What 200+ Families Have Taught Me About Getting the Best College Admissions Outcome.
After two hundred families, one pattern keeps showing up, and it has nothing to do with test scores.
The pattern that actually predicts a good outcome
The students who end up genuinely happy with where they land aren’t the ones with the highest numbers. They’re the ones who went into this process with clarity about who they are and what they’re looking for. Confidence and self-knowledge move the needle more than one more point on an SAT score, more consistently than anything else I’ve tracked over the years.
Why identity comes before strategy
That’s why my whole approach starts with identity, not with strategy. Strategy comes second, because a strategy built before a student knows what they actually want tends to produce a technically strong application that still doesn’t feel like a fit once decisions come in.
Do's & Don'ts
DO | DON'T |
✓ Start with self-knowledge before building a list or a strategy. | ✗ Don’t build a strategy before the student has any self-knowledge to build it on. |
✓ Prioritize clarity and confidence alongside academic preparation. | ✗ Don’t assume the highest-scoring students are automatically the happiest with their outcome. |
✓ Revisit “what does this student actually want” throughout the process. | ✗ Don’t treat identity work as a soft add-on to the real strategy. |
✓ Judge a good outcome by fit, not just by admit results. | ✗ Don’t judge success purely by which schools said yes. |
DR. HURWITZ'S TAKE That’s why my whole approach starts with identity, not with strategy. If you want that kind of clarity for your student, it usually starts with a conversation that has nothing to do with a school list. |
Ready for a clear, honest read on where your student stands? If you want that kind of clarity for your student, book a $250 / 55-minute College Readiness session with Dr. Nathan Hurwitz — no long-term package required. hurwitzadmissions.com | nathan@hurwitzadmissions.com | (203) 613-9262 |
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