Ivy League Admissions Advisors Tag

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe Dr. Paul Lowe, Co-Managing Director of New Jersey Admissions Advisors, was invited to speak at 99 Hudson Sales Gallery on “How to Choose the Right Education for Your Child.” His seminar focused primarily on top/elite private school and Ivy League and highly selective college admissions. 99 Hudson Street is a premier luxury condominium complex scheduled to be completed in December 2019, developed by the world-renowned investment and development firm China...

  “Admissions is a competitive sport!  Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe   This time of the year, my firm is receiving calls from parents and students regarding college transfers.  Students who have completed their first semester freshman year (or some who are now sophomores) and have decided that for several reasons, they need to transfer! Why do students choose to transfer?   Did not do very well in high school and did not have many options when...

  Cheryl Plummer, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Greenwich Country Day School with Admissions Expert, Dr. Lowe   On October 5th, Dr. Lowe was invited to a Greenwich Country Day School presentation. The School, located in Greenwich, CT (in lower Fairfield County, 35 miles north of Manhattan) is entering a new chapter in its 92-year history - the opening of a new innovative high school in September 2019. Located two miles from the existing campus on...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe The Common Application 2018-2019 was launched about three weeks ago and we are now receiving calls from very anxious and stressed parents because their children (rising seniors) just started the preliminary portions of the Common Application. The Common App is more than just about the main essay! Every section is devised so that the admissions officers get to know (or find ways to reject) a student. Statistically, it takes top colleges...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe Parents create spread sheets, talk with friends, read books, search websites, form groups to share tips and “sure-fire” methods, try to “chat” with admissions industry personnel, obtain letters of support from VIPs, take copious notes during college tours, and try to gather information from my workshops. For some parents, they discover, when it is too late, that what is really required to help their child with the hyper-competitive college admissions process...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe Many parents, students, guidance/college counselors, and even my fellow educational consulting colleagues are under the belief that college admissions is an exercise in determining the “right fit” and that gaining acceptance into the Ivies and highly selective colleges is just a game of chance and luck. I disagree! In participating in competitions these days, many students (K-12) are taught that everyone wins. With regard to the college admissions process, it is acceptable...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe On Wednesday, March 28th, the Ivies notified high school seniors of their admissions decisions. Thousands of students and parents were disappointed. Here is a list of the acceptance rates, number of students admitted, total number of applicants and rejection rates - Many of the applicants “looked perfect” on paper. Princeton reported that more than 14,200 of the 35,370 applicants had a 4.0 grade point average. Brown reported that 96% of its admitted students are...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe How long do you think it takes a top college to review your application? 24 hours, five hours or one hour? Try less than 8 minutes!!! Due to the ease of applying to multiple schools, the number of domestic and international students applying to elite schools, the number of applications to these schools continues to grow. Additionally, top colleges have also increased recruitment from rural areas in the U.S. Last year the number of...

By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe Did you ever wonder why parents pay as high as $60,000 a year for private high school?  Did you ever wonder why the private school admissions process in Manhattan is so hyper-competitive? I am always surprised in my college admissions seminars at parents who assume that it really doesn't matter where their kids attend school when their kid is interested in Ivy League colleges. As many parents suspect, the path to Ivy...

    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 You may ask yourself, why is a college admissions advisor writing about reading? What does reading have to do with college admissions? Everything! One of the first things I ask my clients is what do you like to read outside the required reading at school. Even the best students have difficulty answering this question. Why is the need to reed important in the college admissions planning process? I just provided...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe Being thorough and particular when evaluating a private school choice is extremely important for parents. But one thing is certain… the competitive private schools will be equally as picky when choosing your child as a member of its incoming class. Private schools have been using the traditional academic criteria of SSAT/ISEE and grades for a number of decades. However, admissions personnel have long recognized that these cognitive measures are limited in their...

  By Admissions Expert, Dr. Paul Lowe Several weeks ago the U.S. News World Report published their ranking for best public high schools. Only eight public high schools in Connecticut, including four in Fairfield County made the Top 500 list. Here are the top public high schools in Connecticut which received a gold ranking in the report.         Amistad Academy in New Haven, #1 in Connecticut, #20 in the U.S.  Weston High School, #2 in Connecticut, #231 in...

  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...