What Admissions Officers Look for On Private School Applications

August 13, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

A typical private day or boarding school application consists of:

Student statement
Student questionnaire
Parent questionnaire
Student interview
Parent interview
Standardized test scores
Teacher recommendations (English and Math)
Two-years of school transcripts
Family information sheet
Portfolio of extracurricular activities.

Do they really read and review everything? Yes, they do! Admissions officers are well practiced at reviewing details in applications as well as observing non-verbal cues that communicate a student and family’s character. Especially, the very selective private schools where the acceptance rates can be as low as 13%.

The private school admission process is not formulaic. Many parents make the mistake of assuming that admissions is based on formula. By continually visiting private schools, we have observed that each admissions officer has their own way of evaluating applications and understand the unique individual admissions policies and nuances of each school.

In addition to the above criteria, especially at the top private schools, admissions committees also consider a student’s character, family dynamics and how all the above components are interrelated to display a comprehensive view a student’s entire admissions profile. They are also looking for students who are going to be positive, active and engaged members of their unique community. They want to accept students who will do well and thrive in their school community and culture.

We are admissions advisors who visit colleges and therefore who know what admissions officers and committees at different schools expect and don’t want to see in your applications and essays! Our insider-knowledge gives you and edge and helps you avoid mistakes on your application and essays BEFORE you press submit.

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe.

Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director and lead admissions expert at Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group’s Boarding School Admissions Consultants. and affiliate of Private School Admissions Advisors. Dr. Lowe specializes in providing exclusive concierge-type admissions advisory services for U.S. and international students who are interested in applying to top U.S. boarding and private schools. Dr. Lowe helps U.S. and international students gain admissions into top U.S. boarding schools even after they have been wait-listed and rejected. Dr. Lowe and his team of admissions advisors also visit prestigious and elite private schools, where they have the unique opportunity of interacting one-on-one with heads of schools, directors of admissions and senior admissions personnel.

Common Application 2018-2019 Launched

August 11, 2018August 11, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

The Common Application 2018-2019 was launched 10 days ago and we are now receiving calls from 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 the main essay! Every section is devised so that the admissions officers get to know the student.

We spend countless hours reviewing our clients’ entire Common Application to help them successfully navigate and avoid the unnecessary and devastating landmines that cause rejections!

Biographical Section (Profile, Family, Educational & Testing): The admissions committees or your regional admissions officers assess who you are. It’s important to answer the questions honestly and with precision!

Personal Statement: We ensure that our clients’ Common App 650-word main essay accurately reflects the information that they want to convey to the majority of colleges to which they are applying. See Our blog: College Application Essay Prompts 2018-2019

College-Specific Questions: Academic interest, program(s) applying to (Some colleges may also ask additional questions about your family, state of residence, activities, and general interests.) Admissions officers/committees use this as a way further understand a student’s past and their academic goals and objectives and how they are all interrelated.

Short Answers: Then there are the school-specific (short answer essays)! Although short, these little essays (50-250 words) can play a meaningful role in your application. It provides a small window into your passions and personality, and because of this, it can be important when a college has a holistic admissions policies. We spend just as much time brainstorming and helping our clients to revise these, seemingly simple essays, because we know how admissions committees use them to determine acceptance or rejections. Types of supplemental short essays include but are not limited to:

The ‘why us’ essay
Tell us more about an extracurricular
Design a class/a major
Tell us about your major
Diversity-in-community essay
Specialty small essays (list, words or one sentence or a phrase)

Activities Section: Whereas the personal statement will show college admissions committees who your child is, the Common Application Activities section will allow colleges to understand what your child has done and is doing outside of the classroom, offering one of the best opportunities to stand out among other applicants.

Without college essays and extracurricular activities lists, colleges would be limited to grades, class rank, and ACT and SAT scores to make their admissions decisions. Given that so many students with strong numbers apply to college each year, it’s important for your child to use the Activities section to develop an application theme, that is, their “WOW FACTOR” and specialties. We leave no stone unturned in this section!

Courses & Grades (Self-Reporting Transcripts). In this section, you have an opportunity to self-report your grades. In reviewing our clients’ answers, we find errors. It’s important to review this section. A discrepancy with what you report and your transcript raises a red flag! These flags translate into a rejection letter.

The Common Application is not just an application. It’s a puzzle filled with landmines that if not reviewed, interpreted and completed correctly will result in students being rejected from schools. When assisting our clients with the completion of their Common applications, we take into consideration their student admissions profile as well as the specific admissions policies and missions of their target schools that we gather from our research and by visiting schools. Our wealth of insider-knowledge helps our clients to WIN!

Blog: College Admissions is a Competitive Sport – How to Win Your Personal Admissions Game!

