Competitive and selective college admissions is all about standing out!
High GPA, top SAT scores, numerous AP courses, stellar letters of recommendation, multiple honors and awards, varied extracurricular activities and the “perfect” high school simply means that your child may be viewed (by you) as the perfect student, but NOT the BEST APPLICANT!
The BEST APPLICANT stands out in the crowd gets ACCEPTED!
Year after year, our U.S. as well as international clients are ACCEPTED to Ivy League colleges/universities and top BS/MD programs.
Dr. Paul Lowe’s 29-years of admissions experience and ACCEPTANCES, insight and knowledge-intelligence, connections and networks empower his clients to successfully navigate the new shifts, trends, current sweeping changes and uncertainty in the college admissions landscape.
Your child deserves the very best.
Let us help you!
Unlike other educational consulting firms, where clients are assigned to different employees or consultants, Dr. Lowe, as lead consultant/admissions advisor, personally works with each of his clients so that they directly benefit from his expertise, experience, contacts and the collective knowledge of his educational team. Dr. Lowe’s exclusivity allows him to provide individualized attention, commitment and principal availability to each client through Skype/Zoom sessions.
Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe, founder/managing director and lead admissions advisor 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 gain admissions to BS/MD programs:| BS/MD Admissions Guru| BS/MD Admissions Advisors.
The current rapid pace of change and uncertainty in U.S. education and college admissions have significant implications for Ivy League college/university and direct BS/MD admissions. Decisions will not be simply based on your child having a high GPA, top SAT scores, numerous AP courses, multiple honors and awards, and varied extracurricular activities. THE ADMISSIONS PLAYBOOK HAS CHANGED!
When it comes to your child’s education, hiring the very best admissions advisor matters the most! Your child’s education is the biggest decision you will ever make! Parents who want the very best for their children hire an EXPERT!
Dr. Paul Lowe’s 29-years of admissions experience and ACCEPTANCES, insight and knowledge-intelligence, connections and networks empower his clients to successfully navigate the new shifts, trends, current sweeping changes and uncertainty in the college admissions landscape.
Unlike other educational consulting firms, where clients are assigned to different employees or consultants, Dr. Lowe, as lead consultant/admissions advisor, personally works with each of his clients so that they directly benefit from his expertise, experience, contacts and the collective knowledge of his educational team. Dr. Lowe’s exclusivity allows him to provide individualized attention, commitment and principal availability to each client through Skype/Zoom sessions.
Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe, founder/managing director and lead admissions advisor 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 gain admissions to BS/MD programs:| BS/MD Admissions Guru| BS/MD Admissions Advisors.
National Association for College Admission Counseling – State of College Admission 2023 Data Release – School Counseling: Caseloads and Responsibilities indicate the following:
During the 2021-22 academic year, each public-school counselor was responsible for overseeing 405 students, on average, which exceeds the 250-to-1 maximum ratio recommended by the American School Counselor Association.
School counselors at public schools spend 26% (at private schools: 51%) of their time on post-secondary (college admissions) counseling.
The Hechinger Report states that “many public high schools are scrambling to provide students with even basic information about college after years of belt tightening have drained them of counselors. As a result, “support is scant” for most students: “Counselors are overwhelmed, and college guidance often doesn’t begin until late in junior year.”
Inflated caseloads often translate to limited time to dedicate to each student, leading to reduced individual attention. With more students to handle, school counselors spend less time understanding their unique needs, offering individualized guidance, and developing tailored plans for academic and personal growth. In many cases, overworked and overwhelmed high school counselors simply have too many students to give individual attention needed in the competitive admissions environment.
While high school counselors provide college counseling, they often do not have the time to cater to the development or implementation of each student’s individual college plan and are usually not available on-call on the weekend and after school hours.
Dr. Lowe and his team complement school counselors’ efforts by working one-on-one with your child, customizing a winning admissions plan which will help your child get into their top choice colleges. Dr. Lowe is available not only during school hours, but after school, evenings and weekends via phone, email and remote consultations. By having one-on-one sessions, Dr. Lowe helps each individual client present their backgrounds and aspirations in the best positive light to admissions committees. The result – Acceptances!
