about

As an advertising professional, Cathy Israelevitz has 30+ years experience building brands by crafting clear, creative, and convincing narratives. Cathy has parlayed those skills to help build the personal brands for students entering the college admissions process

Cathy believes the process to start cultivating a vision for each student’s narrative can begin prior to entering 9th grade. Aspects such as course selection, standardized test planning, and consideration of extra-curricular activities – based on student interests and abilities shown thus far – lead to a stronger and more distinctive applicant, particularly at highly selective institutions.

Cathy has deep knowledge and insights about the college admissions process:

• 3+ years experience working with families on admissions to 75+ colleges

• Regularly Review hundreds of resumes for current students at both private and public institutions enabling a complete understanding of what success looks like

• Trained by client experience with professional college admissions director of both an ivy league university and small liberal arts college

• Conducted numerous mock interview sessions with high school seniors applying to a broad range of highly selective and selective colleges

• Interviewed NYC high school guidance counselors to glean key insights on how college applicants from the same high school are evaluated by colleges

• aggregated and analyzed countless editorials, blogs and secondary research across the college admissions spectrum

• Visited 20+ colleges of various size, geographic location, and overall selectivity from small liberal arts colleges to large public state universities to mid-size private research universities – across the northeast, midwest, south and west coast

• Attended 20+ local admissions meetings and college fairs for high school sophomores and juniors

• interviewed several recent college graduates to understand how their college education shaped their thinking, personal growth and career plans

• Board Member, Bronx High School of Science Parents Association

Over the last few years, clients across a highly diverse group of public and private high schools have benefited from Cathy’s guidance on the college admissions process.

All information and resources are current.

References available upon request.

Cathy’s son GRADUATEd from the Bronx high school of science and IS A senior at Duke university.

While Finalizing Regular Decision

Applications, Consider These 3 Often

Overlooked Aspects

Published on December 27, 2022

1. ACCESS TO SUMMER BUSINESS INTERNSHIPS CAN BE A CHALLENGE FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT IN THE BUSINESS SCHOOL

I often hear from former clients about their struggles to land a coveted business internship if they are not in the business school (undergrad) of that university, such as University of Michigan Ross School of Business (undergrad), as opposed to Michigan LSA.

While in many instances, recruitment may technically be open to students outside of Ross, it can be grueling to obtain an interview. When students have their minds set on following a path leading to a top tier finance role, they should apply to a wide range of universities where they have a reasonable chance of being admitted to the business school.

Examples:

Emory University (Goizueta)

Indiana University (Kelley)

University of California (Berkeley Haas)

University of Southern California (USC Marshall)

University of Texas (Austin McCombs)

University of Wisconsin (Madison)

Washington University (Olin)

2. CLUB SPORTS

If a student enjoyed playing high school sports and wants to continue recreationally in college, be sure to ask how access works to club and intramural sports teams.

Perhaps surprisingly, at Duke, where basketball is a religion, the club basketball team doesn't cut players. They just add more teams if demand exists. Some universities have a limited number of club or intramural teams, so it can be difficult to land a spot, and ultimately a let down to learn this when it's time for tryouts.

3. ADJUNCT PROFESSORS

The composition of adjunct professors can vary widely even among peer institutions. While many adjuncts have a PhD, typically they don't conduct research, and many hold other jobs outside the university or college so their time for engaging with students beyond the classroom can be limited.

Adjunct professors are temporary employees who teach on a contractual basis. Typically, although not always the case, colleges seek adjunct professors to save salary and benefit costs. If this concerns you, do your research before applying

Percent of adjunct professors at these highly selective private institutions:

University of Pennsylvania 1%

Amherst 2%

Cornell 5%

Duke 8%

Stanford 9%

Brown 11%

Harvard 12%

Princeton 15%

Northwestern 19%

Vanderbilt 19%

Yale 27%

Among these public flagship universities, University of Virginia is a stand out with a much lower reliance on adjunct professors

University of Virginia 4%

University of Wisconsin, Madison 13%

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 16%

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 23%

University of Los Angeles (UCLA) 28%

University of California, Berkeley 31%

Source: College Factual

6 minute read

Listen Up: First Year College Students Share Their Perspective. And They Have Lots to Say.