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe

Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe, founder and managing director of Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group, provides comprehensive counseling advice, exclusively for admissions to top private schools; Ivy League and highly-selective colleges/universities; BS/MD programs; graduate and medical schools and top visual and performing arts programs. The admissions affiliate: Ivy League Admissions Advisors specializes in admissions to Ivy League and highly selective colleges, Dr. Lowe also specializes in helping students who have been wait-listed, deferred or rejected gain admission into their top-choice schools: College Application Rejected. and student who wish to transfer to another college: College Transfer Admissions Advisors. Summer Camps: BS/MD Application Boot Camp and Ivy League Application Boot Camp.

Brown University PLME: The Best of Both Worlds

Brown_PLME_Dr_Paul_Lowe_Admissions_Expert

August 8, 2018August 10, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Brown University’s 8-year combined BS/MD program is the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!

Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) is the only Ivy League – BS/MD program. On the undergraduate side, through its Open Curriculum, it allows students the academic freedom to enroll in the courses that interest them rather than a “premed curriculum” PLME also does not require its students to take the MCAT and the only academic requirement is that a minimum 3.0 GPA be maintained in biology courses. PLME is also one of the few BS/MD programs that accepts international students.

PLME students may choose any one of the nearly 100 departmental and interdepartmental concentration programs offered at the University. PLME students complete a four-year undergraduate program by receiving a A.B. or Sc.B. degree. Students can then proceed directly to Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School.

For the class of 2022, of 2,629 applicants to PLME, only 88 students were admitted to, a 3-percent admission rate. It goes without saying that the students admitted to this program are among the best and brightest in the world!

What makes Brown University PLME the top and most prestigious BS/MD program?

Ivy League
Open Cirriculum
No MCAT requirement
Accepts international students

At BS/MD Admissions Advisors, we know Brown! Unlike other educational consultants, we constantly visit Brown and understand the nuances and changes in its admission policies. Our BS/MD admissions experts: Dr. Paul Lowe is a Brown graduate and Dr. Nadine Cartwright-Lowe is a Brown PLME graduate, an active alumni and a licensed internist.

Dr_Lowe_Dr_Christina_Hull_Paxson_President_Brown_University — Christina Paxson, President of Brown University with Dr. Lowe at Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown

Blog: College Admissions is a Competitive Sport – How to Win Your Personal Admissions Game!

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe

BS/MD Programs Which Don’t Require the MCAT

August 5, 2018August 10, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

One of the main reasons students choose BS/MD programs is to avoid the dreaded and hyper-competitive application process to medical schools. And a part of that process is the MCAT exam. There are schools who require the MCAT and there are schools which don’t.

Here is a list of some BS/MD Programs which don’t require the MCATs:

Brown University PLME
Case Western Reserve University
Eastern Carolina University
Northwestern University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Albany Medical College
Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education
St. Bonaventure University/George Washington School of Medicine
Siena College/Albany Medical College
Texas Tech University
Union College/Albany Medical College
University of California – San Diego
University of Missouri Kansas City
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rochester
University of Sciences in Philadelphia/Commonwealth Medical College
University of Texas Dallas/University of Teas Southwestern
University of Toledo
Washington University

Many of our clients prefer these schools, however, I encourage them to consider BS/MD programs not just based on their MCAT requirement. As a result of our successful admissions strategies we know that, in the end, our client-parents can call their children “Dr” in their senior year of high school.

Blog: College Admissions is a Competitive Sport – How to Win Your Personal Admissions Game!

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe

Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director of Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group network. He and his team of admissions advisors, through the admissions affiliate, BS/MD Admissions Advisors, help high school students get accepted to BS/MD programs. Many of Dr. Lowe’s BS/MD Admissions client are international students want to attend medical schools from high school and then entire U.S. medical residency sub-specialties. Summer Camps: BS/MD Application Boot Camp. Special program: BS/MD Application Tune-Up.

Common Application Essay Prompts 2018-2019

July 31, 2018July 31, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

If you’re reading this blog then you’re most likely a rising senior (or parent of a rising senior) and you are in the process of deciding which prompt to choose.

The Common Application Essay is the most important essay that you will write as a high school student. With a word limit of 650 words this means that every word, phrase and punctuation point will count, in addition to the tone and flow of your essay.

The 2018-2019 Common Application Essay Prompts are as follows:

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

We spend hours brainstorming and deciding which prompt will best apply to our clients to help them stand out. We assist our clients in organizing their thoughts. Then, after our clients submit a draft, we discuss the draft and then spend hours, with up to 10 revisions, for a final version. Yes, it takes that long for a masterpiece to be created and enhanced!

Most admissions officers tell me that an applicant’s personal statement is absolutely their favorite part of the application and that it’s really a chance for them to get to know who applicants are as well as a major opportunity for students to speak up about themselves. Essentially, their view is that the rest of the application is about other people talking about the applicant, rather the applicant’s in-depth view of him or herself.