In developing a winning college admissions plan, Dr. Lowe works with students and their parents carefully planning their courses and extracurricular activities (community service, employment, summer programs, internships, etc.), planning college visits, selecting the right teachers for the best letters of recommendations, developing a WOW factor, assisting with creating, brainstorming and advising personal statements and supplemental essays revisions; developing college social media profile and brand. Additionally, Dr. Lowe provides personalized, individualized attention and helps clients keep organized, stay motivated and meet deadlines throughout the application process.
Over the past 29 years, Dr. Lowe has complemented the college admissions tasks of school counselors and, at times, worked cooperatively and collaboratively with them to help his clients gain admissions into Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities and direct BS/MD programs!
It’s a WIN-WIN for students (his clients – international and U.S.) and their school counselors!
****Working Directly with Dr. Paul Lowe, Admissions Expert: Unlike other educational consulting firms, where clients are assigned to different employees or consultants, Dr. Lowe, as lead consultant/admissions advisor, personally works with each of his clients so that they directly benefit from his expertise, experience, contacts and the collective knowledge of his educational team. Dr. Lowe’s exclusivity allows him to provide individualized attention, commitment and principal availability to each client through Skype/Zoom sessions.****
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 gain admissions to BS/MD programs:| BS/MD Admissions Guru| BS/MD Admissions Advisors.
In high school, your child has (or will have) worked very hard to attain a very high GPA (around 4.0 or higher and 6-12 or more AP classes), excellent standardized test SAT/ACT scores, and meaningful extracurricular activities. After this daunting journey, they DESERVE the very best in college admissions – acceptance into an Ivy League or highly selective college or university!
As an admissions expert for 29 years, with an unmatched and peerless Ivy League and combined BS/MD program acceptance track record, my clients, after following my advice and recommendations, get what they DESERVE – It’s that simple!
Parents who want the very best for their children hire the very best!
****Working Directly with Dr. Paul Lowe, Admissions Expert: Unlike other educational consulting firms, where clients are assigned to different employees or consultants, Dr. Lowe, as lead consultant/admissions advisor, personally works with each of his clients so that they directly benefit from his expertise, experience, contacts and the collective knowledge of his educational team. Dr. Lowe’s exclusivity allows him to provide individualized attention, commitment and principal availability to each client through Skype/Zoom sessions.****
By having Admissions Strategy Skype/Zoom sessions directly with Dr. Paul Lowe, brainstorming ideas, developing admissions strategies, essay review, and mock interview sessions to develop amazing student profiles, our clients stand out and are accepted into Ivy League and highly selective colleges/universities and BS/MD programs
Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe, founder/managing director and lead admissions advisor 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 gain admissions to BS/MD programs:| BS/MD Admissions Guru| BS/MD Admissions Advisors.
We live in a competitive world. As an admissions advisor, founder and CEO of my firm, I approach admissions as a non-formulaic, competitive sport. It’s about WINNING!
In the ever-changing admissions environment (like sports), there are always uncertainties, unintended consequences and unintended outcomes. As a physician-scientist/admissions advisor using knowledge-intelligence, insight, foresight, experience, networking and research, I leave nothing to chance thereby increasing the probability for positive outcomes and RESULTS!
We provide each of our clients with a WINNING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE to be accepted to their 1st choice schools.
After all, in competitive admissions like sports and academic/scholastic competitions, there are no second places….only FIRST places!
Year after year, U.S. as well as international parents who choose to retain us WANT their children to WIN!
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 gain admissions to BS/MD programs:| BS/MD Admissions Guru| BS/MD Admissions Advisors.
Katy Independent School District (KISD), in Texas, contains 8 high schools. Over the past 5 years, MANY parents of high school students have contacted us regarding our college and BS/MD admissions advisory services. Dr. Paul Lowe and his team have worked with students from several schools including:
Seven Lakes High School
Tomkins High School
Cinco Ranch High School
Taylor Ranch High School
According to KISD Chief Financial Officer, Christopher Smith, KISD faces a projected budgetary shortfall of $13 million for fiscal year 2024-2025. This shortfall may affect budgetary cuts that could possibility affect: “(1) Modifying or phasing out school programs. (2) Teachers and staff. (3) Core student programs and services.”
Despite the fact that they are all excellent high schools, MANY parents contact Dr. Lowe because they mentioned that because of the size of the schools, school counselors are either unable to provide continuous weekly or biweekly individualized college and/or BS/MD admissions services to each student. The senior class size for some of these schools exceed 600 students.
With the projected budgetary shortfall of $13 million and the continual changes in college/BSMD admissions, students will need additional help.
