Ivy League Prep Academy Podcast
Equipping you to successfully pursue the college of your dreams. I believe that the world needs every student to reach their full potential. College admittance shouldn't hold you back. I'm an educator and Harvard grad who has been in your shoes. I designed this podcast to accompany the Ivy League Challenge (my online course) to support my listeners. I've met with graduates, admissions officers, and professors to identify the criteria used to select candidates. I've crafted a road map for success and can share it with you.
Episodes
In the last few episodes, we’ve explored the many ways students can lead through innovation, dialogue, and action.
We’ve seen, again and again, that when teens identify their core values and then make a meaningful impact aligned with those values… that’s the kind of leadership colleges simply cannot ignore.
But today, I want to zoom in on something even more foundational:
What does it actually mean to make an impact?
When adults talk a...
Leadership isn’t about titles as it’s about noticing what matters and taking action.
In this episode, three students show how real impact often begins close to home.
Scarlett worked with her city to strengthen emergency alert systems and protect vulnerable residents.
Abbas bridged science, faith, and community service to turn personal challenge into purpose through his thought-provoking podcast.
Akilaish used curios...
Is social media silently sabotaging your success?
In this episode, Steve Gardner — founder of The Ivy League Challenge and Harvard Summer School instructor — shares the mindset and strategies that set high-performing teens apart. Discover how top students manage (and often delete) their social media apps during critical periods like finals, and why this one decision can be a game-changer.
You’ll learn:
- Why most teens are reactive ...
Real innovation isn’t about being impressive or unique unless it’s also about being useful.
In this episode, three teens show how curiosity and compassion can combine to create meaningful change.
Illia Denisov uses robotics and AI to protect civilians in Ukraine.
Matthew Kim designs hands-on STEM programs that make science exciting and accessible for younger students.
Mohammad Aarish Khan connects cutting-edge cancer res...
Most students think leadership starts with a title like captain, president, or founder.
But true leadership doesn’t wait for permission.
In this episode, two teens prove that real impact begins the moment you care enough to act.
Asher Stubbs shares how his great-grandmother’s legacy in Peru inspired him to create Kusko Trips, a program helping students build cross-cultural understanding through service and entrepreneurship.
...
Harvard and Stanford educator and co-author of the bestselling book Innovation-ish Richard Braden joins me to discuss how his book can help my students.
We explore how teens, parents, and aspiring innovators of all ages can develop the mindsets and skill sets needed to thrive in an ambiguous world.
Rich shares how his book demystifies innovation, reframes failure as essential learning, and helps ordinary people unlock their creative...
Most people romanticize mastery.
They talk about "grit" and "passion" and "work ethic," but avoid the uncomfortable truth:
Mastery is build by failing-- over and over again. In public, in private, both big and small failures. Failure is followed by recovery and reflection and leveling up.
In this recording, you can hear me teaching this idea to my students in the Global Impact Council, which is our intern...
Dickinson College professor Elizabeth Lee joins us to discuss how the aligning your choices around your core values helps you prepare for college and for long-term success.
We discuss why her daughter, a high school freshman, signed up for the Ivy League Challenge, and how Professor Lee's experience teaching in college for over two decades made her clear that she wanted this.
After we stopped the recording, Professor Lee said ...
You’ve done the hard thinking. You’ve found your insights, explored your contradictions, and reflected deeply. But now you’re stuck—staring at a blank page, unsure how to turn those ideas into a compelling college essay.
In this episode, Steve explains why the next step is not perfection—it’s motion. You’ll learn how to choose the right moment to write about, why your first draft should be messy, and how that so-called “garbage draf...
If you’ve been putting off your college essay, dreading it like a monkey on your back—you’re not alone. But what if you could stop trying to sound impressive and start telling a story that actually matters?
In this episode, I’ll guide you through the exact questions and strategies we used in the first week of my Personal Statement Workshop to help students uncover stories that admissions officers care about.
You’ll learn:
- Why this...
The personal statement can be one of the most confusing and stressful parts of the college application — but it doesn’t have to be. In this episode, I share a few key do's and don'ts to help you avoid common pitfalls and start your essay with clarity and confidence.
Whether you're staring at a blank page or already brainstorming ideas, these tips will help you stay on track and write something that actually strengthen...
The personal statement is one of the most important — and misunderstood — parts of the college application. In this short, powerful episode, Steve Gardner explains why so many students struggle to get started, what the real purpose of the personal statement is, and how families can reduce stress and gain a competitive edge now, before summer slips away.
If you're a parent or student feeling overwhelmed, this episode offers clar...
You’ve made it to the end of AP season—or you're just about to. So… what now? In this episode, I share what successful students actually do after their exams are over to prepare for college applications. These are the same strategies used by Ivy League, Stanford, and MIT admits—and they’re simple, clear, and powerful.
You’ll learn:
- Why the summer after junior year is a “bonus semester”
- The two questions your application must ...
Are you feeling pressure to make the most of summer—but not sure what actually matters for college admissions? In this episode, Steve Gardner breaks down the three most common mistakes high-achieving students make when planning their summer... and shows you how to avoid them.
You’ll meet:
- Sophia, who overloaded her schedule trying to impress colleges
- Daniel, who created a meaningful project from a single question
- And Bryanna, a rea...
Steve sits down with Tessymol Jose — the inspiring mother of Erica, one of our incredible students — to tell the full, raw story of their college admissions journey.
This isn’t a sugar-coated success story. It’s a front-row seat to the overwhelming pressure, confusion, and heartbreak that so many ambitious students (and their families) experience when they follow the wrong roadmap to college admissions — the "just do more, be m...
This episode is a special one — made especially for parents of Curiosity Lab students, but meaningful for anyone raising a curious preteen.
Inside, Steve shares:
- Why curiosity is a skill, not a personality trait — and why that matters
- The five core pillars of the Curiosity Lab (and how they work together)
- Three powerful ways parents can support curiosity at home
- A bonus mindset shift that will change how you respond when your child ...
Most teens today feel overwhelmed, burned out, or stuck in the race to be impressive — all while secretly wondering: “How do some students become so great, so young?”
In this episode, we break down the real process of building passion and achieving meaningful success — not by performing for approval, but by discovering purpose and leaning into long-term growth.
You’ll learn:
- Why passion isn’t found — it’s built
- How over-scheduling ...
What if the real test in college admissions isn’t the one you think it is?
In this episode, we unpack “The Hidden Test”—the one that’s not on any syllabus and can’t be studied for with flashcards. Drawing from a powerful psychological experiment, wisdom from Ivy League deans Lee Coffin (Dartmouth) and Logan Powell (Brown), and real insights from the admissions process, we reveal how selective colleges are not just looking for the mo...
In this episode, I’m thrilled to introduce something brand new — Curiosity Lab, a program designed to ignite the minds of 10–13-year-olds through real-world learning, led by inspiring high school mentors.
Our very first teacher is Ava, a passionate and thoughtful high school student who’s teaching the first Curiosity Lab unit on public speaking. Ava shares how she discovered her love for speech and debate, why she wanted to teach yo...
What if your child’s future success—especially with college admissions—hinges on how curious they become before they even get there?
In this episode, I break down the Curiosity Window, the critical developmental phase between ages 10 and 13, when your child’s brain is primed for identity formation, exploration, and deep learning. If curiosity is nurtured now, it becomes a foundation for confidence, motivation, and impact later. If ...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.
"SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!