Ivy Scholars - Missouri City, Texas

Andy P.

Guys - thanks so much for all of your help.

From Dad: Ryan's energy and enthusiasm for our son's education was immensely reassuring. His meticulousness and thoughtful approach to strategy issues made it very easy to trust him. His flexibility around our schedule and willingness to be there whenever needed (even in the middle of a very busy time for his company) helped our son stay on task and learn the organization that Ryan was teaching him. His expertise was extremely impressive. I don't think we could have found the right university or written the essays we needed without him. The consistency and attention to detail we received from Ivy Scholars was critical in reaching our goals. The SAT instructor, Alex, was also very good.

From Mom: From the moment we met Ryan, I knew we were going to have a good experience. He was warm and professional, and focused on our son's well-being. From the first day, he helped our son understand what really made up his criteria for a good fit college. As parents going through the application process for the first time, my husband and I were immensely relieved by the plan Ivy Scholars laid out, which saved us a lot of stress and made researching colleges clearer. Sasha's risk management analysis for how to choose safety, target, and reach schools answered questions that our high school college counselor just wasn't qualified for. At the end, Sasha had really made friends with my son - he was the first person he called when he got into Duke!

From our Blue Devil:

I worked mainly with Sasha, Mateo, and Alex but also with other members of the Ivy Scholars team. Sasha did a fantastic job helping me grow as a writer, a thinker, and a test-taker. He made sure that he was going to be able to help me, regardless of my attitude at first. I remember when he took me out to lunch after our first meeting. I had put the bare minimum effort into the homework he gave me and was expecting him to criticize me. I thought a college admissions consultant would be pushing me to look as competitive and prestigious as I possibly could and act like someone I'm not in interviews.
Instead, Sasha and I talked about philosophy, psychology, and classics for two hours. He really cared how I studied, what my goals were, how I expressed myself, and how I wanted to evolve as an adult in my career. When we got to talking about homework, I knew he really wanted to know what I thought and felt about the assignments he gave me.
He was also very helpful in staying on top of deadlines and essays. I know I would have missed some deadlines and had a lot more trouble finishing the 27 essays without his help. They also wouldn't have been as good, since I learned a lot about what colleges want to see in essays and "show don't tell." His whole attitude was very different than I expected and I'm glad I have worked with someone with his level of talent. I wouldn't have made it to Duke without him.

Victoria U.

Our son had worked hard on building his candidacy with grades, test scores and extracurriculars, but needed some assistance pulling it all together on his college applications. During our first meeting with Sasha, he immediately understood our son’s unique story, and was so enthusiastic about helping him tell that story through his activities list, honors/awards list and essays. Sasha matched our son with his mentor, Ari, who was equally as enthusiastic and really took the time to get to know our son. Ari guided our son through the challenging process of writing A LOT of essays, providing expert insight on what the various schools were looking for in the essay responses. Ari asked thought-provoking questions that resulted in our son producing some of his best writing. Ari was also fun to work with and my son loved their meetings.

The college application process is a roller coaster of emotions. When our son was deferred and then waitlisted at schools that we thought were targets, Sasha reassured us regarding our son’s candidacy and encouraged us to keep the faith. And he was absolutely right…in the end, our son was accepted to WashU, USC, Georgetown, Columbia, Yale and Harvard! He has a very difficult decision to make regarding which school to attend, and we can’t thank Ivy Scholars enough for their help in getting him to this point!

Filippov L.

We have worked with Ivy Scholars to develop a plan for our daughter's college admission. Sasha and his team worked with her on SAT/ACT prep, SAT subject tests, and college admissions essays.

In addition to college preparation, Sasha was instrumental in helping her adjust to transfer to a new school mid junior year. Sasha's dedication to our daughter's goals, positive encouragement, deep knowledge of the college testing and admissions process, and experience in working closely with children and families, all greatly contributed to her admission into an Ivy League university.

Charly and Mateo are also incredible coaches who know how to relate to young people much better than any school counselor or college advisor I've ever met. It has been a real pleasure working with them.

We are now starting to work with Ivy Scholars again to help develop a plan for our son's high school education and ultimate college major.

We highly recommend the Ivy Scholars to anyone who has a child in High School who is planning on applying to college. Sasha and his team are very easy to talk to, know how to approach children and young adults and understand complicated family dynamics. Every member of Ivy Scholars is a talented and outstanding individual who is not only a pleasure to work with but is also a privilege to know.

Alex R.

