Choosing to work with IvyAchievement on my applications was one of the best decisions I made on my college application process. Finances were a limiting factor for me, and I was told by my previous counsellor at [redacted] that correspondingly limited would be my college options. I was also strictly told not to apply to liberal arts colleges, because, as I was warned, scholarship opportunities there would be particularly scarce. For someone eager to explore diverse disciplines after having studied for fourteen years in the rigid Indian academic system, this ‘reality-check’ was quite a blow.

After I joined Ben Stern and his team, all of this changed. Ben had an extremely, extremely useful compilation of financial aid statistics of all US colleges that extend need-based and merit-based grants to international students. This information was incredibly well-detailed and always accurate. Thanks to his knowledge, I discovered plenty of schools offering generous aid to international students – contrary to the widespread misconception in India about the absence of scholarship opportunities at the undergraduate level. To my pleasant surprise, most of these schools were in fact traditional liberal arts colleges. It was not only the research, but also the openness towards the liberal arts (lacking in Indian counsellors) that made my process of college selection so well-informed and my target colleges well-suited.

The help I got from IvyAchievement on essay-proofreading was also incredibly valuable.  I was allowed to choose any editor from the vast variety that the company has. Ariel Schwartz, my mentor and friend, with whom I finally worked, provided endless support throughout my essay-writing weeks. Her hours were flexible, her inputs were insightful, and her pep talks were infinitely motivating. Because of how efficiently she helped me allocate my hours, I was able to write twenty essays in less than one month. Moreover, after I learnt the techniques of drafting and composition from her, there was a notable improvement in the quality of my overall writing.

Ben and Ariel always went out of their way to help me in every way possible – be it tutoring me for ACT Science, connecting me with alumni of my target schools, or preparing me for college interviews.  It is all because of their constant support throughout my super-hectic senior year, I have been accepted at Yale-NUS College, Dartmouth College, some other universities in the US, and been offered over $670,000 [4.3 crore INR] in scholarships and financial aid.

• Service purchased: Platinum Package
• Schools accepted to: Yale-NUS College, Dartmouth College, Columbia College Missouri, Macalaster College
• Scholarship offers: $220,000 from Dartmouth College; $180,000 from Yale-NUS, $120,000 from Columbia College, $120,000 from Macalaster College.

“I worked on my personal essays for months, but couldn’t quite get the flow right. IvyAchievement helped me pinpoint exactly what I needed to put my essay over the top, and now I am attending Williams on a full ride! Thank you so much!”

“Yes news! Good news in fact! I am a QuestBridge Finalist!!! Thank you so much for the HUGE help and feedback, as I really felt it helped and made/makes a difference. Thank you guys for helping shape my future in my ideal path!”

• Service purchased: n/a (QuestBridge essay review)
• Schools accepted to: University of Pennsylvania
• Scholarship offer: $260,000+

“If you haven’t considered Ben Stern’s 15-minute free consultation then you seriously should. He was really helpful with essay tips and matching me to scholarship schools for my stats. It’s really reassuring to have your admission questions answered by a professional as well!!”

“I’ve been working with Ben on my whole application and he’s been a huge help with my essays. So far we’ve had brainstorming sessions for my Common App and supplemental essays. After each brainstorming session, he gave me an outline to follow when writing. He’s also really good at cutting down ECs to 150 characters! With my dreaded mid-year exams starting tomorrow (dreaded because of grade deflation in my school) his outlines and feedback have made life easier.”

• Service purchased: Platinum Package
• Schools accepted to: University of Texas – Austin, University of North Carolina, University of Washington (Purple and Gold Scholar), Emory University
• Scholarship offer: $18,000 from University of Washington

“I was so lucky finding IvyAchievement. God knows what would have happened if I hadn’t. My family paid over $500 to a “counselor” who didn’t help nearly as much as Ben did—for a lot less money!”

“Great Service! Made my essays perfect :’) After [a] free four point scale evaluation, they fixed my essays for a really good deal. Thanks a ton.”

“[T]hanks for the review of my essay[;] it was really helpful and you saved me a lot of time. I really appreciate the feedback and corrections. He’s a 10/10 guys.”

“Thank you! You have reli[e]ved a great deal of stress[.]”

“IvyAchievement edited four of my essays and helped me tremendously. Service was fast and Ben made sure he had all the information he needed to make my essay the best it could be. It was well worth the price!”

“You have been immensely helpful, more so than any other advisor or proofreader, and I am extremely grateful for your advice and support.”

I can confirm the free evaluation service was extremely helpful! Thank you 🙂

“Amazing, unbelievably fast and good service from Ben at Ivyachievement.com … I would like to give top marks to Ben, who helped me completely edit and revise thirteen of my essays in the span of about 8 hours. 13. And every single one of them flows much better and he even included a changes made document so I could see exactly what was good, and what wasn’t. I recommend this website for anyone that needs their essays reviewed. 10/10.”

“All around great service. I worked with Ben on my Personal Statement, and his evaluation of my writing was very thorough and offered great advice. He returned my personal statement within a few hours addressing weaker aspects of my statement and methods to improve them. He was also available via Skype with any questions that I had regarding it. I highly recommend.”