Why Trivantage Admissions?
Ivy League Perspective
As a recent UPenn graduate now pursuing a Master’s at Harvard Extension School, our founder went through this process. That's not insider access to how any school makes decisions; no one outside an admissions committee has that. It's a current, firsthand understanding of what the applicant side of a competitive process actually requires, from the student who lived it.
Authentic Narrative
Move beyond generic templates with introspective, narrative-driven brainstorming and meticulous editing. We help each student uncover their unique voice to craft personal statements and supplemental essays that are genuinely their own.
Focused Mentorship
We limit how many students we take on each admissions cycle, so every family gets direct, high-touch attention. From tailored milestone roadmaps to fast feedback, we're with you through every phase of the process.
Our Founder
Edward Shim
B.A. in Computational Cognitive Science | University of Pennsylvania, College of Arts and Sciences
Minor in Consumer Psychology | University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business
ALM in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence | Harvard University, Harvard Extension School
About:
Hi, I'm Edward, the founder of Trivantage Admissions. I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s degree in Computational Cognitive Science and a minor in Consumer Psychology from the Wharton School of Business. Currently, I am pursuing a Master's in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard Extension School.
My work in tutoring and college admissions consulting started with my own family and friends. I helped them privately with SAT/ACT preparation, college essay writing, math competition prep for the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), and a range of other subjects, working one-on-one to build test skills and help each student piece together their story. I treat every student's application as its own problem to work through: I look for the pattern that makes a student's story hold together, then help them build toward it, one piece at a time. I push every student to aim high and pair that with an honest, data-driven read of where they stand, so ambition and reality work together, not against each other.
Trivantage Admissions’ Approach
One Advisor. Every Piece.
We build a college admissions plan around each family, so time goes toward the SAT/ACT prep, college essays, and application work that matters most for that student's timeline. The test date, essay timeline, and application deadlines sit on one calendar, run by one advisor, not split across a separate tutor, essay coach, and college consultant: a plateaued SAT or ACT score in October changes how much time we protect for essays in November; a college essay that reveals something new about the student reshapes how we talk about their activities going forward. The pieces inform and connect with each other because one person holds them all.
Diagnose before planning
We don't start test prep or essay coaching with a generic curriculum. For SAT and ACT prep, that means a full-length official practice test under real timing conditions before tutoring begins, so the plan targets the student's actual point-gain opportunities instead of reteaching content they already know. For college application planning, that means an early conversation about the student's grade, passion, timeline, and starting point, because a 9th grader building a foundation and a senior finalizing a college list in eight weeks need different plans, not the same one run on a different clock.
Ethical AI literacy & authentic voice
AI is transforming education, and we approach it with the same rigor we bring to test prep and essays. We help students use it responsibly, for research, for exploring technical interests, for working through ideas, but never for writing the application itself, and never anywhere a school or platform prohibits it. AI can't fabricate a student's voice or convictions. We follow the AI policies set by colleges, universities, and application platforms, and every essay submitted is the student's own.
Activities & essay strategy
Most applicants have similar activity lists: student government, volunteering, clubs, sports, competitions. Padding that list further doesn't differentiate anyone. What separates one college application from another is depth and connection. We help students choose and deepen the activities that connect to what they actually care about, starting years before applications are due, so the commitments a student builds and the story they tell in their essays reinforce each other instead of reading as two separate lists. We coach the brainstorming and the revision. We don't write it for them.
Test skills, not memorized tricks
The SAT and ACT are standardized tests, which means they can't afford ambiguous questions. That constraint creates patterns, and patterns can be taught. Instead of reviewing missed questions one at a time, our SAT and ACT prep teaches students how to recognize a question type, apply the right tactic, and pace the section. A student who leaves with that skill can handle a test they haven't seen before, not just the one they practiced on.
Built for where the student is now
The college admissions plan looks different depending on when a student starts. A freshman gets four years to build a foundation before the pressure hits. A first-semester senior gets a compressed sprint focused only on what still moves the outcome. Every track runs on the same underlying approach: diagnose, build a plan, execute against deadlines, just starting from a different point on the calendar.