🎓 How I'm Hacking the College Admissions Process

Author

Tony Le
December 06, 2022

🎓 How I'm Hacking the College Admissions Process

Here's what we got today:

  • Coach Tony: The Origin Story

  • How I'm Hacking the College Admissions Process

  • PSAT Scores are Out... Now What?

  • Scholarship of the Day

Coach Tony: The Origin Story

First off, welcome to the first edition of our newsletter. I'm Coach Tony & I'll be your host & guide for these quick 5-min reads each day. (And right from the beginning... you're gonna see that I'm a RULE BREAKER haha. Today's first ever edition will be a little longer than 5 min... I promise to keep the rest within 5 min though)

If you're new here, who is Coach Tony? Here's my quick backstory in a nutshell:

  • Grew up in a low-income, immigrant household who didn't have college degrees

  • Navigated the college admissions process solo & got admitted to 35+ colleges

  • Turned down a full-ride at UCLA, so I can could "get away" from my parents

  • Attended & graduated from UC Berkeley, #1 ranked public university in the world

  • While at Berkeley, I worked with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions (OUA) and outreached to thousands of high school students across California

  • After graduation, OUA invited me to work as an external freshmen admissions reader (aka I read prospective Berkeley applicants & recommended "YES - admit this student" or "NO - do NOT admit this student")

  • After being a reader for multiple years, I accepted an offer to serve as an outreach Director at UCLA

  • Around the same time, I also started as a Test Prep Expert with Magoosh, where I helped students prep for the SAT & ACT. I eventually leveled up into the role of High School Liaison, where I got to play more of a strategic & consultative role

  • I was also one of the founders of a charter high school (Unity Middle College High School in Orange, CA). It was a very unique school where we implemented an early college model, with an internship/leadership development track

  • And I've been working with high school families with the college admissions process for the past 13 years, helping them get into their top & dream colleges, such as UC campuses, private colleges & even the Ivy Leagues.

I'm sure there's more fun facts you'll learn about me as we progress, but I think that's enough for a stranger to half-know who I am.

Now, here's the real reason why you all joined this email newsletter...

How I'm Hacking the College Admissions Process

When I started working with UC Berkeley's Office of Undergraduate Admissions doing outreach work at different high schools across California, I learned a LOT about college admissions. I can literally go into ANY classroom and give a talk for however long you need/want me to.

But it was when I was an external admissions reader that my mind was truly opened up. The things that I thought was important... weren't. As I read application after application & scores YES and NO to apps, I began to create hypotheses.

I started to notice that the students with "X" thing tended to have a higher YES rate than students with "Y" thing.

I started to spot trends between all the students that I personally recommended a YES & saw things that I saw were 'red flags' in the admissions reading process.

So I began to test my theories — I worked with high school students and plugged in some of my new found knowledge. Call it 'the unfair advantage' if you want. And guess what. My students started getting into incredible colleges.

UCI acceptances. UCSD acceptances. UCLA acceptances. Even UC Berkeley acceptances. Did I crack the code?

As I continued helping high school students, I unlocked my next 'secret weapon'. All of my college peers went into the Admissions world. Admissions director at XYZ College here. Admissions officer at Ivy League college there. My network was plugged into major college that my students wanted to go to.

So I asked: "Hey, what are admission readers looking for at 'XYZ College'?" I did this at every major college, and I started recognizing macro themes & frameworks. So of course I tested out my theories - I started working with students who wanted to apply to top private schools (think: NYU, Stanford, Boston U, USC, etc) and even the Ivy League colleges.

Accepted. Accepted. Accepted. We did it. I started to cracked the code on admissions. I started to test my theories and lessons with more & more students. And to date, we have helped students get into every major college & university out there.

And in this email newsletter, I'm going to share with you all my tips, tricks & strategies. Everything I have acquired over the past 13 years, I'll share it with you, so your family can have the unfair advantage in the college admissions process?

But why would I do this?

I believe if families like what they’re seeing & want me to help implement what I teach, I have coaching programs available to families quickly plug-in what I teach and maximize their admission chances.