• Published on December 4, 2019

Cathy Israelevitz

Marketing Communications | Operations | Branding | Event Planning

4 articles

High school students are inundated with college admissions information and advice from just about everyone – except actual college students themselves who are best able to offer an insider account of college life.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I interviewed first year students from the following 16 schools to learn about their experience: what they’re enjoying most, what has surprised them, and what advice they want to share with high school students who are going through the college admissions process:

Brown, UChicago, Columbia, Duke, Grinnell, Indiana University, UMichigan, Northeastern, UPenn, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Tulane, Union, Washington University, Wesleyan, UWisconsin, Yale

These are the real golden years

Every student I spoke with recognized this time in their lives as perhaps the most transformative, and they are eager to maximize the abundant resources and opportunities available as they pursue their dreams. I was overjoyed by the optimism these students have for their future and their desire to create the lives they want to lead. Almost every student spoke about the sense of community they’ve found which nourishes their soul and overall happiness.

• A Columbia student contextualized struggling with certain academic class sessions, yet finding comfort with the sense that most students are struggling together which turns a challenging experience into one of camaraderie and personal growth. This student also voiced how professors contribute to the community feel by their high engagement with students and their responsiveness – “even in a lecture class of almost 200 students, a professor responded to an email within a day”

• A Duke student spoke about how these first few months have been incredibly rewarding – developing viewpoints and new interests while attending a cross-section of interesting speaker events from NY Times op-ed columnist Nicolas Kristof to former Chief of Staff for President Obama to former US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power

• “Being surrounded by peers who love to learn” has been a big happiness driver for a Washington University student

• “The diversity of professors across age, race, nationality and political viewpoints” has created tremendous interest and depth for a Wesleyan student who feels this exposure has been the most formative aspect of college life thus far

• A Brown student was encouraged by their advisor’s suggestion to treat the first year as a “shopping period” to see how exploring different friend groups, academic subjects and activities contribute to personal and academic growth

• In particular, students at large state universities raved about the wide range of social groups and activities where first year students can find friends and activities for virtually any interest. A Michigan student noted that, “the social experience goes beyond what is seen on social media which skews toward the rah-rah sports atmosphere – BUT, students need to proactively seek these out and cultivate it for themselves”

• This student also spoke about the keen interest their teachers take to keep everyone on track with assignment timelines, while another student (UWisconsin) was impressed by the helpful role an academic advisor played by walking through two different curricular paths to pursue a political science major

• Many students at private colleges articulated specific academic experiences that have contributed to their rewarding college journey thus far:

• A Grinnell student intending to pursue a STEM major acknowledged being unexpectedly captivated by a selected tutorial class on the French philosopher, Montaigne

• Making cement and discussing the process during a civil engineering class was an enlightened experience for an RIT student

• Small, discussion based classes (one with 13 students) are dreamy for a Washington University student who particularly enjoys the elevated dialogue when individual perspectives are shared by both peers and professors

Location. Location. Location – it’s not just for buying a home

• Almost every student I spoke with emphasized how the location of their college played a big role in why they chose to attend. For those with a desire for an urban setting where there’s constant access to high quality, dynamic culture across arts, food, music, sports and so on, there really is no substitute – students from Penn and Northeastern waxed on about the central role their urban context plays in their college experience. The same is true for many other students who grew up in the NYC area and specifically wanted to attend college in a different region of the country, becoming immersed in a different culture – students at Duke and Tulane raved about the southern food and hospitality that radiates throughout their campuses