We are happy to report that our clients from these schools were accepted to their top-choice colleges and universities and BS/MD programs.
Please review Dr. Lowe’s blogs as to why parents contact him re: college and BS/MD admissions:
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 gain admissions to BS/MD programs:| BS/MD Admissions Guru| BS/MD Admissions Advisors.
At BS/MD Admissions, Dr. Paul Lowe and his team of advisors discern that many students and parents are clueless about what to do, when to do it, where to do it, who to contact, and why do it. They fail to discover what they are doing that’s wrong, or they discover what they’ve been doing is wrong when it’s too late!
If you are a high school junior or your son or daughter is a high school junior and you are thinking about applying to direct BS/MD programs, it’s time to get really serious about either planning or implementing your plans.
Most students (even with the help of their parents) read books, look at videos or visit college forum-type websites which they believe may provide personalized answers for them.
Many parents who call us (and whose children are performing the above and have the below profile profile) then believe that their child is a shoo-in for BS/MD programs and just need “some” advice.
Here is the typical BS/MD applicant-student profile of students when parents contact us:
GPA: 3.9 (UW) 4.6
ACT: 35
SAT: 1580
APs: usually 10 -14 classes
Honors/Awards: several
Teacher/Counselor Recommendations: Excellent
Resume: 2-3 pages
Volunteer: Several organizations
Shadowed Doctors: 2-3
Extracurricular Activities: Several
Published a paper: 1-2
Laboratory Research: Participated and/or possibly published
With all of the above you would believe that this student will definitely be accepted – WRONG! This is only half of the equation!
Here’s a list of factors by admissions expert, Dr. Paul Lowe that you should consider if you are a junior seriously thinking about applying to BS/MD programs.
Student CHARACTER – Personality counts! What’s your “je ne sais quoi”?
The HOOK – If you don’t have a hook, the admissions committee will not grab you!
The STORY – It’s all about the story and how it’s framed and presented! No good story, no acceptance! Certain rejection!
Common Application: PERSONAL STATEMENT – Meaningful, well-written and convincing personal statement needed. No flow, harmony, tone combined with gravitas – rejection!
COLLEGE-SPECIFIC SUPPLEMENTALS – You must complement and synergize your supplementals with your personal statement. All the school-specific essays are important, even the 50 word-count answers! Students have been rejected because of mistakenly using one word or a sentence in 50 word-count essays!
COLLEGE-SPECIFIC-BS/MD ESSAYS – The “Why doctor essay?” “I want to help people”. Everyone in the service industry does that!
COLLEGE APPLICATION VIDEO ESSAY – Schools are seriously viewing these videos. Brown PLME application includes an optional video.
The effective and bold RESUME – It’s not just about a 2–3-page resume with lots of research and extracurricular activities which is just a list. It has to be framed correctly or it looks boring and generic!
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES – Are your extracurricular activities meaningless or meaningful? Do they really interconnect to your student profile in a meaningful way? Have you become the jack-of-all extracurricular activities? The master of none? Are you a drive-by extracurricular activities person?
VOLUNTEERISM – It’s not just about tutoring underprivileged children, participating in an ESVE (Expensive Summer Volunteer Activity) or starting your own nonprofit organization. There is more to volunteering than just volunteering!!!
WOW FACTOR – What’s your WOW Factor? How and when can you use it to WOW admissions? You want the admissions committee to say “WOW! We want this applicant on our campus.”
INTERVIEWS – You may seemingly be all that on paper; grades, SATs recommendations, volunteering to save the world, 1000 hours of shadowing, however, one incorrect word or statement in an interview results in a rejection – That’s right, just one!
ETIQUETTE – Think that doesn’t matter? Think that’s old-school? Think again! Are you mindful of how you present yourself and how people perceive you? It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it! Etiquette matters! We provide personalized etiquette strategies for our clients.
MANNERS– When you say something (or write something) what counts is not what you mean but how you are heard and perceived. Are you mindful of your manners? Manners matters! Do you know when or if you sound rude, pretentious, impolite, disrespectful, unrefined or uncultured?
WHO ARE YOU? – What are your values? What do you stand for? Can you define you? Why are you different?
DIVERSITY – What’s your diversity intelligence? What’s the meaning of diversity to you? It’s not just a word to be used throughout an essay. It’s not just about being a member of your school’s diversity club. Colleges seek students who truly understand the meaning of diversity. Diversity matters!