Regardless, I ultimately want as many families to win as possible. My other favorite text besides "We would like to enroll in your coaching program" is "We were able to help our child get into XYZ college using your tips, tricks & strategies".

Either case, both YOU and our TEAM wins! :) Cue *All We Do Is Win* song.

So let's hack this college admissions process together!

PSAT Scores are Out... Now What?

So if you are a 10th or 11th grader who took the PSAT, your scores should have came out yesterday or today!

First off, CONGRATS! These tests are really an indicator of can you sit down for 3+ hours and take a test that (in my honest opinion) doesn't really tell too much — it shows how well are you at standardized tests.

How important is this? Let's think about this for a while: How many standardized tests will you be taking in college? Spoilers: Not very many. Most tests are going to be free-responses or essays. Do you take standardized tests in your careers? Very, very few in a few select industries. But your SAT or ACT scores does not have any reflection on that either.

At the end of the day, this is just a score that certain folks use for their purposes. I don't put a huge emphasis on this score as an indicator of success at all.

But now that you have your score, what should you do with it? Let's play through a few scenarios & my recommendations:

You're a 10th grader & you got a really high score: Amazing! Bad news first = your score doesn't mean anything LOL. The National Merit considers only 11th grade scores. But the good news = You're on your way to get there. It's easy to go from really high score to a national merit qualifying score. So next summer, I would plan to prep hard & get that high score on the PSAT to qualify for National Merit.

You're a 10th grader & you didn't do so hot: Great job still! You finished your first standardized test. Good news is this test doesn't really do much haha. I would focus your energy on other parts of your application that would play a bigger role — Academics & Activities.

You're a 11th grader & you got a really high score: Woohoo! Did you qualify for National Merit? There's a Selection Index Qualifying Score. This varies by state. Do a quick Google search & you can find the estimated number (the actual number won't be revealed until later, but there are very accurate ranges based on your state floating around the web). Next question is do you need to take the SAT/ACT for your colleges? If one of your college choices is required, then plan to take the SAT/ACT at least twice - one in March-ish time & one in June-ish time. You should start to prep in January (3 months is a great span to spend prepping).

You're a 11th grader & you didn't do so hot: No worries at all! Now it's the same advice as the last blurb, just without the National Merit. So... "do you need to take the SAT/ACT for your colleges? If one of your college choices is required, then plan to take the SAT/ACT at least twice - one in March-ish time & one in June-ish time. You should start to prep in January (3 months is a great span to spend prepping)."

FYI: Need Test Prep? I'm an official partner with Magoosh (SAT/ACT) & Breakthru Tutoring (ACT). Just reply with whichever test & your budget, and I can connect you.

Today's Email is brought to you by "2023 College Admissions Success Playbook"

On December 17th, I'll be going live and hosting an epic 2-3 hour masterclass on several of my Playbooks that I teach my students going into 2023.

We'll go over: Academics, Activities, Goal Setting, Careers, Internships, Clubs, Money, and more!

Best part? It's a FREE event to join & attend! There is an optional VIP upgrade with A LOT of bonuses that you're going to be glad you did!

Scholarship of the Day

Name: George S. & Stella M. Knight Essay Contest

Open to: All High School Students (9th to 10th Grade), All US Citizen & Legal Residents, Includes Home schools, public, parochial or private schools

Winner: $6,000 (first place), $3,000 (2nd place), $2,000 (3rd place), $500 (4th & 5th place)

Criteria: Submit an original 800- to 1,200-word essay based on an event, person, philosophy or ideal associated with the American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, or the framing of the United States Constitution.

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That's all for today!

-- Coach Tony LeCOLLEGE ADMISSION SECRETS

    TIME TO BE A LITTLE SELFISH... MY ONE ASK FOR YOU:

    Can you REPLY to this email & let me know on a scale of 1 to 5, how good was this newsletter?

    • 1 = How can I get my time back...

    • 3 = Meh, you can do better.

    • 5 = This is absolutely amazing. Keep these coming every single day!