• Other students advised not to push too much against the tide of a school’s culture. For example, a Northeastern student affirmed the school’s pre-professional focus, particularly through their co-op program which encourages students to pursue multiple semesters with internships in Boston (though other regions are feasible, too) and believes that many of the students themselves are excited by this approach, and therefore, are focused on career development as first year students. Students should know this before applying. While this might be the case, that doesn’t mean the pre-professional focus comes at the expense of a robust social life. In fact, a computer science major spoke about the big social aspect to dorm life, and as well, mentioned that students regularly explore the city of Boston together

Freedom is both an opportunity and a slippery slope

• On one hand, most students spoke of the joyful contrast between college life – with only 2-3 hours of classes a day (and not necessarily every day) – and their highly structured high school days where they attended classes from 8 am until 2 or 3 pm ever week day, followed by school sports or other activities. However, with that freedom comes an essential need for time management expertise, as it’s exceedingly easy after attending a few hours of classes to while away the day by just lying around watching YouTube videos. Before you know it, homework reading and writing assignments have piled up and getting back on track can cause stress and requires a lot of discipline. Many students spoke of experiencing a slip up first semester and then forcing themselves to develop a highly organized time management plan. There are blocks of free time in the middle of the day so it’s up to students to put that time to the best use

Advice to high school students

• A Yale student reflected on creating a Venn diagram to neatly categorize all sorts of qualities in the hopes it would help sway which of two schools to apply to under an early admissions program (i.e., Single-Choice Early Action or Early Decision), though in hindsight, this student recognized that the Venn diagram should be tossed aside, and instead now believes it’s far more useful to focus on how you feel at each school after spending a day on campus and talking to students

• Identify your values and then seek a school that aligns with them is the suggestion of a Duke student – whether that’s a big sports spirit, an arts culture and/or an intense intellectual environment

• Create goals where you want to be academically and socially – for both your first year and after four years. Then see how those goals align with feedback you obtain while visiting the campuses, talking with current students and recent grads and reading student reviews on Unigo.com. If your school guidance counselor/college advisor is knowledgeable about the schools on your list, they can also be a valuable resource

• When considering whether each college on your list is a good fit, think about how you’d feel at the start of senior year at each school – would you be bored or still find new things to do? A Union student advised trying to imagine yourself academically and socially at a particular college after four years. Many students just focus on seeing their first year of college

• A UChicago student cautioned against going to a school with a strong Greek culture, if the student has little interest in joining a Fraternity or Sorority.

This student had also considered Penn where they perceived Greek life played an outsized role in the social scene, and as such, felt anathema to this particular student

• A Washington University student suggests high school students pay attention to the types of students a particular college tends to attract, along with measures of student happiness

Other commentary worth noting:

• The food on college campuses is remarkably good these days and the options are mind-blowing. Gone are limited choices of rubber chicken, cereal bars, iceberg lettuce, and plain pasta with the blandest of tomato sauce. Today’s students are enjoying the diversity of food that mirrors the diverse mix of students and the food culture of their college location

• Some schools such as Duke have separate residential communities for first year students. They have their own dorms, library, dining hall and fitness center which naturally enables first year students to interact with each other in multiple settings

• On the other hand, first year students live together with upperclassmen at many of the small liberal arts colleges and this encourages development of an informal mentoring relationship with their upperclassmen dorm-mates

• Unless you’re dead set on a particular professional career such as engineering, most students advised against choosing a school because it offers a particular major. The majority of college students change their major at least once during college, and even if a school doesn’t offer a particular major, they may very well be able to offer an equivalent line of study across different departments – one example is a student at UChicago who is interested in cognitive science. While UChicago doesn’t offer this major, the student has worked with their advisor to essentially create a major that spans across the core components of cognitive science: linguistics, neurology and psychology

Bottom line, this is a thrilling time to be a college student. The world is truly your oyster. If you put energy into the college process to visit and research the colleges on your list and talk with actual students there, you will make well-informed decisions on where to apply and ideally wind up with options you feel excited about.

There’s a lot more than one college that represents a good match for a particular student. Enjoy finding yours.

If you like what you read and want to learn more about the good, the bad, and the ugly of college admissions, visit maverickadvising.com