UNCONSCIOUS BIAS – It may occur at any time, at any level or at any stage during your admissions process. Can you identify it? How must you successfully deal with it? How do you overcome it for successful admissions decisions?
UNIVERSITY PRIORITIES – Colleges are not accepting applicants for just top grades and their perceived amazing resumes and achievements; they are continually adjusting and building diverse campus communities and future global networks based on geopolitics, geo-economics and their financials. School admissions policies and institutional priorities change year to year and region to region to match their goals. What makes you believe that you know these policies and priorities better than a boutique admissions firm that has superior access to current information and admissions trends?
The KNOW-HOW. So, you really believe it’s just (1-18)? You need the Know How: How do you do the right-things the right-way and with the right-people at the right-time? Our proprietary-knowledge, unmatched experience, admissions success and years of close working relationships with admissions professionals ensures that you do it right!
So, you really believe that factors 13-18 are unimportant? Think again!
If you know how to plan, develop and implement (1-19) and how they are used in BS/MD admissions – that’s wonderful!!! But if you don’t, there is an increased probability that you (and your child) will make irrevocable mistakes that will cause instant rejections to all schools. Would you want this to happen after your years of planning as a parent and your child’s hard work?
The parents who retain Dr. Paul Lowe and his team of consultants may take risks in business and investments, but not risks in their children’s educational future – to become a medical doctor. The ones who do take risks in their children’s education – 95% of them bet WRONG!
For almost 27 years, I have been writing about the changes and nuances in college admissions.
The Supreme Court’s ruling against Harvard University and University of North Carolina could lead to an admissions system that is even more subjective and mysterious, as colleges try to follow the law but also admit a diverse class of students. The Ivy League colleges and universities and BS/MD programs are aware that a diverse class leads the enhanced learning for alumni and future medical doctors.
Officials at some selective institutions have predicted that there would be less emphasis on standardized metrics like test scores and class rank, and more emphasis on personal qualities, told through recommendations and the application essay — the opposite of what many opponents of affirmative action had hoped for.
It would be nearly impossible, however, to eliminate any mention or suggestion of race in the admissions process — starting with applicants’ names. What is certain is that admissions committees can surmise in many cases based on years of reviewing applications and technology, an applicant’s race, cultural background and socio-economic caste.
Additionally, “Landscape”, developed by the College Board, is a tool meant to help admissions offices go beyond test scores and GPAs and considers what applicant have achieved in the context of where they’ve learned and lived.
Another factor (caused indirectly by SCOTUS) that will affect admissions – review of legacy admissions. Applicants whose siblings were admitted will now face admissions committees that will not factor in the legacy component.
What do the above changes mean for the college admissions environment for high school classes: 2024, 2025 and 2026?
My firm, in predicting the outcome, has already developed strategies and an admissions network and contacts to further increase our clients’ chances of admissions!…If you believe that your child’s chances will not be affected by the SCOTUS decision, think again!We have had meetings with BS/MD program and Ivy League admissions officers and understand how the decision will affect student applications!
NEW National Association for College Admission Counseling – State of College Admission 2023 Data Release – School Counseling: Caseloads and Responsibilities indicate the following:
(1) During the 2021-22 academic year, each public school counselor was responsible for overseeing 405 students, on average, which exceeds the 250-to-1 maximum ratio recommended by the American School Counselor Association.
(2) School counselors at public schools spend 26% (at private schools: 51%) of their time on post-secondary (college admissions) counseling.
Over the past 27 years, my team and I have complemented the college admissions tasks of school counselors and, at times, worked collaboratively with them to help our clients gain admissions into Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities and BS/MD programs!
It’s a WIN-WIN for students (our clients – international and U.S.) and their school counselors!
From time to time, I hear parents state that college acceptance to Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities is a “crapshoot”.
My team and I know that our knowledge, insight, experience, forward-thinking and our ability to understand our clients, as well as the intricate expectations of each school and their admissions committees in real-time and forward-time contribute to “beating the odds”.
Students (and their parents) who attempt to formulaically systematize the admissions process based on generic or ill advice generally end up among the 90% or more of applicants who areREJECTED.
With our Admissions Data Analytics software, our proprietary knowledge, 27 years of experience and our vast network and contacts, we provide an ADMISSIONS ADVANTAGE for our clients resulting in acceptance letters!
Dr. Paul Lowe - Admissions Expert 