Ivy Consultants

Application season gets busy faster than most students expect.

And once the school year is fully underway, some of the things that could have made the process easier become much harder to change.

So we asked four Ivy Consultants mentors to share one piece of advice they believe applicants should hear sooner rather than later.

👉🏻 Swipe through the carousel to read all four.

Future diplomats and policymakers should pay attention to Columbia University’s latest move.

Beginning in Fall 2026, Columbia College and General Studies students will be able to take foundation courses for the new Global Affairs and Public Policy major.

Developed by SIPA, GAPP will combine insights from politics, economics, history, ethics, regional studies, and data analysis with practical preparation for policy work.

To declare the major, students will need to enter a two-round lottery taking place between December 2026 and March 2027.

💬 Would you choose GAPP over a traditional political science or international relations major?

Graduation marked both a conclusion and a new beginning for our former mentee and current consultant-coordinator, Ewa.

This year, she graduated magna cm laude from Columbia University with majors in Creative Writing and Sociology. 🙌🏻

Through her studies, she applied narrative and empirical insights to challenges emerging in culture and society. Alongside her academic work, she gained experience in journalism, legal administration, and professional communication.

These interests now provide a strong foundation for her next step as she prepares for law school and continues to explore the relationship between media, innovation, and public policy.

Congratulations, Ewa! We are pleased to celebrate this achievement with you and look forward to following what comes next. 🎓

Four years ago, our consultant Mateusz Kaczmarczyk left Warsaw for Boston with a suitcase, a student visa, and plenty of uncertainty.

Recently, he graduated from Harvard University with two degrees completed concurrently: a Bachelor’s in Economics from Harvard College and a Master’s in Regional Studies: Eastern Europe & Central Asia from Harvard GSAS.

It is a path that would traditionally take six years. Mateusz completed it in four. 👏🏻

Being able to follow Mateusz’s progress firsthand makes this graduation particularly meaningful to us. During that time, we have seen him develop both academically and as a mentor within our team.

From navigating his own transition to Harvard to helping younger students prepare for theirs, Mateusz has turned his experience into practical and thoughtful guidance.

Congratulations on reaching this milestone, Mateusz. We look forward to seeing where you take this experience next. 🎓

Before aiming for the “Ivy Holy Trinity,” ask whether any of these universities truly fit you.

Harvard University, Yale University, and Princeton University may share exceptional reputations, but they do not offer the same academic or student experience. So look closely at:

▪️curriculum structure,

▪️departmental strengths,

▪️teaching style,

▪️campus setting,

▪️student culture,

▪️and the opportunities available in your specific field.

Do not confuse being able to gain admission with having a strong reason to attend.

A useful test is to remove the university’s name from the equation. Would its curriculum, community, and opportunities still make it one of your top choices?

What can a flower tell Harvard University that a list of achievements can’t?

👉🏻 That is one of the questions we explored while analysing Matthew’s personal statement for The Harvard Crimson’s latest collection of successful Harvard essays.

In his essay, roadside black-eyed Susans become a metaphor for grief, vulnerability, and healing. Through vivid imagery and concrete sensory details, Matthew allows the reader to experience his story rather than simply explaining how he felt.

The lesson for applicants? Strong imagery should do more than make an essay sound beautiful. It should reveal something meaningful about your inner world and help the reader understand why an experience mattered.

Read our full analysis in The Harvard Crimson to discover what makes the essay stand out, and where it could have gone even further. You can access the link in the comments. 🔗

Ivy Consultants is proud to sponsor The Harvard Crimson Business Competition. 🙌🏻

The event brings students from around the world to Harvard College for several days of business learning, networking, and a final pitch contest.

As part of the competition, we led a panel on US admissions, joined by 13 of our consultants (current students and graduates of top universities) alongside our CEO, Krzysztof Daniewski.

They shared honest reflections on the choices and experiences that shaped their own application journeys. The conversation offered students a closer look at how strong applications are built over time, through revision, and with a clear sense of purpose.

It was a pleasure to contribute to a room full of ambitious students with bold ideas and global perspectives. 🧠

Thank you again to the organisers for this opportunity!

Oxbridge open days are not a day out. Treat them like research instead.

Most students leave with a tote bag and a prospectus, but those who eventually get in leave with answers.

So try to visit more than one college because they have genuinely different cultures that you can't get a feel for online.

If your department runs a taster lecture, attend it. It will tell you more about what the next three years actually look like than anything else in the programme.

In the end, during your visit, you're not just deciding if you can get in. You're deciding if you even want to be there. And the open day is the only honest chance to figure that out.

📅 Oxford: 1–2 July | Cambridge: 9–10 July

Oxford or Cambridge - where are you headed? 👇

Big news for anyone with Yale University on their list! 😱

Yale has officially reinstated the SAT/ACT requirement for all incoming applicants beginning with the Class of 2031.

After six years of test-flexible admissions, standardised scores are back as a mandatory part of the application.

Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis noted that these scores help identify well-prepared candidates, particularly those from less privileged backgrounds — when reviewed as part of a holistic process.

If you're planning to apply, now is the time to make test prep a real priority.

💬 Do you think bringing back mandatory testing makes the process fairer, or does it put certain students at a disadvantage? We'd love to hear your take.

Polish talent has always punched above its weight. The question is whether the system around it does too.

Poland is now one of the 20 largest economies in the world, but the model that got it there is running out of road. What comes next depends entirely on whether the country's best minds get the education they actually deserve. 🧠

Unfortunately, most of the time, they don't because mass education systems aren't built for exceptional people. And that gap is quietly costing Poland more than it realises.

It's a conversation we've been having for years. This month, we had it in Forbes.pl in our article and in Aleksander Fedoruk's piece on MBA education, where our CEO & Founder Krzysztof Daniewski, shares what truly great education should deliver.

Grab your copy or read it online from the link in the comments. 🔗

[Paid Partnership with Forbes Poland]