The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions cover art

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions

Written by: Great Minds Advising
Listen for free

LIMITED TIME OFFER | Get 2 Months for ₹5/month

About this listen

In this podcast series, we break down the complex game that is elite college admissions and the strategies and pitfalls students need to adopt or beware of if they hope to win admission to one of America’s top colleges.


“The Game” is hosted by Sam Hassell and brought to you by Great Minds Advising.


Sam is a published scientist, having spent four years as a neuroscience researcher at Columbia University. Building upon his experiences in research and academia—as well as over a decade in educational services—Sam spearheaded the Great Minds Advising program, a premium college consulting service based in the New York Metropolitan Area and serving students nationwide from NYC to Silicon Valley.


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 to a top-choice school in the 2025–26 application cycle.


Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early).


For the first time, in this podcast, Sam and his team reveal the secrets and strategies they have used to help their students consistently beat the game of elite college admissions.


Web: greatmindsadvising.com

Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact

Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter

Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com

FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising

IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising

© 2026 The Game: A Guide to Elite College Admissions Parenting Relationships
Episodes
  • Admissions Q&A: Hard Truths the Internet Won’t Tell You (Part 2)

    Admissions Q&A: Hard Truths the Internet Won’t Tell You (Part 2)
    Mar 4 2026

    In this episode, we answer five different college admissions questions from students and families, including how class rank affects students’ candidacies at top colleges and whether to drop a junior year AP class in which a student has a B average.

    ——
    “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 to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle.

    Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early).

    Web: greatmindsadvising.com
    Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact
    Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter
    Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com
    FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/
    IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising
    Show More Show Less
    55 mins
  • Admissions Q&A: Hard Truths the Internet Won’t Tell You

    Admissions Q&A: Hard Truths the Internet Won’t Tell You
    Feb 19 2026

    In this episode, we answer four different college admissions questions from students and families, ranging from self-studying for AP exams to why so many college counselors continue to recommend summer programs that fail to impress 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 to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle.

    Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early).

    Web: greatmindsadvising.com
    Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact
    Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter
    Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com
    FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/
    IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising
    Show More Show Less
    28 mins
  • 2026 Acceptances at America’s Top High School

    2026 Acceptances at America’s Top High School
    Feb 10 2026

    In this episode, we analyze 2025–26 early admissions data at arguably America’s most famous high school, Phillips Exeter Academy. Drawing upon the Exeter data, we reveal the hidden advantages that actually drive top college acceptances, from demographic scarcity to unique academic positioning and narratives.

    While many families targeting top colleges often attribute acceptances to students’ core profiles and elite high school pedigrees, we use the data to show how the vast majority of students earning admission to top colleges actually stack other strategic factors to their advantage to create scarcity in the applicant pool and beat out fellow applicants.

    ——
    “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 to a top-choice school in the 2024–25 application cycle.

    Its students have recently gained admission to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, and WashU (among many others) and are admitted to the Ivy League at a rate 14x the national average (90% when applying early).

    Web: greatmindsadvising.com
    Contact: greatmindsadvising.com/#contact
    Newsletter: greatmindsadvising.com/#newsletter
    Email: info@greatmindsadvising.com
    FB: facebook.com/GreatMindsAdvising/
    IG: instagram.com/greatmindsadvising
    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
No reviews yet