The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

67 Episodes

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Should You “Start An Organization” For Elite College Admissions?

2026-09-1201:31:34

Starting a business or organization may sound like an obvious way to stand out at top colleges, but merely founding something is very different from building something successful enough to matter. In this episode, we examine nine often-overlooked downsides of student-run ventures, from low risk-adjusted returns and predictable applicant positioning to parental involvement, weak execution, and the “chronicle of incompetence” an unfinished online presence can create. We explore stronger alterna...

6 Admissions Truths That Sound Completely Wrong

2026-08-2851:00

In elite college admissions, intuition can work against you—because the most logical moves are often the ones everyone else is making. In this episode, we unpack six counterintuitive admissions truths, from why colleges that are better “fits” are harder to get into to why elite admissions can punish the very pre-professional ambition that attracts students to top colleges in the first place. We explore how unconventional thinking can outperform the intuitive playbook most applicants use...

The Truth About Sports & Elite College Admissions

2026-08-2001:18:43

While high school sports may provide many non-admissions benefits, for the vast majority of students, they do very little to improve the odds of admission to top colleges. In this episode, we explain why sports are often highly common, non-differentiating, and irrelevant to most students’ case for admission—while also being extremely costly in terms of time. We cover some notable exceptions (e.g. niche sports, sports-related academic hooks) and offer best practices for students trying t...

5 Principles That Build Elite Applicants

2026-07-0842:12

In this episode, we distill five recurring principles that separate elite applicants from the many high-achieving students who blend into the applicant pools at top colleges. —— “The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising. Great Minds Advising’s unique, hands-on mentorship program and its deep strategic insight into the application review process have earned the company a nation-leading track record of excellence, with 100% of its students gaining admission ...

3 Teacher Rec Traps Top Applicants Miss

2026-07-0245:37

Teacher recommendation letters are among the most important—yet also most overlooked—components of applications to highly selective colleges, with very few students thinking strategically about the type of information they provide their teachers. In this episode, we examine three common questions found on teacher recommendation questionnaires that can unintentionally weaken an otherwise strong application. We explain why seemingly harmless prompts about academic struggles, intended college ma...

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The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions