Bergen Record

“You have to let a college know you really care,” advised Bev Taylor, director of The Ivy Coach. “While you are on the wait list, be proactive; put some work into telling them why you think you will be a good addition to the school.”

“Bev Taylor, founder of The Ivy Coach, hopes early applications will remain an option. She thinks rejection or deferral early serves as a crucial reality check for kids who presume they’ll get into highly selective schools. “Rejection is a wake-up call for these students so they know they need some safeties,” she said. “It’s necessary to find this out in December when they still have opportunity to apply to more schools in January.”

“Bev Taylor, director of the Ivy Coach on Long Island, is more blunt. “Colleges have a hidden agenda. They are not going to say this,” she said. “They look for diversity and unless you know the culture of the school, you are not going to know what’s diverse.”