In a year of standout South African matriculants, a handful of stories cut through – Ita Collins’s is one of them. The 2025 Head Girl of Roedean School graduated with nine distinctions and will begin her undergraduate degree at Harvard University later this year. Behind that result was a clear strategy: refining an already strong profile, rather than adding to it.
“With an applicant like Ita, the work isn’t about doing more – it’s about helping the student see what’s already there,” says Brad Latilla-Campbell, Country Manager at Crimson Education, a global mentorship company that helps students gain admission to Ivy League, Oxbridge, and other top universities worldwide. “Top US universities aren’t looking for a long list of achievements. They’re looking for a clear sense of who a student is and where they’re headed. In Ita’s case, that meant drawing a through-line across everything she’d done and shaping it into a coherent story.”
Alongside her academic record, Collins served on the Student Representative Council, committed herself to environmental activism both inside and outside school, competed across multiple sports, and completed an internship at the Wits Reproductive Health Institute. Each pursuit reflected a real interest, but together covered considerable ground – and identifying what would carry the most weight on her application was precisely where Crimson’s role came in.
“I had a lot going on, and a lot of opinions coming at me about what I should do,” says Collins. “Having an outside view – one without any stake in the outcome – was incredibly valuable. Crimson helped me see what was current, what was realistic, and which of my interests had the most to offer when it came to building an application.”
That perspective carried into the writing. Working through multiple drafts with a Crimson essay mentor – from her personal statement to her supplementary responses – Collins focused on writing that sounded distinctly like her, with the same essay mentor pushing her to grow as a writer in the process. By the end of the cycle, she had not only a stronger application but a sharper sense of how to tell her own story.
“Writing the essays was honestly one of the hardest parts of the process, but probably the most rewarding,” says Collins. “It forced me to reflect on things I hadn’t really stopped to think about before – why I’d made certain choices, what I actually believed. I came out of it more self-aware than when I went in, and I think that’s something that’ll stay with me well beyond the applications.”
Collins received offers from Harvard, Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, and Harvey Mudd College. She chose Harvard, drawn by the depth of its policy programmes and the strength of its international community – where she plans to major in Environmental Studies, combining science and policy with a public health focus.
“I wouldn’t be where I am without the support of my family, my school, and Crimson – they pushed me, believed in me, and helped me see what I was capable of,” says Collins. “You don’t need to have it all figured out. Trust what you’re drawn to, give it your full attention, and let the rest take shape from there.”
Crimson Education’s admissions and application counselling model connects students with the world’s top tutors and mentors, providing tailored support to help them reach their personal education and career goals. For more information, visit www.crimsoneducation.org/za.