Admissions Influencers Are Not Here to Help

By Dylan Chu ’29

With acceptance rates for elite universities such as Yale, Harvard, and Stanford dropping, the perceived need for the optimization of college admissions has drastically increased. Students across the country, some even as young as 8th grade, are led to believe that they must follow a blueprint to fall into the small percentage of students admitted to top-tier universities, which oftentimes drops below 5% of applicants. This belief is perpetuated en masse by the $3 billion college admissions industry, according to Forbes. However, it is the online admission influencers, one of the largest and fastest-growing branches in this industry, that pose the greatest threat to students.

Since the early 2020s, admissions counseling has taken social media by storm. Stress and anxiety over the future, combined with dissatisfaction around traditional college counseling, have catapulted admissions content to the top of many students’ for you page. Admissions content creators, many not much older than the students they advise, yield success in the established industry due to their relatable content. Some of the most popular influencers include: Elise Pham (@ultimateivyleagueguide), Andreas Stamatakis (@ivy_roadmap), Daniel Lim (@limmytalks), and Gohar Khan (@goharsguide).

These influencers, though well-intended, often lack the qualifications and critical information needed to paint an accurate view of the college admissions process; none of the aforementioned figures has ever worked in any college admissions office or studied higher education policy. In reality, most of these influencers built their brand on their acceptance to one, if not multiple, T20 schools. However, their success alone does not deem them experts. In reality, each admissions case is different, and those who lack proper qualifications will not be able to provide accurate information. In fact, Pham has been called out for false information and for inconsistencies in her content. In December 2025, Pham posted a video making false claims regarding the AI detection policy of the Common App, a platform that allows students to submit essays to multiple colleges at once. In the video, she claimed that “If an admissions officer thinks you used AI, Common App could terminate your account and alert every college you apply to.” Pham was quickly called out by both the Common App itself and the Harvard Crimson as a result of her claims. Pham is not alone in spreading misinformation. The majority of content within the industry is clickbait-style videos with no sources attached or even mentioned. Pham and Stamatakis, among others, have made many videos in this style, presenting formulas for gaining acceptance to elite universities. This notion has been continuously rebuked by Harvard, among other top universities. These videos are designed to incite fear among young students, presenting a manufactured admissions crisis, in order to increase content engagement, as well as sell one-on-one consulting meetings and courses.

By spreading these unfounded claims, Pham and other top creators do nothing but mislead a generation of prospective college students down a path of perceived optimization in which they forgo their own interests and hobbies. Colleges will see past bogus passion projects and manufactured “spikes.” Therefore, students must follow their own path by pursuing their interests, not just for college, but for their own happiness. Ultimately, no matter what path a student takes, naysayers on social media will always push a narrative of college admissions. While these influencers are hard to ignore and may make students feel as if they are doing something wrong, it’s important to remember that each admissions case is different and that these influencers do not know each applicant’s story.