Category: Boarding School

What Admissions Officers Look for On Private School Applications

Private School Application Dr Paul Lowe
~ 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.

Get_Expert Private-School-Advice_Dr_Paul_Lowe

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.

Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director and lead admissions expert at Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group’s  Boarding School Admissions Consultants , an 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.

2018 Top Boarding Schools in New Jersey

~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Many parents who reside in New Jersey call our New Jersey offices in Fort Lee or Princeton seeking top boarding schools in New Jersey as an alternative educational environment to public schools and private day schools.

Boarding schools that we have listed below have 5 Things in Common that all top boarding schools have including but not limited to, college admissions placement, facilities, small classes and culture.

Here are the top boarding schools in New Jersey:

  1. The Lawrenceville School
  2. Blair Academy
  3. Peddie School
  4. Hun School at Princeton

Year after year, we have placed students in these boarding schools and they have provided positive feedback about their experiences!

“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, an 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 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.

Elite Boarding Schools – Feeders to the Ivy Leagues

Top U.S. Private High Schools with the Highest Percentage Graduates of Accepted To Ivy League Universities Dr Paul Lowe
~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Each year, my team and I visit top U.S. boarding schools.  The admissions bar is pretty high to get accepted.  For example, Phillips Academy receives 3,000 applications each year but only accepts about 13%, St. Paul’s acceptance rate is 16%, Cate School’s acceptance rate is 14%, Phillips Exeter’s acceptance rate is 18%.  The annual tuition to these schools are on average $55,000 per year.

With these low acceptance rates, the competitive admissions process and relatively high tuition why do parents continue to strive to have their children admitted to these schools?  The answer is quite simple:  Elite boarding schools are feeder schools to the Ivies!

For the past three years, more than 20 Andover students have gotten into each of the following top schools: Brown University, Columbia University, Harvard University, MIT, Princeton University, Stanford University, and Yale University.

With that type of track record, and the life-long relationships and contacts student make, its no wonder parents are more than willing to go through the competitive admissions process and invest over $225,000 in an elite boarding school education for their children.

When parents call us to retain our services for admissions to top boarding schools they often ask us what is value or return on investment of our fee.  Our response:  Your investment at minimum, admissions to top boarding schools ($225,000), the eventual increased probability of admissions to the Ivy leagues ($250,000) and the life time value of an Ivy League degree!

“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, an 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 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. 

5 Things That Top U.S. Boarding Schools Have in Common

~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Throughout the years, my team and I continually visit top U.S. boarding schools.  We meet and maintain longstanding relationships with admissions directors, enrollment directors, heads of schools and administrators to gather real-time information, perform research and gain insider-insight and knowledge about the admissions policies and mission of the schools.

Here are 5 things that we find that are common among top U.S. boarding schools:

  • College Admissions placement:  They send lots of students off to the Ivy League  and highly selective colleges!  Let’s just consider Andover: For the past three years, more than 20 Andover students have gotten into each of the following top schools: Brown University, Columbia University, Harvard University, MIT, Princeton University, Stanford University, and Yale University.
  • Facilities:  These schools build, renovate, and maintain facilities that by their very design encourage community, foster collaboration, and facilitate the powerful mentoring—in the dorm and across campus—characteristic of top schools
  • Academics:  These schools possess outstanding traditions of academic supremacy, and are built on educational models of diverse curricula.  The academics are designed to inspire student intellectual development through collaboration.
  • Small Classes:  These schools assign on average about 9.8 students to each teacher, thus guaranteeing the individual attention each child needs to thrive intellectually, socially and emotionally.  Small class sizes encourage meaningful interaction, as well as learning that extends beyond the classrooms in activities and sports.
  • Culture:  Each school has its own distinctive and unique culture, however, in general, all of the cultures are scholarly, resourceful and develop student character  student knowledge, confidence, and resilience in meaningful ways.  The students at these schools are encouraged to express themselves and to strive for their personal excellence intellectually, artistically, and athletically.  It’s no wonder many of these students are accepted into Ivy League and highly competitive colleges and some become future business, political, art, science, technology and entrepreneurial leaders who participate in a global network of top boarding school alumni.

