University. Building upon his experiences in research and academia—as well as over a decade in educational services—Sam spearheaded the Great Minds Advising program, a premium college consulting service serving students nationwide from Westchester and NYC to Silicon Valley.

Sam is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and is frequently sought after as a college admissions expert by outlets such as New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Bloomberg, NBC, and the BBC.

He writes a popular college admissions newsletter reaching over 2,500 people nationwide and hosts the podcast, "The Game: A Guide To Elite College Admissions," in which he breaks down the strategies students can employ if they wish to beat the game of elite college admissions.

Vague = no relevant experience

That’s most college counselors. To be honest, most of us could be college advisors now.

If you’ve done this for a couple of kids and you’ve been clued into a variety of resources, you know what makes a strong application. You can also recognize a weak application.

I would never pay for a full service college advisor. Pick and choose and get the best advice… Ad hoc advisory services… essay help… Application reviews from former AO…

Exactly. It’s not brain surgery. I did pay and regret it.

As for this guy, I actually like his podcast because he’s saying something different than everyone else. He isn’t wishy washy. He ONLY advises for top 10-20 colleges, so his advice doesn’t apply to my kid — but if you’re applying to the most selective universities in the country then I think he is worth listening to.

[Anonymous]

His manner of speaking (I think it's called upspeak) is super difficult to listen to, which is unfortunate because I think the contents are good.

That said, my friend called him to see how much he costs, and I believe he charges $4k per month and limits the number of students he takes per cohort. That's just an insane amount of money.

[Anonymous]

I'm the poster who can't stop thinking "Everybody hates this guy, right?" every time I listen.

I am also a counselor and think some of his critiques are valid, some just taken to an extreme, some off base, some a matter of interpretation. Some info is relevant, but the 5 hours in which he just loves to hear himself talk, then berates the student and the colleges is just irksome. He wants to set up a guru like scenario to get people to hang on his every word, doubt their good work and pay him tons of money while worshipping his greatness. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the poster who can't stop thinking "Everybody hates this guy, right?" every time I listen.

I am also a counselor and think some of his critiques are valid, some just taken to an extreme, some off base, some a matter of interpretation. Some info is relevant, but the 5 hours in which he just loves to hear himself talk, then berates the student and the colleges is just irksome. He wants to set up a guru like scenario to get people to hang on his every word, doubt their good work and pay him tons of money while worshipping his greatness. Ugh.

Or you just listen and learn what you can and apply what - frankly - makes sense to you - as a smart rational person.

Agree, if you are in the know and up to date, aware of what’s happening in this industry, have read lots of essays and looked at lots of common applications (on various websites), you already have a great radar for this stuff.

Some of his stuff makes sense to me. There was one case study that he did of a kid applying to WashU. He walked through the app step-by-step. Every single part of the application, every little thing. I actually thought it was extremely helpful as a parent.

I don’t think he’s some sort of guru. I also don’t like his speaking style and how repetitive he is. But given how little content there is out there walking through actual applications, I think the podcast can be somewhat helpful.

Had a successful T10 RD cycle this year.

[Anonymous]

His voice is grating and he didn’t even attend or work in admissions at a T20.

[Anonymous]

he sounds punchable