InGenius Prep Named Official Partner of US Squash
InGenius Prep is proud to partner with US Squash, the national governing body for the sport of squash in the United States. This partnership will equip student-athletes and their families with expert support as they navigate the increasingly competitive path to top colleges and universities. This new collaboration will provide US Squash families with expert guidance on navigating the college admissions process.
To launch this partnership, we’re sharing the story of Leonard, a squash player and classical scholar who was accepted Early Decision to Duke University after working with InGenius Prep through our college application programs. For this case study, Leonard’s original name has been altered to protect our student’s privacy.
Read the full press release of our partnership announcement here.
Where Leonard Started: Strengths and Weaknesses
When Leonard first began his journey with InGenius Prep in 10th grade, he was academically strong, but not yet a competitive college applicant.
Strengths:
- Four-year varsity squash athlete who trained six days a week
- A’s in challenging coursework at top-tier boarding schools
- Six years of Latin and multiple National Latin Exam honors (Maxima Cum Laude and Silver Medal)
- Confident, communicative, and highly motivated to lead
Weaknesses:
- Limited extracurriculars outside of squash
- No demonstrated engagement with economics, despite stating it as an academic interest
- Unfocused narrative with interests in squash, Latin, and business that weren’t connected
- No structured leadership roles or standout projects
How Did InGenius Prep Help? Early High School Years
Counselor Assignment and Relationship Building
Leonard was paired with Matt Rosenbaum, a Former Admissions Officer from the University of Chicago. Matt explained the three pillars of candidacy building: academics, personal background and traits, and intellectual fit and how each would shape Leonard’s long-term admissions strategy.
Interest Exploration
Leonard initially listed business as a broad interest but lacked direction. Matt helped him clarify his focus through a structured exploration process that included personality assessments, a school report scavenger hunt, and targeted exercises. Drawing on the same discipline and strategic mindset Leonard developed through squash, Matt encouraged him to explore topics like investment strategy and entrepreneurship. That process helped Leonard take abstract interests and turn them into concrete academic goals that would later shape his application.
Major and School Exploration
Once Leonard had a clearer academic focus, Matt guided him through a strategic college research process, prioritizing fit, academic alignment, and campus culture. They explored schools with strong economics and classics programs, including Duke, Boston College, University of Richmond, and Middlebury.
Duke stood out for its interdisciplinary learning, residential community, and top-ranked economics department. With Matt’s guidance, Leonard identified it as his Early Decision target.
Extracurricular Enhancement
To expand his limited activity profile, Matt created a personalized Extracurricular Enhancement Plan. Each new activity was tracked with defined goals and linked back to Leonard’s developing application narrative. Over the next year and a half, Leonard:
- Volunteered to coach younger squash players during school break
- Launched an educational video and blog project on China’s Belt and Road Initiative
- Entered the Blue Ocean High School Entrepreneurship Competition with a value-investing business pitch
- Took on key campus leadership roles: Dorm Prefect, International Ambassador, Campus Tour Guide, and Classics Fellow
- Joined the Investment Book Club at school to share weekly strategy takeaways
Academic Mentorship
To strengthen his academic engagement in economics, Leonard enrolled in a 1-on-1 mentorship on angel investing. This mentorship became a cornerstone of his intellectual development and featured in his essays and activity list. Through this program, he:
- Wrote a five-page research report on risk assessment in startup investing
- Developed a personal scoring rubric to evaluate early-stage companies
- Produced a presentation used for school discussions and college interview prep
Recommendation Guidance
Matt worked closely with Leonard to select recommenders who could reinforce his application narrative and highlight different areas of his profile. He advised Leonard to ask:
- His Latin teacher, who had taught him for six years and highlighted his academic maturity
- His math teacher, who described his analytical thinking and consistency
- His squash coach, who could effectively communicate his leadership and discipline skills outside of the classroom
How Did InGenius Prep Help? Application Counseling
Application Persona
Through guided exercises, Leonard began to connect the dots between his academic strengths, extracurricular passions, and personal interests. He had long been interested in squash, economics and Latin, but his activities lacked cohesion.
Matt helped him shape a unified narrative that positioned Leonard not just as a student, but as a thoughtful leader who bridges disciplines. His application persona laid the foundation for every part of Leonard’s application, to ensure admissions officers would see a cohesive application narrative. Together, they landed on a compelling persona:
“A humanist and future economist focused on community leadership.”
Personal Statement
Leonard wrote about squash not just as a sport, but as a foundation for mental strength and leadership. He described how visualization strategies, like imagining a tidepool to calm his breathing, helped him stay focused under pressure. These same skills supported him in leading his dorm, staying composed during exams, and delivering classroom presentations. With Matt’s guidance, Leonard refined the essay’s conclusion to show how squash shaped his identity as a resilient, reflective leader both on and off the court.
Activities List
Matt helped Leonard structure his activity list to align with his application persona. Rather than just listing Leonard’s squash experience as another extracurricular, Matt helped elevate it as a key narrative. He advised that he highlight the discipline, leadership, and mentorship skills Leonard gained both on and off the court. Together, they framed his four-year varsity commitment as a high-level activity, requiring consistent training six days a week that ultimately led to his team captain achievement.
Supplemental Essays
With the focus of Leonard’s Personal Statement being about his squash experience, Matt advised him to use his Supplemental Essays to reinforce his persona as a “humanist and future economist focused on community leadership.”
His Duke supplement connected stoicism and long-term investing to readings from Plato’s Republic and Dao De Jing. Other essays highlighted key moments of growth. Reflecting on a quote from Confucius, Leonard shared how being cut from the basketball team led him to discover squash and a style of play that suited him:“We need to find what is suitable for ourselves and follow our own path.”
Final Review
In the final review process, Matt helped Leonard bring his entire application together in a cohesive way. Most importantly, he worked with Leonard to reshape how squash showed up through his application, especially across his essays and activities list. What began as a standard sports narrative became a thoughtful reflection on the habits Leonard built through squash, like staying composed under pressure and adjusting strategy mid-match. This shift helped turn squash into a central theme of his application, not just an extracurricular. Matt also made final edits across the application to tighten language and ensure that every piece supported the story they had worked hard to build.
The Result: Duke University, Early Decision
Leonard submitted his Early Decision application to Duke in the fall of senior year. A few months later, he received the news: he had been accepted! It wasn’t luck, it was the result of years of structured growth, thoughtful mentorship, and consistent execution.
Supporting More Students Like Leonard
Leonard’s story reflects what’s possible when potential is paired with a plan. Through our partnership with US Squash, InGenius Prep is proud to help student-athletes turn passion into purpose and purpose into results. Ready to take the first step? Schedule a free consultation today.