“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, an 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 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.

2018 Top U.S. Boarding Schools

~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on schools released its 2018 ranking of the best boarding schools in the U.S., specifically highlighting the best schools that prepare students for elite colleges.

My team and I have had the opportunity to visit these top boarding schools and I must agree.  These schools have not only great facilities but also excellent and engaged faculty and administrators.  Why do we visit schools?  See my blog: Why Dr. Lowe Visits Private Schools.

Here is the list of 2018 top 25 U.S. boarding high schools by rank:

  1. Phillips Academy – Andover, MA
  2. Phillips Exeter Academy – Exeter, NH
  3. St. Paul’s School – Concord, NH
  4. Lawrenceville School – Lawrenceville, NJ
  5. Choate Rosemary Hall – Wallingford, CT
  6. Deerfield Academy – Deerfield, MA
  7. Groton School – Groton, MA
  8. Noble & Greenough School – Dedham, MA
  9. Cranbrook School – Bloomfield Hills, MI
  10. Hotchkiss School – Lakeville, CT
  11. Hockaday School – Dallas, TX
  12. Cate School – Carpinteria, CA
  13. Middlesex School – Concord, MA
  14. Thacher School – Ojai, CA
  15. Milton Academy – Milton, MA
  16. Lake Forest Academy – Lake Forest, IL
  17. St. Albans School – Washington, DC
  18. St. Stephen’s Episcopal School – Austin, TX
  19. Hackley School – Tarrytown, NY
  20. Peddie School – Hightstown, NJ
  21. Kent School – Kent, CT
  22. Emma Willard School – Troy, NY
  23. Taft School – Watertown, CT
  24. Concord Academy – Concord, MA
  25. Madeira School – Mclean, VA

“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, an 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 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.   

Top Boarding Schools that offer the Best Soccer Programs

~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Many U.S. as well as international middle school and high school students are actively involved and compete in soccer as an interscholastic sport.  As a result, many parents seek boarding schools that support soccer.   By visiting schools and conducting our research we are able to determine which top school or schools best match our client objectives. (See: Why Dr. Lowe Visits Private Schools?.

Here is a list of top U.S. boarding schools offering soccer as an interscholastic sport:

  • Blair Academy – Blairstown, NJ
  • Canterbury School – New Milford, CT
  • Cate School – Carpinteria, CA
  • Choate Rosemary Hall – Wallingford, CT
  • Deerfield Academy – Deerfield, MA
  • Groton School – Groton, MA
  • The Gunnery – Washington, CT
  • The Hotchkiss School – Lakeville, CT
  • Kent School – Kent, CT
  • Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, CT
  • Loomis Chaffee – Winsor, CT
  • Middlesex School – Concord, MA
  • Milton Academy – Milton, MA
  • Northfield Mount Hermon – Mount Hermon, MA
  • Peddie School – Hightstown, NJ
  • Phillips Academy Andover – Andover, MA
  • Phillips Exeter Academy – Exeter, NH
  • St. Paul’s School – Concord, NH
  • Taft School – Watertown, CT
  • Thacher School – Ojai, CA

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

Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director and lead admissions expert at Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group’s 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 day schools.  Dr. Lowe helps U.S. and international students gain admissions into top U.S. private 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.   Dr. Lowe provides parents with the knowledge they need to decide where there children should attend and the admissions strategies they need to be admitted into their top-choice school.

Wait-listed at Top Boarding Schools (Repost)

~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Since the last week in March, my firm has been receiving continuous inquires (phone calls and emails) from stunned and stressed-out parents because their children are wait-listed!  We have been receiving many inquiries from parents whose children have been wait-listed from ALL schools to which they applied.

The top U.S. boarding schools have the most competitive admissions process because they actually are stepping stones to the Ivy League colleges and universities.  Therefore, their non-acceptance rates are high (even for high-achieving students).

WAIT-LISTED means that “we love your child, but we don’t have spot available today, tomorrow or perhaps never”.  Two factors are important to consider:

  • SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT in your child’s application process.  Parents make a lot of mistakes on their child’s application.
  • In many cases, wait-listed may mean “perhaps never” or “forever”. Top schools rarely reject students outright.  They would rather state – wait-listed rather than wait-listed perhaps never!

Many parents are mistakenly drawing from their skills as corporate executives, tiger moms, financiers, etc. rather than accepting the benefits of a consultant’s professional skills and years of experience in private admissions diplomacy and understanding real-time nuances and changes needed in private school admissions to top schools.  Many parents also fail to fully appreciate and understand the human element of diplomacy in the selection process and decisions in private school admissions.

When parents call our firm to inquire about our services the first thing they ask is what is your price?  Your fees?

It’s amazing that 95% of parents who are willing to spend $240,000 or more over 4 years on private high school education for their children waste time attempting to haggle fees for an exclusive advisory service that will guarantee that education!  I have discovered that parents who are shopping for services based on price, have already made the decision to not invest in expert advice that will help their children.  They ultimately end up saving $240,000 in private high school tuition or worse pay $240,000 for a third-tier school education. Our market is specifically the 5%, parents who hire us and their children get into top schools! 

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

Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director and lead admissions expert at Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group’s 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 day schools.  Dr. Lowe helps U.S. and international students gain admissions into top U.S. private 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.   Dr. Lowe provides parents with the knowledge they need to decide where there children should attend and the admissions strategies they need to be admitted into their top-choice school.

It’s Getting Tougher To Get Into Top Private Schools

~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

This year, we have been receiving calls from devastated parents who had applied to top private schools and are now discovering that their children on the “forever” wait-list or rejected.  There have been increased calls from U.S. as well as international parents.

We have received calls from families have received “forever” wait-listed and rejection letters from top boarding schools:  Andover, Exeter, St. Paul’s, Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Choate, Loomis Chaffee, Hotchkiss, Taft, Kent to name a few.  We also heard from parents who applied to the Westchester/Fairfield County schools:  Rye County Day, Hackley, Greenwich Academy, Brunswick, Masters; the Manhattan elite schools:  Dalton, Horace Mann, Trinity, Collegiate, Chapin, Brearley, Packer, Columbia and Riverdale.

So what’s causing the increased number of families on to be “forever” wait-listed or rejected from top private schools:

When parents call our offices, the first question we ask: Did you hire an educational consultant? The answer is usually “no”.  The second question: Did you hire a consultant whose expertise and specialty is placing students into elite private schools? The answer is always “no”.  Third question:  Did you hire a consultant who visits elite private schools and understand the specific admissions policy of each school? The answer is always “no”.

I don’t have the time, the professional experience or expertise to figure out how to do my own taxes correctly, so I pay a top accounting firm for expert advice and counsel and to assist me in filling out and filing tax forms.  I prefer to engage a specialist.  I certainly don’t hire a math teacher or a plumber to do my taxes.  To me, it’s a question of your priorities.  It’s simply a choice whether to give your child a competitive advantage so that he/she will not be  “forever” wait-listed or rejected.

This year, eight of our clients each received acceptances from Andover, Exeter and Choate.  Three of our clients who applied to the ten schools were accepted to all ten.  All of our international clients were accepted to their top choice boarding schools, including, Andover, Choate and Lawrenceville.  We must be doing something right!

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

Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director and lead admissions expert at Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group’s 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 day schools.  Dr. Lowe helps U.S. and international students gain admissions into top U.S. private 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.   Dr. Lowe provides parents with the knowledge they need to decide where there children should attend and the admissions strategies they need to be admitted into their top-choice school.

Wait-listed at Top Boarding Schools

~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

It’s the last week in March, and my firm is receiving continuous inquires (phone calls and emails) from stunned and stressed-out parents that their children are wait-listed!  We have been receiving many inquiries from parents whose children have been wait-listed from ALL schools to which they applied.

The top U.S. boarding schools have the most competitive admissions process because they actually are stepping stones to the Ivy League colleges and universities (See: Top Private High Schools with the Highest Percentage of Graduates Accepted to Ivy League Universities).  Therefore, their non-acceptance rates are high (even for high achieving students).

WAIT-LISTED means that “we love your child, but we don’t have spot available today, tomorrow or perhaps never”.  Two factors are important here:

  1.  SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT in your child’s application process.
  2. In many cases, wait-listed may mean “perhaps never”.

With regard to SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT:  Parents make a lot of mistakes on their child’s application. (See: Common Mistakes Parents Make When Applying to Private Schools).  With regard to WAIT-LISTED:  Top schools rarely reject students outright.  They would rather state – wait-listed rather than wait-listed perhaps never!

Many parents are mistakenly drawing from their skills as corporate executives, tiger moms, financiers, etc. to match my professional skills and years of experience in private admissions diplomacy and understanding real-time nuances and changes needed in private school admissions to top schools.  Many parents also fail to fully appreciate and understand the human element of diplomacy in the selection process and decisions in private school admissions.

When parents call our firm to inquire about our services the first thing they ask is what is your price?  Your fees?

It’s amazing that 95% of parents who are willing to spend $240,000 or more over 4 years on private high school education for their children waste time attempting to haggle fees for an exclusive advisory service that will guarantee that education!  I have discovered that parents who are shopping for services based on price, have already made the decision to not invest in expert advice that will help their children.  They ultimately end up saving $240,000 in private high school tuition or worse pay $240,000 for a third-tier school education. Our market is specifically the 5%, parents who hire us and their children get into top schools! 

“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 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 day schools.  Dr. Lowe helps U.S. and international students gain admissions into top U.S. private 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.   Dr. Lowe provides parents with the knowledge they need to decide where there children should attend and the admissions strategies they need to be admitted into their top-choice school.

Rejected or Waitlisted from Boarding School? Something Wasn’t Right

~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

March 10th, the date designated for boarding school notifications this year, has come and gone.  My firm’s regional offices in Manhattan, Greenwich, CT, Woodbridge, CT, White Plains, NY, Fort Lee, NJ, Princeton, NJ, Boston and Los Angeles are inundated with numerous phone calls from disappointed, unhappy and anxious parents (who were not our clients).  International parents, from Moscow, another from London, another from Lagos, another from Guangdong Province and another from São Paulo have already scheduled meetings to fly over and meet me in our Manhattan offices.  All understand the importance of continuing the process in pursuit of the goal:  admissions to a top private school for their children.   Their next mission in pursuit of this goal is to determine what to do next.

If your child was REJECTED (or WAIT-LISTED, which means that “we love your child, but we don’t have spot available today, tomorrow or perhaps never”), what can you do at this stage in the process?  SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT!

From my observation, there are six crucial potential missteps during the application process:   (1) Parents assume that it’s all about connections.  (2) Parents and students don’t prepare enough for the interviews.  (3) Parents start too late in the admissions planning process.  (4) Parents assume that their skill sets and/or titles give them an admissions edge.  (5) Parents and students listen to incorrect advice from chat rooms and online communities.  (6) Parents make the mistake of retaining an inexperienced educational consultant who is not versed in the admissions policies, diplomacy and politics of top boarding school admissions or does not even visit schools.

In all cases, after careful research, I endeavor to discover the details as to why and how a student was rejected (or wait-listed) and what mistakes were made.  I use the information I gather in conjunction with the current admissions policies of each school and the long-term working relationships that I have established with schools to re-energize a student’s application, make recommendations to improve the student’s profile and properly connect the dots within their application and beyond.  By careful navigation, it is possible for students to be reconsidered and admitted.

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

Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director and lead admissions expert at Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group’s 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 day schools.  Dr. Lowe helps U.S. and international students gain admissions into top U.S. private 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.   Dr. Lowe provides parents with the knowledge they need to decide where there children should attend and the admissions strategies they need to be admitted into their top-choice school.