Student Story
I thought I knew what it took to get into a top college. I was wrong.
Where It Started
When I started working with Steve Gardner, I thought I knew exactly what college prep looked like. Take the hardest classes. Join the most impressive clubs. Do everything you possibly can and then do more. That was the formula, right?
I was wrong.
I went into the Ivy League Challenge expecting a typical college prep course that would tell me what admissions officers wanted to see and how I could fit their mold. Instead, the first thing he did was help me change my mindset. Honestly, that surprised me. I wasn't sure at first what mindset had to do with getting into college. But once I finished the program, I understood completely.
Before working with Steve, I was genuinely worried I wouldn't stand out.
I had good grades and strong test scores, but so did thousands of other students. I didn't know what would make me different.
I was doing extracurriculars I thought would look impressive, not ones I actually cared about. And I was exhausted.
Steve helped me figure out my core values — what I actually care about and why it matters. Once I had that clarity, everything changed. I stopped doing activities because they looked good on paper and started focusing on things I was genuinely passionate about. For me, that was coding and teaching. I had always loved both. With Steve's guidance, I found ways to combine them in my community in ways that felt natural and meaningful rather than forced.
The difference in how I felt was immediate. When you're doing things you actually care about, you don't burn out the same way. The work doesn't feel like a sacrifice.
Steve also helped me with my essays in a way that made a real difference. Instead of trying to sound impressive, I learned how to tell my actual story — who I am, what I value, and how I've tried to make my community better. That framing made me feel genuinely confident about submitting my application for the first time.
One of the things I carry with me from the program that I didn't expect is how much it changed my relationship with my own health. Early in the program, Steve had us do a 30-day challenge focused on sleep, hydration, nutrition, and exercise. It sounds simple, but it shifted something for me. I realized I had been sacrificing my health to do more and more, thinking that was what success required.
Now at Dartmouth, I prioritize sleep. I eat well. I make sure I'm taking care of myself. Those habits I built in Steve's program are still with me every day.
What I have at Dartmouth now is something I didn't fully have in high school: a sense of who I am and what I'm here to do.
I see the difference clearly when I look at some of my friends here. In the fall, I watched several of them stretch themselves so thin trying to join every club that they couldn't give 100% to any of them. They were missing meetings, falling asleep in class, and getting sick. I recognized that pattern immediately. That used to be me!
The extracurriculars I chose here align with my core values. The people I'm surrounded by are genuinely passionate about what they want to accomplish. It's a different feeling entirely.
I'm a freshman majoring in computer science, and potentially adding economics. I came from a large public high school in Houston with over 4,000 students. In my graduating class, four students went to Ivy League schools. I was one of them.
If I hadn't worked with Steve, I honestly don't think I would have gotten to Dartmouth. I would still be doing extracurriculars I didn't care about, burning myself out trying to look impressive, and submitting an application that didn't tell a real story about who I am.
My advice to any student who is pushing themselves harder and harder, doing more and more, hoping that will be enough: find your core values first. That's the foundation of everything Steve teaches, and it's the most important thing I learned. When your activities align with what you actually care about, you stop burning out. You start standing out.
And admissions officers can tell the difference.
Moments Along the Way
