College Tag

  Written By – Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe Boarding school decisions are out! As expected, my firm is receiving continuous inquires to engage us (phone calls and emails) from stunned and stressed-out parents because their children are wait-listed and rejected! In some cases, their children have been wait-listed/rejected from ALL schools to which they applied.    All the parents are disappointed, unhappy and anxious because they are aware of the superior education at top boarding schools and that these schools are...

    Written By - Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe A common question I am often asked by parents, other educational consultants and even high school college counselors is: What makes our admissions advisory firm different than all the rest? My explanation is long. However, the part of the answer that really raises eyebrows pertains to our ability to thoroughly understand our clients in order to refine their personal brand and develop their WOW-Factor so that they can stand...

  Written By - Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe High school seniors have received their College Admissions Early Decision/Early Action results. The results are producing a mixture of palpable emotions. While some happy students settle in for the holidays with their acceptance letters in hand, others will be disappointed and distressed in discovering that they have been deferred to the regular decision pool by the college or university. For those who are deferred, their applications will be re-considered along with the...

    Written by - Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe It’s mid-September, and we are currently receiving calls and emails from anxious parent of high school seniors requesting BS/MD Admissions help. Here is the problem for these parents (and students). It’s too late! Valuable and trusted BS/MD help starts as early as middle school prior to high school. The optimum time to hire an educational consultant, who specializes in BS/MD admissions, is sophomore or junior year (when you see that...

    Written by – Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe If you are a high school junior or your son or daughter is a high school junior and you are thinking about applying to Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities and direct BS/MD programs, it’s time to get really serious about either planning or implementing your plans. With about 3 months left of your junior year, there is no time to waste! You will need to avoid...

    Written by - Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe It’s April and parents continue to frantically call our offices or email us regarding waitlists! The common message: My child was waitlisted at a particular top boarding school or several boarding schools. They’re usually referring to one or all of the Ten Schools (a la Exeter, Andover, Choate, Lawrenceville, Deerfield etc.). Many parents decide to wait patiently, try to see what they can do on their own and then perhaps...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe Dr. Paul Lowe, CEO of Pinnacle Educational Center and managing director of Ivy League Admissions Advisors was featured in a February 26, 2021 MarketWatch article by Howard Gold entitled: COVID-19 is changing college application strategies — and lowering the odds of getting into top schools.” Ivy League Admissions Advisors helps students get accepted to Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities and BS/MD programs. “We are not for everyone,” Dr. Lowe said....

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe The annual cost to attend (tuition, fees, housing, food, books, misc.) gives pause to many potential applicants: Harvard: $76,479; Brown: $78,688; Princeton: $75,210; Dartmouth: $79,967. So, what's really happening here? Tuition is rising, yet U.S. as well as international students are competitively applying to these schools. What do these institutions have that others may not? This is a question I hear, year after year, and from several parents in my recent...

    Written by – Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe The past year has been full of uncertainty. As a consequence of the myriad of transitions, changes, adjustments and adaptations, now there’s a whole new admissions world. Education has moved from in-person to online learning and there has been an increase in the number of applications to top private day and boarding schools, Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities and BS/MD programs! The College Board recently announced...

  Written by – Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe It’s that important time of the year for high school seniors as many students are beginning to receive their application decisions. Let's describe each.  ACCEPTED/ADMITTED - You're in! You did it! Congratulation! You have been offered a spot in the incoming freshman class of one or more of the schools on your list. If it's one of your top-choice schools and you have been accepted EA or RD it's great!...

  Written by – Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe Since this summer, we have observed more and more parents establish permanent residences in Fairfield and Westchester Counties. Temporary weekend residences are now becoming permanent residences. Many realtors and relocation experts have been calling us to help their clients meet their educational goals for their children as they are seeking private schools in “Fairchester” (private schools in Fairfield and Westchester Counties). Based on our research, knowledge and professional working-relationships; and...

  Written by – Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe It’s Back-To-School season! As we enter the seventh month of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on secondary education, many of our clients, private as well as public school administrators and teachers are reporting to us their potential approaches to education in the current COVID-19 environment. Some parents are forming learning pods. Some parents are hiring tutors to supplement online learning at schools that are fully online. Some parents are forgoing...

  Written by – Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe It's August and for some rising seniors, school starts in approximately 30 days. For many students, school will be closed and taught in an online fashion. That in and of itself will be an additional disruption in the dynamics of the college admissions process. You can use this time to continue to vacation, relax and enjoy the summer or take full advantage of all this free time! For rising seniors, now is...

    By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe For years, elite colleges have tried to address a proportional decline of students arriving from areas beyond metropolitan and suburban areas. These colleges have been implementing additional measures to address diversity issues on college campuses. Increasingly, private elite colleges are seeking small-town and rural students.  One thing has not changed with regard to college admissions and diversity. Recent studies by the National Center for Education Statistics have shown that even with...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe The work of selecting students for admissions into colleges and universities is becoming more complex. Each year college admissions officers and their committees review thousands of applications and seek to predict the likelihood of those applicants to meaningfully contribute socially, culturally and personally to their specific college communities.  Ivy League and highly selective colleges use a team review process to holistically evaluate each applicant when creating a particular class during the...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe “Some of America’s most exclusive colleges are becoming more exclusive” (WSJ – April1-2, 2017). According to recently published data in Business Insider, more qualified students are applying to Ivy League schools. This has resulted in even higher rejection rates for Harvard, Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Princeton, Dartmouth and UPenn.  The Wall Street Journal article also reported that even applicants with 4.0 GPAs and SATs greater than 1400 are being rejected. “Competition...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe My team and I personally work with U.S. as well as international families (who reside in the U.S. or are abroad) during the private school application admissions process. We have worked with families from over 130 different countries and on all seven continents. My firm works with families who are interested in top day and boarding schools primarily on the east and west coast. Year after year, I hear about...

By Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe They are all Ivy Leaguers: Matt Damon (Harvard), Emma Watson (Brown), John Legend (UPenn),Julia Stiles (Columbia), Brian Hallisay (Cornell), Conan O’Brien (Harvard), Amanda Peet (Columbia), Ashley Judd (Harvard), Angela Bassett (Yale), Mindy Kaling (Dartmouth), Mira Sorvino (Harvard), Dean Cain (Princeton), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Columbia), Rashida Jones (Harvard), Elizabeth Banks (UPenn), Julie Bowen (Brown), Joshua Redman (Harvard), Wentworth Miller (Princeton), Connie Britton (Dartmouth), Famke Janssen (Columbia), Ron Livingston (Yale), Aisha Tyler (Dartmouth), Bruce...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe On June 23, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld its previous rulings that colleges and universities have the right to consider diversity and to include race as a factor in its holistic review process. The Court’s decision empowers colleges and universities to promote both equity and excellence by reducing the role of test scores and other quantitative factors and focusing more on students’ character, qualitative attributes and what I have coined...

  By Dr. Paul Lowe Admissions and Athletic Recruiting Expert You have been playing your sport for 5-10 years and you want to be recruited or even better, recruited and receive that four-year athletic scholarship from a top choice college. Don’t sell yourself short. My advice after 18 years in the college admissions advisory business and constantly talking to college coaches and Athletic Directors is that they are looking for these points: (In case you missed Part...

  By Dr. Paul Lowe Admissions and Athletic Recruiting Expert You have been playing your sport for 5-10 years and you want to be recruited or even better, recruited and receive that four-year athletic scholarship from a top choice college. Don’t sell yourself short. My advice after 18 years in the college admissions advisory business and constantly talking to college coaches and Athletic Directors is that they are looking for these points:  Ability: Coaches are interested...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe Admissions officers are talented and committed professionals who make decisions based on a comprehensive and holistic understanding of an applicant and how he or she will contribute to their institution’s mission. They are committed to expanding a diverse applicant pool by reviewing every detail of an applicant’s application and supportive documents. Their decisions are based on their perceptions and perspectives of a student, the students’ backgrounds and communities, as well as...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe As college admissions becomes increasingly more competitive, admissions officers and committees look beyond high GPAs, high standardized test scores, ESEs (expensive summer experiences) and seemingly amazing, but generic essays. Dr. Lowe and his team have developed the Wow Factor Admissions Concept. What’s your personal “wow factor” that will make you stand out and get accepted to the college of your choice? It’s a factor that your admissions officer will look for as...

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 Or as Yogi Berra put it:     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....

By Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe Many students and their parents will be overjoyed when they are accepted into the private school or college of their choice. HOWEVER, for those who are not happy with current educational situations open to them or their children, Greenwich Admissions Advisors can help broaden those horizons. Dr. Paul Lowe, a managing director of both GAA and Private School Admissions Advisors, is well acquainted with elite private schools, Ivy League and highly selective...

By Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe Dr. Lowe paid one of his many visits to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Admissions Office and the MIT Campus. Dr. Lowe and his team of admissions advisors visit Ivy League, prestigious and elite colleges several times annually where they have the unique opportunity of interacting one-on-one with the director of admissions and senior admissions personnel. MIT is at the center of a growing science, technology, health care, research and business community in...

By Dr. Paul Lowe Admissions Expert Some people view diversity as a nebulous and intangible descriptor, a court-ordered societal mandate or, in some cases, even unconstitutional. In truth, diversity is an invaluable asset and in the financial sense has an unlimited ROI. We live in a competitive and interconnected global society; not in the small, homogenous and insular communities that we may perceive. Diversity has always been America’s greatest asset! Diversity is a necessary precondition to...

By Dr. Paul Lowe Admissions Expert Not all private schools are created equally! Dozens of schools provide exciting environments in which your child can grow. The choice and option can be confusing. And, like most important decisions, the choice of a school should be the result of careful and thoughtful planning. Here is a list of recommendations for parents to use in determining whether their child should become a member in a private school community and...

Dr. Lowe with Panetha Ott, Director of Admissions, International Recruitment at Brown University. I know that guidance counselors in local school districts do an excellent job, but I also know that students (and parents) sometimes need more time and individualized attention than counselors can provide. In my firm, I work with families, in the evenings, on weekends, and during holidays and school vacations. It’s a 24-7 commitment. My admissions team and I gain first-hand knowledge...

Laura Danforth, Head of School, Masters School and Dr. Paul R. Lowe In October, Dr. Paul Lowe and his admissions team visited The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry. The goal of our school visit and assessment - Private School Assessment & ReviewSM is to provide parents with the knowledge they need to decide where their children should go to school, and to help them find out what steps are needed in the admissions process.  By...