Ivy League Placement Paired Up With The I Have A Dream Foundation For A College Application Boot Camp

For the second year in a row, Ivy League Placement paired up with the I Have A Dream Foundation for a 3 day college application Boot Camp where I was able to work closely with each student to help them create and write their college essays.

The workshop began with an overview of what makes a college application essay stand out. We started with a review of three excellent college essays to prove that an outstanding college essay does not have to be about a spectacular event. In the process, each student learned how to develop a compelling college essay in which you paint a picture of who you are, how you view yourself in the world, where your gratitude is focused, and how you have matured and are now ready for college.

As the students began writing their outlines and long drafts, I brainstormed with them to transform their ideas into a winning format. One girl who has a strong relationship with her mother wrote in paragraph four that her mother was “her garden”. This is a beautiful image, so I recommended she move it to become her opening sentence to paint a picture for the reader with
“My mother is my garden and I am her lovely flower.” This opening sentence was so powerful, the rest of the essay was easy for her to develop.

The students finished with strong compelling essays highlighting their academic strengths, extra curricular participation and volunteer work. At the end of the workshop, the students were confident and proud their essays now contained the elements to grab and keep the attention of the reader.

The I Have a Dream Foundation began in 1981. As New York City businessman Eugene Lang prepared to address a group of 61 graduating sixth graders at his alma mater, East Harlem Elementary, he was told that only 25% of the students sitting before him would graduate from high school. The figure was so alarming that he was moved to make an astonishing offer: He would pay the college tuition of each and every student who graduated from high school. More than 90% of these students earned their high school diplomas or GED certificates; and 60% pursued the higher education promised that day. Since then, almost 200 "I Have A Dream" programs have operated in 27 states, Washington, D.C., and New Zealand, together serving over 15,000 Dreamers. "I Have A Dream" has also freely shared its model with other individuals, corporations, church and community groups, and government agencies to generate additional educational support programs that help many more children who lack a clear pathway to college. Ivy League Placement considers it an honor to contribute to this remarkable program.

A New York City private Ivy League college admissions counselor,

Lily Trayes has over 15 years experience. Her success in helping students achieve their dream of an Ivy League education can be attributed to the close relationships she has developed over the years with the deans and directors of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the United States. The expectations of each Ivy League College will differ and change and Lily Trayes stays in step and in tune with their requirements.

Lily Trayes has a proven and remarkable success record as a mentor of students with their hearts and minds set on attaining admissions to an Ivy League school. She has worked with the children of some of the most influential New York and International families to fulfill their expectations and dreams.

Because of her personalized and dedicated attention to each student, the Ivy League college admissions program created by Lily Trayes is guaranteed to produce those coveted letters of ‘Congratulations!’

The students Lily Trayes has counseled are represented on all 8 Ivy League colleges in addition to other highly selective colleges such as Duke University, the University of Chicago, Stanford University, MIT, Vassar College and Wesleyan University.