High School Applications
From prestigious Florida high schools to New England boarding prep schools to private schools in California -- we've seen it all. Our competitive advantage is not just our total understanding of the application process, but also the fact that we've been through the process themselves!
We've Done It Ourselves
Our high school application process is overseen by our co=founder and CEO, Kevin Zhen. As Senior Class President of Exeter '16, Kevin has actively engaged with faculty, students and alumni in order to continuously refine and improve ElevatEd's high school counseling services.
Since 2016, Kevin has consistently helped students from around the country gain admission to prestigious high schools such as Harker, Exeter, St. Mark's and more.
Our Founder and CEO, Kevin Zhen, at Exeter in Grade 9 in 2013 (left) vs as a senior offering graduation remarks in 2016 (right)
The ElevatEd Guarantee
Throughout this process, you can expect your consultant to:
-
Explain the intricacies of the boarding/day school admissions process
-
Develop a unique strategy based on your student profile to maximize your chances
-
Provide constant, timely feedback throughout the essay-writing process from brainstorming topics to structuring your essays and editing your drafts
-
Coordinate regular check-ins with the student and their family, to ensure your needs and expectations aren’t just being met, but exceeded
Strategy and Counseling
Whenever we begin with a student, we ask them: Who would you like to become in the next 4 years? How do you hope to grow? What matters to you? What are your dreams, hopes, ambitions and aspirations? And perhaps the most important question of all...
Why do you care about your education?
Once we have a better understanding of who the student is and what motivates them, we begin to develop a list of appropriate schools where they can see themselves as a member of a larger community while simultaneously growing as an individual.
After that, we work with the student to generate a timeline of deadlines and important dates. Our job is not to plan everything on the student's behalf, but to coach and involve them so that they take ownership of this important process. Regardless of the results, all of our students grow to become far more independent, confident and competent individuals.
Pricing
-
The pricing for all of our services detailed below is $150/50 minute session.
-
We do, however, offer a 10% discount for students who book 10 sessions or more, as well as a discount for siblings, or if students are enrolled in any of our other services (i.e. Long Term Life Coaching or any of our Essay Tutoring Services).
-
Finally, we have financial aid and scholarship available for high-achieving, low-income students. Please email kevin@elevated.school for more information.
-
Note that all of our services take place virtually over Zoom.
Offline Essay Editing
When it is difficult to coordinate schedules for synchronous meetings, or students are working on a very short time frame, offline editing is the recommended option for applicants.
Our consultants can review more than 1000 words in at most 60 minutes, which is equivalent to two high school applications.
Furthermore, our team is more than happy to assist with additional written documents, including:
-
parent or guardian statements
-
personal recommendations
-
special interest recommendations from mentors/coaches/teachers who can speak to your student's particular interests or passions
SSAT/ISEE Test Preparation
Our test preparation process is incredibly flexible. Whether your child has not taken a test yet or has already taken a few tests and wants to boost their score, we can help. Our primary method of SSAT/ISEE preparation consists of proctoring exams and developing personally relevant strategies (such as clock management and refining the process of elimination), then drilling common mistakes to ensure improvement. Typically, we find students do not need more than 2-3 sessions for ISEE/SSAT preparation with us.
About the ISEE
The Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) is an admissions test for private and independent schools.
It's administered at four levels: primary, lower, middle, and upper. All levels include a writing, a verbal, a reading, and math section that, all in all, will take students between 1 and 3 hours.
About the SSAT
The SSAT has been used for private high school admission testing since 1957.
Today, the SSAT is available in three testing modes—paper, Prometric, and SSAT at Home—with fee waivers and accommodations
to make the assessment accessible to as many students as possible.
Interview Preparation
Interview preparation is one of the most essential parts of high school applications. Unlike colleges, high school place more emphasis on a student's personality, empathy and communicative ability rather than intellectual prowess or demonstrated leadership. Aside from your essays, this is only other opportunity to show the school who you are as a person and to articulate why you would be a good fit for the school, both academically and socially.
In light of this knowledge, we highly recommend students take the interview process seriously and schedule at least 2 30-minute mock interviews with our consultants. During these mocks, we will teach applicants how to:
-
Prepare for the most common questions such as "Tell Us About Yourself" and "Why X School?"
-
Perfect your articulation and learn the art of improvisation so you are prepared for every potential question
-
Develop 3 anecdotes to rely on when in a pinch
-
Compose a list of specialized questions you can ask your interviewer to impress them