We teach teens skills to prepare them for college — and life. We specialize in high-performing students and have a stellar track record: two-thirds of our qualified applicants get into Ivy League-level schools or top UCs. Some of our students win major scholarships (full ride, up to $230,000).
Are you looking for an expert coach to help your teen to reach her maximum potential? Do you want a mentor who can help your teen self advocate, create opportunities and most importantly — learn how to think? Do you want an expert to guide your teen through high school/college admissions, help him relax (and maybe even have some fun)?
We are a boutique college admission essay and application strategy consulting company on a mission to equip students for life — through the vehicle of the college admissions process. We recognize it’s nearly impossible to get into a top-tier school these days (Stanford’s admission rate was 4.34% in 2023), so we aim to help your teen live a successful life no matter where she ends up.
With that being said, we do have a outstanding track record for college admission, as two-thirds of our qualified elite school applicants win admission.
Some students also win scholarships like full tuition to Rice University ($230,000), Presidential Scholarship to USC (half of tuition, $120,000), Tulane Founders Scholarship ($100,000) and Georgia Tech ($85,000.)
Along the way, our teens develop invaluable life skills like an entrepreneurial mindset, self advocacy, leadership, communications and selling oneself. We believe these skills have more impact on life than a college name.
With the rise in stress for teens, we also prioritize mental health. It doesn’t make sense to achieve and not be able to enjoy life, right?
The principal consultant for our company is Alice Chen (BA Stanford, MS Journalism Northwestern), an award-winning journalist, a Top 1% essay consultant and a coach of admission coaches. One of Alice’s passion projects is Happy Asian Woman, a resource to help Asian-American women find more joy in love, work and life.
Alice built BrightStory so she could be the mentor she wishes she had as a teen.
Alice will maximize your teen’s chances of getting into her dream schools, and Alice’s expert guidance will help you and your teen relax during the process.
Alice has helped students get into schools like Stanford (when the prestigious private school guidance counselor said the student had “no chance”) and MIT (the student was the first in his private school’s 22-year history to get into an Ivy League - level college.)
She’s also coached students from around the globe into schools like Harvard, Brown’s combined BA/MD program, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, UC Berkeley, UCLA and West Point. Most of these acceptances have been post-Covid, after admission rates sharply declined.
Our college admissions track record is impressive because our students are rarely favored as Dean’s interest, athlete, donor, legacy, first generation or low income.
In fact, the majority of our students plan to study STEM and most are white or Asian American, which can make admission rates even lower than published.
Alice draws upon 23 years of professional experience to mentor her students. She’s worked in the ultra-competitive field of TV journalism as an anchor and reporter. Alice was also a staff reporter at a large, Pulitzer Prize - winning newspaper.
Through these roles, Alice has perfected the skill of asking the right questions. Through the Socratic method, Alice will teach your teen how to tell compelling stories, position oneself, and most importantly, think.
In this era of colleges eliminating standardized tests requirements to embrace holistic admissions, applications at top-tier schools have skyrocketed (e.g. Harvard saw a 42% increase between 2020 and 2021.)
As a result, essays are more important than ever, since a school like Stanford can fill its entire class with valedictorians.
Alice will personally guide your teen through all aspects of her essays, from brainstorming the application “hook”, to finding the most convincing way to tell the story. She will teach your teen how to craft the best framework and most compelling content for stories. Alice is also an expert in application strategy and will help your teen identify the best ways to position herself — the process of creating and communicating your teen’s “brand” can be used for life.
Understanding and advocating for oneself are crucial skills your teen will need forever.
Why not learn them now?