Before meeting Sasha and the Ivy Scholars team, I was frightened by the college admissions process. Admissions nowadays are ever-so competitive, and I was worried I may not be able to stand out amongst the thousands of applications from around the world. I’ll be honest and share that I was not the most academically structured or organized, not knowing all that I was supposed to do to make my college application make me stand out as a candidate for America’s top-tier universities. I was struggling to get a desirable score on my standardized tests, and couldn’t seem to get an effective test-taking strategy to boost my scores to the top.

I worked with Sasha personally on creating the effective strategies needed to consistently score 1400+ on SAT practice exams. Sasha showed me the path to confidence not only in my test-taking experience, but also as he helped me build my resume to include activities I would not have dreamt of before our working together. Sasha inspired me to think outside the box and use what resources I had in front of me to create something new and intriguing not only to impress colleges, but to help me find my sense of worth in a world similarly competitive with challenging philosophies on how to find a meaningful life. Now an entrepreneur with a successful online business, I credit Sasha’s guiding hand in helping me find my path in this crazy busy world we live in.

After receiving unbelievable scholarships from various top-producing institutions across the country, I ultimately decided to attend Texas Christian University, for their small class sizes and close proximity to home. As a computer science major, I have close connections with all of my professors, using some of the relationship building techniques Sasha taught me in our many interpersonal sessions together.

Sasha’s guiding wisdom and discernment on my life as he listened to my challenges made all the difference. It is for these reasons I can confidently recommend Sasha and the entire Ivy Scholars team as the premier test prep, candidate building, and admissions coaching company. Through Ivy Scholars I have met some long-term mentors, like Sasha, who I will continue to hold dearly even though it's been years since our program together has ended.

Ethan K.

Ivy Scholars was hands down the best help for my college application process. All the staff I worked with were extremely intelligent and were able to help raise my ACT test scores as well as write phenomenal essays in a short amount of time. Normally, my writing is considered above average. However, when applying to top tier colleges in the nation, it most likely wouldn't have been enough. Having Sasha and other staff members help brainstorm ideas and provide revisions made my essays truly stand out (and when I say stand out, I mean stand out). I believe that Ivy Scholars is what gave me the little extra push I needed to get accepted into my dream school.

Ayush K.

Ivy Scholars was instrumental in helping me understand more about myself, and improving my ability to describe myself to a new person. While the workload featured many hours of development, coming back to the drawing board a couple times, and slowly finishing every college supplemental, Ivy Scholars was great at navigating the process for a family that was applying to US colleges for the first time. I would extend my recommendation to anyone who needs help with the writing process as well, as I was able to make my essays captivating and they are testaments of my accomplishments thus far. I am glad to be reaping the results of such a process, getting my first-choice school, and that is thanks to Mateo and Sasha.

Jacob P.

Before I reached out to Ivy Scholars, I was absolutely nervous and afraid of the whole College admissions process. I truthfully did not know where to start, and or how well I would present myself to the admissions committees. As a current student, I would definitely describe my strengths as a motivated and encouraged learner, however, definitely not the most refined student there is. I tend to succeed in test settings as opposed to having to write essays that count towards academic progress. Working with Ivy Scholars helped me fine tune my writing skills and allowed me to present myself as best as I could. Having worked with them for several weeks, I was able to craft my work into something that stood out to the Admissions Committees. As a result, I was admitted into my dream school and given the opportunity of a lifetime. Throughout my childhood, Harvard College was seen as nearly impossible to be accepted to, however, through hard work and perseverance, this dream become reality. This was not done alone. Thanks to Ivy Scholars, I was able to be seen as individual who was unique and stood out from the rest, and am forever grateful for the work that was invested in me from this fine company. If you are struggling with College Admissions and where to start, look no further. You will have no regrets when choosing Ivy Scholars and be able to turn your dreams into reality.

Bri A.

The incredible team at Ivy Scholars understand top-tier college admissions with unparalleled expertise. They were fully vested in helping me meet my collegiate goals. Jennifer, my mentor, provided invaluable insight, assistance, and encouragement. I am grateful and honored to have had the privilege of being in their pro bono program, Laurel Scholars, and getting to work with them. I recommend Ivy Scholars highly.

Jennifer helped me make sure my personal statement articulated my journey well and was something that I was very proud of. She has been immensely supportive and by my side throughout the process—even after I submitted my applications and was waiting on decisions to be released, Jennifer checked in on me. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with her and believe her counsel guided me to my acceptances.

The difficulty of finding my footing after an illness-induced break in my education put me at a disadvantage that I didn’t know how to overcome. Sasha and Jennifer made sure that my future would not be lost in this gap. They offered me strategies to use my story as a nontraditional applicant to my benefit and genuinely made every effort to help me. I was accepted to and will be attending Columbia University this fall and could not be more enthusiastic about the next chapter in my story.