Admissions officers want a well-written essay in your own voice that emphasizes insight into your unique character and personality that is thoughtful and reflective. Essays written by our clients lets the admissions committee get to know them well as a person and demonstrates how you think and why you think and what really matters to you.

Blog: College Admissions is a Competitive Sport – How to Win Your Personal Admissions Game!

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe

6-Year BS/MD Programs

July 28, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

BS/MD programs come in all sizes. Six, seven and eight year programs. What we have discovered is that six-year Combined BS/MD programs streamline the process of applying of becoming a doctor even faster!

Here is a list of 6-year BS/MD Programs:

California Northstate University BS/MD
Howard University
Pennsylvania State University
Texas JAMP
Kent State University
University of Missouri Kansas City

Blog: College Admissions is a Competitive Sport – How to Win Your Personal Admissions Game!

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe

Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director of Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group network. He and his team of admissions advisors, through the admissions affiliate, BS/MD Admissions Advisors, help high school students get accepted to BS/MD programs. Many of Dr. Lowe’s BS/MD Admissions client are international students want to attend medical school from high school and then entire U.S. medical residency sub-specialties. Application help only: BS/MD Application Tune-Up.

So You Think You Have What It Takes To Get Into An Ivy? Think Again!

July 25, 2018July 26, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

You are a rising senior, it’s July and you have the following student profile:

GPA: 4.4/4.0 weighted
AP courses: Multiple AP courses and 5’s on AP exams.
SAT I: 1590
SAT II: Math 2: 800 Chemistry: 800 Biology: 800
Athletics: Captain of the lacrosse team or co-Captain of the swim team.
Arts: First place in piano, violin and dance competitions since middle school.
Extracirrcular activities include: Expensive summer camps and helping the poor.
Awards & Achievements: Science, art , music and/or community service awards.
Leadership: Created a non-profit with it’s own website.
Innovation: Published a book or research paper or developed a startup or app.
Letters of recommendations: Assumed to be all excellent and glowing.
Guidance/college counselor LOR: excellent.
Extras: You believe that you or your parents have a “connection” to get in.
For BS/MD Program applicants: Shadowed doctors, volunteered in hospitals, completed medical research, attended mini-medical schools, earned EMT certification.

Assumption: You and your parents and your guidance counselor believe that you have all that it takes to get an acceptance letter from at least one of the Ivies and all of the highly competitive schools, additionally safety schools are a shoo-in……Not so!

Year after year, I hear the horror stories in December (Early Decision/Action) and in late March (Regular Decision) from parents (who were not our clients) who call us wanting to know what happened and why their wonderful kids were rejected.

These parents have not anticipated that college admissions officers can see through the hollow pretense of a packaged, perfect student. And that their children sound just like every other “perfect” applicant.

Ivy League and highly selective colleges do not need perfection from a single candidate. What they seek is a diverse, dynamic, harmonious and perfect entering class.

Well-meaning sources (other educational consultants, family and friends) tell you what you should be doing. In my practice, we help our clients discover what they are NOT and should NOT be doing!

And it’s what you are NOT DOING that makes you unique, standout and receive an acceptance letter not rejections!

Blog: College Admissions is a Competitive Sport – How to Win Your Personal Admissions Game!

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe

Why You Need a BS MD Admissions Advisor

July 21, 2018July 24, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

I often receive phone calls from parents inquiring about our BS/MD admissions advisory services. They subsequently decide to send their child’s high school transcripts and resumes. On paper (two dimensionally), everything seems perfect: high grades and SAT scores, difficult courses, multiple awards, first place in music, art and/or dance competitions, amazing research projects, mini-medical school camps and shadowing doctors (and we a talking high school sophomores here).

What these parents fail to see is that they have encouraged their children to sound exactly the same (no matter how seemingly impressive) as every other BS/MD applicant. My team and I ask ourselves: “Are these parents reviewing the same websites, talking with the same people and following the same playbook?”

I often follow up and call these parents who did not retain our services and discover that all their children were not accepted to BS/MD programs and worse, were accepted to second and third-tier colleges. What’s amiss here? Is there a correlation here? Why is that?

Parents actually believe that high school guidance and college counselors and educational consultants who DO NOT specialize in BS/MD Admissions understand the nuances of BS/MD programs, visit BS/MD programs and are doctors who have been through the selective process of BS/MD programs or medical school admissions. Additionally, they seek free resources. I stand by the adage: “You get what you pay for.”

Many parents assume that they have the experience and knowledge to do BS/MD admissions on their own. As a professional admissions advisor, I believe that it’s important to talk with someone who has the experience and know what he/she are doing, especially when it’s about your child’s future! Studies show that mistakes are inevitable when people are convinced that they believe they know what they are doing when in fact they have no idea what they are doing.

