This Is Not Your Mother's Harvard Admission Experience

What Elite Colleges Want Now

Twenty-five years ago, Eleanor Baker graduated as the valedictorian of her class and left her home in Boca Raton for the halls of Harvard University. When her daughter Sarah expressed her desire to follow in her mother’s footsteps and attend Harvard as well, Baker was thrilled.

“I had been accepted, so I thought, of course I was qualified to help her through the process,” says Baker. “Plus, she’s a legacy. I thought she was a shoe in—but I quickly realized how wrong I was.”

She began conferring with friends and relatives whose children had recently navigated the application process at elite universities. In the past, perfect grades and test scores were enough to gain admission to top schools, but prestigious universities are now looking for students who are specialists in their area of interest.

“Most top-tier schools could fill their incoming freshman class several times over with 4.0 GPAs and 1600 SAT scores, and an applicant’s legacy status does not carry the same weight as it did even a decade ago,” says Christopher Rim, Founder and CEO of Command Education, a boutique college consulting firm specializing in Ivy League and top-tier college admissions. “Being a legacy applicant may only tip the application process in your favor at the very end—and that is really only if the committee is choosing between candidates with nearly identical application profiles.”

Faced with the unique challenges presented by this highly competitive admissions landscape, Baker knew that she needed expert support to help Sarah achieve her Ivy League dreams. Sarah began working with Rim’s team at Command Education during the summer after her sophomore year. Rim emphasized that authenticity and genuine passion are key to any compelling application: “Elite colleges these days are looking for students with unique backgrounds and niche interests who mobilize their passions to make a demonstrable impact in their community.”

Sarah worked with Wafa Muflahi, a Senior Mentor at Command Education, to narrow her extracurricular involvements and begin intentionally pursuing her interest in sustainability. By the beginning of her senior year, she had taken advanced coursework in Environmental Science, attended a prestigious summer program focused on sustainable design, and founded a nonprofit that organized a monthly farmer’s market in a food desert in her area.

Discussing her experience, Sarah states: “I didn’t know how much I could be doing to discover my passions in a hands-on way and help my community in the process. Wafa helped me discover that I am capable of more than I even realized.”

Not only did Sarah’s self-confidence improve as she developed her interests, but she also reevaluated her future goals. As Wafa coached Sarah through the process of building her college list and considering what she really wanted out of her college experience, Sarah discovered that she would flourish in a big city, and Columbia University’s program in Sustainable Development appeared to be the perfect program through which to grow her passion. She applied to Columbia Early Decision and was thrilled to receive the news that she was admitted.

“Seeing the joy on her face when she opened that letter was priceless,” says Baker. “Two years ago, I envisioned a Harvard seal on that acceptance letter, but I am so pleased to see Sarah forging her own path and discovering a place that truly aligns with her goals for her future—and all of that is a product of Wafa’s dedicated and personalized mentorship.”

Through the college admissions journey, the Bakers found that an expert admissions consultant does not just help students get into a top school—they set them on a path of confidence, purpose, and passion for their future.