Zenith College Consulting

01/10/2023

Zenith is proud to have been interviewed and featured in Forbes™ Magazine!

Click below to read about our modern approach to college preparedness:

Schools were closed, students of all ages recommenced classes through Zoom, and technology was at the forefront of discussions.

01/08/2023

Here's an admissions statistic most parents don't know about:

Getting a perfect score on the SAT/ACT doesn’t guarantee you admission into a top university and is far from it as nearly 70% of students who get a perfect SAT score get REJECTED from Stanford.

In fact, top universities oftentimes will accept students with weaker grades and lower SAT/ACT scores if the students meet the 3 other hidden criteria that universities are looking for in their students.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the stats.

Every year, there’s tens of thousands of students with perfect grades and standardized test scores that apply to Stanford and only ~2,000 students get admitted.

Additionally, 1 in 4 students that are accepted and enroll at Stanford have below a 4.0 GPA.

01/06/2023

Here are 7 mistakes and lessons we wish every parent knew:

1. RELYING SOLELY ON SAT SCORES
College admissions have changed - significantly. And it's no longer enough to get straight A's and a high GPA. There's a more holistic approach where colleges look at the whole student, their passions, uniqueness, and what makes them a good fit for their college.

2. THINKING STRAIGHT A's WILL STAND OUT
Remember that admission counselors are human. Imagine flipping through 1000s of student essays... They're all straight A's, they're all taking the same subjects, they're all saying the exact same thing... How do you expect to stand out? It's far better to share stories that reflect individual talent rather than mainstream repetition.
Even more so when many colleges are electing to have standardized test-optional admissions policies. This makes the personal essay a critically important component of the application.

3. LEAVING APPLICATION UNTIL 12TH GRADE
We encourage students to start as early as 6th grade. We can recognize talent and passion early. We can then facilitate placement in real-life projects that build a portfolio. This way, when your student graduates, they are ahead of their peers - with real-world experience and projects to showcase.

4. CHOOSING MAINSTREAM SUBJECTS RATHER THAN RECOGNIZING PASSIONS
What makes a student stand out? Colleges no longer want 'cookie-cutter' applicants. They are looking for creativity, something 'outside-the-box', perhaps even eccentric. Students need to showcase what they can achieve at a top ivy league college.

5. NOT GETTING REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE
Think about how a student can highlight their difference. Is there a local competition they can enter? Is there a project they can volunteer in? Can they build or create a real-life application in their field of interest? It is these types of projects that capture the attention of a College Admissions Officers. Something that makes them stop and think, "Wow! This student has really gone above and beyond to show what they are capable of achieving. This student would be a real asset to our college."

6. BUILDING A "VANILLA" EXTRACURRICULAR PROFILE
It's important to "zag when others zig." Students need to choose extracurricular activities that are relevant to the major they’re pursuing rather than the common mainstream options like music, sports, clubs, and volunteering.

7. LISTENING TO PARENTS AND FRIENDS RATHER THAN INSIDER EXPERTS
It's sometimes more confusing and frustrating listening to others who “think they know” rather than focusing on listening to those who 'actually know'.

01/04/2023

More than 128,100 students applied for acceptance to the fall 2022 freshman class, a 13% increase over last year’s record-breaking number.

01/02/2023

The University of California announced today (Feb. 24) that its campuses received a record-breaking number of applications for fall 2022, underscoring UC’s position as one of the most sought-after higher education systems in the world.

12/30/2022

https://dailybruin.com/2022/02/24/ucla-receives-record-breaking-number-of-applications-for-2nd-consecutive-year

This post was updated Feb. 28 at 12:29 a.m. UCLA received the largest number of applications across the University of California system for the second year in a row for fall 2022, but systemwide transfer applications decreased by almost 6,000.

12/30/2022

Zenith Prep Academy has been featured in Forbes, Nasdaq, USA Today, and Bloomberg!

And we are the 9th fastest-growing Education company in all of America and 650th in the entire United States on the prestigious Inc 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies.

12/30/2022

Learn how in a recent admissions cycle, we got 6x the national average of students into the Top 25 Universities in the US:

Hear what other parents like you think about us