The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Great Minds Advising
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In this podcast series, we break down the complex game that is elite college admissions and the strategies and pitfalls students need to adopt or beware of if they hope to win admission to one of America’s top colleges. “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.  Sam 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 based in the New York Metropolitan Area and serving students nationwide from NYC to Silicon Valley. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). For the first time, in this podcast, Sam and his team reveal the secrets and strategies they have used to help their students consistently beat the game of elite college admissions. Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

  1. 5D AGO

    5 Rules Of The Elite Admissions Game

    In this episode, we reveal five “rules of the game” of elite college admissions and why the process is fundamentally different from almost every other performance domain students—and their parents—are used to. The core idea is simple: admissions outcomes can be modeled like a points-based competition, where the students with the highest “candidacy point totals” earn admission. Points come from obvious sources like grades, course rigor, and test scores, but also from factors such as a student’s hook, resume strength, institutional value (diverse, legacy, etc), decision plan advantages (like Early Decision), and other forms of differentiation that colleges reward. The winning “point cutoff” is always relative to supply and demand—top schools effectively accept the highest-point applicants needed to fill a class. Finally, we discuss the game’s most dangerous feature: there is no scoreboard. Students don’t know how many points they have, how many points other applicants have, and the points are only tallied once—at the end—when it’s too late to adjust. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

    32 min

  2. JAN 27

    Avoid This Hidden Course Selection Trap

    Course selection has arrived for many students and is just around the corner for many others.  In this episode, we shed light on a particular “hidden trap” that many students fall into when beginning their selected courses, causing them to remain in classes that jeopardize their transcript, and ultimately, their candidacy at top colleges. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

    44 min

  3. JAN 23

    Why Hobbies Are Admissions Cheat Codes

    Many applicants to top colleges obsess over “activities” and significantly overlook the value of more informal pursuits such as hobbies.  In this episode, we break down seven major advantages of a student’s hobbies––from piggybacking on existing uses of a student's discretionary time to signaling high degrees of intrinsic motivation and coming across to admissions officers as potentially “less performative” versus other more formal extracurriculars. We discuss how hobbies can play a pivotal role in identifying a student’s core passion and interest––their admissions “hook”––and even make their way into a student’s application via the activities list, additional information section, and essays. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

    41 min

  4. JAN 21

    5 Admissions Worries That Waste Time

    Many students and families waste time solving the wrong “problems” or worrying about the wrong things in admissions. In this episode, we debunk five common anxieties that don’t meaningfully move outcomes, from overthinking a student’s number of SAT/ACT sittings to visiting schools that will not play a significant role in a student’s ultimate application strategy. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

    25 min

  5. JAN 8

    The Real Cost of “We Have Plenty of Time” in Elite Admissions

    Families with younger students often treat building a college candidacy as a long, low-intensity process simply because the deadline is far away.  But, in this episode, we explain why this common mindset destroys one of the most precious competitive advantages––and any hope for differentiation among extremely talented applicants––when it comes to earning admission to elite colleges. We argue, instead, that top outcomes don’t come from spreading effort thin over many years but rather from urgency, intensity, and compounding skills long before pressure forces action and everyone also starts “trying their hardest” as well. Using analogies from a host of domains, we illustrate why the best candidates at elite colleges don’t operate with a “normal” mindset that trades off time and intensity, but rather stack capabilities, advantages, and serious execution when most others remain complacent. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

    54 min

  6. JAN 6

    How “School Fit” May Ruin Your Top College Odds

    In this episode, we discuss the strategic implications of “school fit” and “college preferences” for students who are specifically aiming for admission to highly selective colleges. When competitiveness and admissions strategy are layered in, many students end up with a highly fragile candidacy and a high risk of striking out on many, if not all, top colleges when their “preferences” end up eliminating too many colleges, especially those that are most viable. Finally, we argue that weaker candidates with more flexible top college preferences often earn better outcomes than superior candidates whose preferences tend to be much more rigid, exposing their candidacy to strategic liabilities and greater risk. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

    48 min

  7. 12/19/2025

    The Top College You May Regret Not Visiting

    In this episode, we discuss one of the most strategic schools every applicant to top colleges should consider adding to their list and that may make or break their candidacy. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

    43 min

  8. 12/17/2025

    The Logic of Elite College Decisions

    Why do elite colleges consistently reject “strong” applicants with impressive but scattered resumes? In this episode, we explain the strategic framework admissions officers use when evaluating applications—and why focus has become the dominant signal at top colleges. Drawing on admissions psychology and institutional incentives, we outline five reasons focused applicants outperform well-rounded ones. Finally, we address why not all focus is equally valuable: in oversubscribed areas like engineering, computer science, biology/pre-med, and business, focus alone is insufficient, and applicants in these areas must further differentiate their candidacies. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/ IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

    24 min
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In this podcast series, we break down the complex game that is elite college admissions and the strategies and pitfalls students need to adopt or beware of if they hope to win admission to one of America’s top colleges. “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.  Sam 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 based in the New York Metropolitan Area and serving students nationwide from NYC to Silicon Valley. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle. Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early). For the first time, in this podcast, Sam and his team reveal the secrets and strategies they have used to help their students consistently beat the game of elite college admissions. Web: greatmindsadvising.com Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

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