June 9, 2016 9:58 am 9 Things High School Rising Seniors Should Be Doing Now For Admissions
By Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe
- Plan, plan and plan.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- Common App. Prepare for The Common App 2016-2017 as soon as your summer vacation begins.
- Visit colleges. Be sure you have narrowed your choices down to a realistic list.
- Start your college essays. Have you started practicing your Common App personal statement? Don’t forget the short answers or supplemental essays. These 25-50 word essays are sometimes used as the decision breakers! They are short for a reason.
- Obtain letters of recommendation. It’s not who is writing or what they are writing. It’s how they are writing about you in a meaningful way. Choose your recommenders wisely.
- Carefully Consider Financial Aid. If your family cannot pay $26,000 – $53,000 through investment income, savings or a fund for your college tuition, then you should plan to fill out the FAFSA and a CSS/Financial Aid Profile.
- Finalize Your Academic Resume. Register for the SATs and/or ACT. Plan or re-plan your senior year courses.
- Energize and put the finishing touches on your Holistic Acceptance Profile. College acceptance is not just about high scores on the new SATs, high GPAs and a manufactured Common Application or personal statement not authored by the student. Ivy League and highly-selective colleges and universities use holistic approach and review assessments to admit qualified applicants. Admissions committees want to know the student behind the application. Only by understanding the person behind the scholarly achievements (behind the application), and the context in which they were earned, can universities make a proper assessment to accept a qualified applicant. What’s your “holistic acceptance profile”? Visit our website to see what schools use: Holistic Approach.
- Hire an expert to help you successfully navigate the admissions process and get you accepted into your top-choice colleges. Hire a professional educational consultant who specializes in college admissions, visits colleges and universities and knows the admissions policy at each school as it applies to you and especially understands holistic admissions. College acceptance is not a game of chance! Just look at this year’s rejection rates at Ivy League and highly selective colleges. The Higher Education Consultants Association (HECA) stated: “A professional educational consultant works one-on-one with each student, helping to identify colleges and universities that offer the best matches for the student’s unique needs, and keeping the student on track through every phase of the college application process.”
Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director and lead admissions expert at Greenwich Admissions Advisors. Tel. (203) 542-7288, and founder of Ivy League Admissions Advisors a part of the Pinnacle Educational Admissions Advisors Group network.
Dr. Lowe specializes in providing exclusive admissions advisory services for families and students who are interested in applying to and experiencing the unique educational environment and communities of Ivy League and highly selective colleges and elite private day and boarding schools.
Dr. Lowe is an active member of several professional organizations including: the Higher Education Consultants Association (HECA), the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC), the New York Association for College Admission Counseling (NYACAC), the New Jersey Association for College Admission Counseling (NJACAC), the Overseas Association for College Admission Counseling (OACAC), and NAFSA: Association of International Educators, American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), and the Admissions Leadership Consortium (ALC).