Once I took on this process years in the past, it was difficult to determine the itinerary for a 12-day journey that included 9 non-public liberal arts faculties in Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania.
I wished to incorporate all the universities my daughter was all in favour of whereas discovering probably the most environment friendly route.
Complicating the journey was my daughter’s need to schedule an admission interview at every liberal arts faculty that we had been to go to and chat with the varsity soccer coach.
I additionally needed to line up motels alongside the way in which. Which may seem to be probably the most simple process, however the evening we flew to Massachusetts to begin the tour, the lodge I had booked had modified palms and put up new signage the week earlier than. As we drove round on the lookout for the lodge in a wierd metropolis, we had been perplexed why we couldn’t discover it, and that was the straightforward half in comparison with convincing the brand new chain that it ought to settle for our reservation.
Let’s quick ahead to 2025.
IvyWise, an ultra-fancy faculty admission agency, provides households a technique to remove the hassles of an East Coast faculty tour. Those that register for IvyWise’s faculty tour can anticipate deluxe transportation, fancy meals, five-star lodging and “tailor-made admissions perception” from a number of IvyWise admission counselors, who had beforehand served as an admission director at one of many visited faculties.
If you happen to’re questioning what it will value, you clearly can’t afford it. The “curated luxurious service” for one pupil and mum or dad will value $300,000.
The four-day inaugural tour—and don’t fear, extra are deliberate when you don’t catch the primary one—will launch in October aboard a personal Gulfstream G650 and embrace stops at elite universities akin to Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Expertise, New York College, Princeton and Yale.
The fortunate passengers, who will likely be staying at motels just like the 4 Seasons, will likely be picked up on non-public tarmacs and whisked away in chauffeured luxurious automobiles.
“Touring campuses beneath knowledgeable steerage empowers households to make assured, knowledgeable selections,” mentioned Christine Chu, an IvyWise counselor and former assistant director of admissions at Yale and Georgetown Universities, in a press launch.
“The unmatched entry college students will get to admissions counselors is what actually units this expertise aside. They are not simply touring campuses — they’re gaining a strategic edge within the admissions course of with personalised insights at each cease. This sort of entry is right when the objective is admission to probably the most selective establishments.”
It is at all times been simple to make enjoyable of ultra-rich households who willingly spend lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} for admission counseling at white-glove outfits like IvyWise. However now you’ll be able to pay that form of cash for a four-day journey.
Within the press launch, IvyWise states that college students alongside for this luxurious trip will achieve a “strategic edge in admissions.” After all, folks with that form of disposable cash take pleasure in an edge, whether or not or not they fly round to campuses of their non-public jet.
The elite faculties that passengers holding these $300,000 tickets will go to are the very ones that favor wealthy prospects. These establishments educate a excessive share of the ultra-wealthy, no matter what their advertising and marketing departments’ messaging suggests. At Ivy League universities, one in six college students comes from the highest one p.c of earnings.
Economists at Harvard, of all locations, generated a large splash in 2023 when it launched an exhaustive research that examined whether or not the extraordinarily wealthy college students being accepted into these establishments had extra spectacular tutorial profiles than the youngsters who fly financial system.
The conclusion was – large shock! – the system is rigged. The nation’s wealthiest college students take pleasure in an enormous admission benefit.
When evaluating candidates with the similar standardized take a look at scores and tutorial profiles, candidates with family incomes within the prime one p.c of earnings loved a 34% higher probability of getting accepted and people within the prime one-tenth of 1 p.c had been greater than twice as prone to achieve admission.
You are able to do nothing in regards to the rigged system, however you’ll be able to spend a lot much less time making a college-tour itinerary totally free.
To do that, use your favourite private AI assistant, whether or not it’s Google Gemini, Chat GPT or one thing else.
Share some fundamental data akin to journey dates, faculties to go to and what sort of lodge you’d like to remain in, from finances to chain to luxurious. It’s going to even search for locations with free parking and complimentary breakfasts if that’s your factor. And it’ll recommend meals stops.
Greatest a part of this? It’s free.