Is hiring a BS/MD admissions advisor a worthwhile investment?

When your child has a GPA of 4.0 or higher, SAT I’s of 1550 or higher, SAT II’s of 800, and a 3 page resume, it’s logical to believe that he/she has everything necessary to be accepted into BS/MD programs. However, statistically and unfortunately, that is not the case and many students end up being rejected from every BS/MD program to which they apply and attend second-tier or third tier colleges. Therefore, to achieve the admissions goal, rather than play the odds, it is logical to engage an expert.

What I observe, is that parents play the odds and after all their children’s (and their) hard work, they bet incorrectly and LOSE BIG!

I guess the real question here is: Why would highly educated parents knowingly bet and gamble on their children’s educational future and life, to have their children REJECTED, by not hiring an expert?

Blog: College Admissions is a Competitive Sport – How to Win Your Personal Admissions Game!

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe

Top U.S. Computer Science Colleges and Universities

Top Computer Science Colleges and Universities

July 17, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Many of our international student-applicants-clients are interested in computer science degrees. One of the main reasons is that computer science graduates do well in terms of getting full-time employment upon graduation. In 2015, a national survey found that computer science majors were 35% more likely to have full-time jobs one year after graduation than graduates overall and 22% more likely than STEM graduates overall. They also had the highest starting salaries of all majors, with an average of $66,161 and some exceeding $100,000.

Year after year, our Dr. Lowe and his A-team visit top U.S. colleges and universities and have the opportunity to visit top colleges and universities with computer science departments. Because of their rank as top universities they are, of course, highly competitive. Our clients are, of course, very happy when they receive acceptance letters from these schools.

Here is a list of top universities with top computer science departments:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
Harvard University
California Institute of Technology
Yale University
Rice University
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
Brown University
Columbia University
University of California – Berkeley
Dartmouth College
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Cornell University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan – Ann Harbor
University of California – Los Angeles
Washington University in St. Louis
Duke Univesity

Blog: College Admissions is a Competitive Sport – How to Win Your Personal Admissions Game!

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe

Who Are the Beneficiaries of Affirmative Action?

July 12, 2018July 14, 2018 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Students have been affirmatively admitted to Ivy League and elite colleges and universities based on different affirmative criteria for decades (affirmative criteria based on gender, athletics, state of origin, development, elite private high school attendance etc.). This complex policy involving the previously mentioned affirmative criteria is not likely to change soon.

Ironically, the Executive Branch of the United States government has withdrawn its advocacy of utilizing race as one of the affirmative criteria in college admissions. In a joint letter, the US Education and Justice Departments announced on Tuesday, July 3, 2018 that they will rescind seven guidance documents that encouraged colleges and other schools to consider race as a factor when making admission decisions.

There are many statistics regarding the racial breakdown of admitted freshman to Ivy League and top colleges and universities. In general, the following documented trends have emerged.

“…(A)t top tier universities, black undergraduate populations average 6 percent, a statistic that has remained largely flat for 20 years…(At Harvard, for example, 6.5 percent of undergraduates were black in 2013, down from 7.4 percent in 1994).” -The Atlantic, 11/23/15
According to a New York Times analysis (based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “(e)ven after decades of affirmative action, Black and Hispanic students are more underrepresented at the nation’s top colleges and universities than they were 35 years ago…”- New York Times, 8/20/17.
A 2016 study from the Center for American Progress finds that despite the use of race-conscious affirmative criteria Black students have low levels of enrollment at top-tier public universities.
“There is no question that top-tier schools are becoming more diverse. White students made up 58 percent of the student body in 2013, down from 72 percent in 1994.” -The Atlantic, 11/23/15
A more recent study by the New York Times indicates the percentage of white students admitted to Ivy League schools have been dropping, ranging from 40 percent (Columbia) to 56 percent (Dartmouth).

So what are the numbers really saying here, as the percentage of black and latino students have been flat (and in some cases dropping) and the percentage of white students have been dropping, despite the use of the affirmative criterion of race?

If Ivy League and elite colleges have been using race-conscious criteria to affirmatively accept students over the past 35 years, who has really benefited from race-conscious affirmative action admissions policies? To determine the answer, just follow the percentages at each Ivy League and elite college and university.

Additionally, if Ivy League schools and elite colleges and universities will now reverse these policies to comply with The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America for equal protection/access under the law, who will and who will not benefit from the change in the policy of using race as an affirmative criterion?

Perhaps to uphold, abide by and comply with The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America for equal protection/access under the law, colleges and universities will dismiss ALL affirmative criteria and accept students in accordance with the Fourteenth Amendment.

Blog: College Admissions is a Competitive Sport – How to Win Your Personal Admissions Game!

“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe