Boarding School Admissions Season 2021 -2022

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August 20, 2021August 26, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

It is hard to believe that the 2021-2022 boarding school admissions season is just about here! Just 5 months ago our clients were receiving their acceptance notifications to schools like Exeter, Andover, Choate, Deerfield, Lawrenceville, Taft, Deerfield, Loomis, Hotchkiss and similar top schools.. Blog: Elite Boarding Schools Matter

Top US Boarding Schools Dr Paul Lowe Admissions Advisor Educational Consultant

We are receiving calls from parents who are inquiring about retaining the services of an educational consultant for direct admissions to the ninth grade or for reapplication (because their child was rejected or waitlisted last admissions cycle. Many parents were quite surprised when their child was either outright rejected or placed on (perpetual) waitlists.

Many top boarding schools, including Exeter, are now writing parents to let them know that they remain fully enrolled for (2021-2022) and as such, will be unable to offer admission to any students from our waiting list.

It’s important to note that this admissions cycle (2021-2022) will be hypercompetitive (domestic applications are expected to be up by 20 percent). Why? Because more parents became aware of the benefits and multiple advantages of a boarding school education for their children. A published article in the New York Times, “The Boarding-School Boom” confirmed what we have been advising our clients who have been accepted to top boarding schools… there is now hyper-competition in boarding school admissions. Additionally, because of the high rejection (and waitlists) last year, more students are reapplying for ninth grade as well as 10th grade spots.

Many parents who believed that their child would be off the waitlist had to have their children attend a public school for the 9th grade and reapply for the 9th or 10th grade. We advise parents to consider using a private educational consultant who can assess their child’s student profile, review last year’s application (to find mistakes), understand the changing nuances in admissions and who have long standing relationships with admissions professionals at schools.

It’s important that you will need to consider the admissions experts – Dr. Lowe and his team for successful admissions.

The_admissions_experts_ticket_Dr_Paul_Lowe_Educational_Consultant — **We Are Your Ticket To Admissions Success!**

Successful boarding school admissions requires expertise and experience to understand how to manage risks, navigate pitfalls, design the right admissions strategies, and most importantly understand the admissions policies and professionals who are making admissions decisions – in other words an admissions expert.

Parents need a trusted resource to help them navigate the fast-paced and highly-selective admissions process!

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 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 5 College Essay Mistakes You MUST Avoid

July 26, 2021July 27, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

The Common Application 2021-2022 will be ready on August 1. Year after year, when parents call us because their children were rejected from their top-choice schools, the first thing I ask is to see their Common Application main essays. I always find egregious mistakes!

Here are 5 mistakes you must AVOID!

Mistake #1: Not answering the question. The admissions committee uses certain essay prompts for a specific reason: They want you to answer it!
Mistake #2: Trying to impress the essay readers. Do not try to impress admissions officers or the admissions committee. They will be able to sense a pretentious, patronizing or even condescending voice beneath descriptions of seemingly philanthropic contributions, grand, earth-shaking events and ontological musings.
Mistake #3: Making an essay into a resume. Many times applicants want to impress readers so much that they completely ignore the essay prompt and make the essay into a list of their accomplishments. Admissions officers and readers dislike redundancy!
Mistake #4: Obtaining “ideas” from websites . Do not copy from other people or download essays! Many students assume that if they copy directly from other people’s work and sources that no one will find out. This assumption is definitely wrong! Don’t you think admissions officers also visit theses websites.
Mistake #5: Picking an inappropriate topic. In an attempt to be clever, many applicants resort to writing an essay that they believe would be witty, overly serious, or flattering. Admissions officers are unimpressed!

Your college essay is the only part of the college application process over which you have complete control. Your essay or essays (short answers included) should capture admissions committees’ imagination and make them want you on their campuses. Missing the opportunity to make this piece of your student profile outstanding is a HUGE mistake and will certainly result in a rejection by top schools.

Admissions_Rejected_Dr_Paul_Lowe_Independent_Educational_Consultant — After years of hard work, you don’t want to make mistakes that can cause you to be rejected!

**Successful college acceptance results** is not just about essay editing revisions. It involves continuous expert advice. We take a comprehensive approach involving student profile development, interview preparation, letter of recommendation assessments and our long standing networks and relationships in the college admissions industry!

Dr_Paul_Lowe_Admissions_Advisor_Educational_Consultant — **Dr. Paul Lowe, Admissions Expert**

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. For colleges and universities that recommend or require videos: College Admissions Video Productions.

Dr. Paul Lowe/BSMD Admissions Advisors: Brown PLME Results – 2021

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July 23, 2021July 26, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Last year was one of the most competitive years in college admissions history. COVID-19 caused disruption and uncertainty in college admissions. Our admissions team increased our time with clients and brought in additional supportive staff so that they could stand out. Our efforts were well invested in our clients and we have achieved their desired results!

We are very pleased and happy to announce our final results for Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME): 9 of our clients were accepted to Brown PLME.

According to Brown University, “From a pool of 3,516 applicants — a 39% increase from last year — 82 students were admitted to PLME, an eight-year program leading to both a bachelor’s degree and an M.D. from Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School.”

What does this mean?

10% of the PLME class are our clients!
Our clients are accepted into: Brown University PLME: The Best of Both Worlds
Dr. Lowe and his team understand that successful admissions results involve more than just a 3-page resume packed with achievements, a high GPA and a high SAT score. It’s about BS/MD Admissions Knowledge.
Dr. Paul Lowe and his team provide unparalleled admissions advisory services!

We-are-the-best_let_us_prove_it_Dr_Paul_Lowe_Admissions_Advisor_Educational_Consultant_Ivy_League_Boarding_School — **Selectivity:** Dr. Lowe only works with qualified students and parents who choose to hire the best!

93_percent_BS_MD_Admissions_Advisors_Acceptance_Rate_Dr_Paul_Lowe — **BS/MD Admissions Advisors: Acceptance Rate – 2021**

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. Families who are interested in colleges and universities that have superior pre-med undergraduate programs retain our affiliate: Ivy League Admissions Advisors.

Dr. Paul Lowe: Achieving High Acceptance Rates in BS/MD Admissions

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July 10, 2021December 12, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Many parents, students, high school counselors and fellow educational consultants ask us: How do you maintain such a high acceptance rate in BS/MD Admissions? What’s your secret sauce? What makes you different? It’s amazing, but how do you do this?

Let’s explain!

While high school counselors provide college counseling, based on our information retrieval and interaction with our clients, high school counselors do not specialize in BS/MD admissions advising, nor do they have the school-specific knowledge of BS/MD programs. Our efforts complement and enhance what high school counselors do so our clients gain a competitive edge in the BS/MD Admissions process.
My team and I perform a Mistakes Assessment Analysis of a student’ s academic profile, resume, extracurricular activities and much more! Mistakes are inevitable during this ever-changing/evolving process. You want to avoid making irrevocable mistakes on your BS/MD program application or even supporting documents! Because mistakes can cost you! We GUARANTEE that we will uncover multiple mistakes on your application and in your student profile that would cause you to be REJECTED
We help to brainstorm and revise the Common Application main essay, COVID essay, school specific supplementary essays and BS/MD application essays. Our team approach allows us to provide an in-depth analysis and revision of essays.
We conduct continuous thought-provoking interview preparation sessions. Interviewers have to like you. They have to want you in their program. It doesn’t matter how brilliant you are. Brilliance and achievements among BS/MD applicants are the norm. We have discovered that even top students do not realize that etiquette, manners and body language matter in college admissions. It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it, the etiquette and manners involved, and your personal delivery. Sometimes what you say and how you say it may be misinterpreted. We help our clients with the proper etiquette, manners and body language in college admissions. If you have stellar GPA and test scores and poor interviewing skills, you will be rejected.
BS/MD Knowledge Network: We know exactly what each program is looking for and how they will evaluate a BS/MD applicant. Our clients who are current students at BS/MD programs like Brown PLME, Rice Baylor, Albany Medical College, Drexel, Penn State/Thomas Jefferson, NJIT and more, inform us of up-to-date knowledge that we we can use to give our current clients an admissions edge. Additionally, we know of admissions officers and at many of these institutions.
By understanding our student through multiple continuous consultation sessions, we help you to understand how you can stand out and what you MUST do to stand out.
We can identify what challenges you may face based on your student profile.
We know how to identify elements of your student profile and essentially help you to display what you already have and successfully connect the dots to create your WOW factor.
Diversity Competitive Advantage (DCA): We know and understand difference and unconscious bias. Our boutique admissions advisory firm, being different, helps our clients to stand out and be accepted. No other admissions advisory and educational BS/MD firm, with a culturally, ethnically and racially diverse team, can truly appreciate and understand the meaning and value of standing out and successfully apply it to the competitive admissions process. Our DCA translates to successful admissions and results! The diversity in our firm empowers our clients and gives each of them a competitive admissions edge! See: Dr. Lowe’s blog on diversity.
Color: We add color (Pick your definition; all apply, with the possible exception of its hypothetical application to quarks, including ROYGBIV, vitality, interest, appearance, background information and visual perception.) to your application and essays. “Colorless” applications are boring to admissions officers and can be easily rejected! By adding color, we make your application and student profile more interesting.
International and H4-visa applicants: We understand the challenges that international and H-4 visa BS/MD applicants will face through our partnerships with immigration law firms. Most importantly, we know how BS/MD programs will evaluate international and H-4 visa students.
Dr. Paul Lowe personally discusses multi-level admissions strategies with each client. He personally works with each of his clients face-to-face so that they directly benefit from his expertise, experience, contacts and the collective knowledge of his educational team. Dr. Paul Lowe is a physician-scientist by training who knows how to prepare BS/MD applicants. Dr. Lowe uses the collective intelligence of his diverse team of experts to strategically design and implement haute couture-type admissions plans for clients. Therefore, you know that you will always communicate directly with a leading BS/MD admissions expert.
Public Relations/Personal Branding: Our team collectively focuses on public relations and personal branding within the context of college admissions. Dr. Lowe helps his clients identify and refine their personal image so that they can differentiate themselves from other qualified applicants. Consequently, Dr. Lowe works with a diverse team of image consultants, character education experts, fashion designers, visual and performing artists, musicians, screenwriters, public relations and personal branding consultants and ethnomusicologists.

Dr_Paul_Lowe_Educational_Consultant_Admissions_Advisor_BS_MD_programs_IECA_HECA_Harvard_Yale-Princeton — **Dr. Paul Lowe, Admissions Expert**

It’s Possible to Get into An Ivy League with a Low GPA

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June 16, 2021June 16, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Each year we work with several clients who are admitted to Ivy League and BS/MD programs despite relatively low GPAs. Yes! You have read right…low GPAs. This year, was significant because it was during the COVID-19 pandemic and there was an increase in the number of applicants to Ivy League and BS/MD programs.

While the average high school student with a GPA weighted that are accepted to Ivy League schools is 4.10, there is no minimum requirement. Of course, it’s rare for a student with a GPA below 3.9 to be accepted, but not impossible!

Ivy League schools rely upon a holistic and committee-team approach when evaluating applications to determine whether a student is a good fit for their institution. This approach allows admissions officers to obtain an in-depth picture of a student’s potential, character, and personal attributes that they will bring to the campus community if admitted.

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So, how do our students with low GPAs get admitted to Ivies and BS/MD programs? This is where character, the right attitude and accomplishments beyond the ordinary and expected achievements come in. We work with the student to ensure that the correct picture of the student is apparent to the admissions officers.

Ultimately, elite colleges like the Ivies are interested in your potential. They want to know not only what you will contribute to the campus in terms of abilities and achievements, but also how you will mature and interact with others once you get there, and what positive impact you will eventually have on the world.

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

“We provide our clients access to our specialized knowledge!” – Dr. Paul Lowe

“Parents hire us because they choose to pay an admissions expert who will help them avoid making mistakes.” – Dr. Paul Lowe

Top Boarding Schools – It’s Getting More Competitive to Be Accepted!

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April 1, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

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. Many decide to wait patiently, try to see what they can do on their own and then perhaps reapply next year to the 10th grade on their own.

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Here is the problem with this approach. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected boarding school admissions. More parents are interested in the boarding school dynamic and aware of the superior education at top boarding schools. A recently published article in the New York Times: “The Boarding-School Boom” has confirmed what we have been advising our clients who have been accepted to top boarding schools…..there is now hyper-competition in boarding school admissions.

Several schools have reported to us, this year, that they had a record number of applicants and they were able to admit a mere 10% of all applicants (as opposed to 14-18% in past years). What does this mean? Getting off the waitlist will be difficult! More students will remain on the waitlist and will inevitably be perpetually waitlisted (effectively, rejected). For many of the competitive schools, April 10^th is the date admitted students are asked to notify the Admission Office of their enrollment decision. After this date, many parents know if their children will be starting public school in the fall and will have to decide if their children will be reapplying next year for the 10th grade. The reapplication to boarding schools (especially ones where students were waitlisted or rejected) can be tricky and will involve different admissions strategies.

College Admissions – Teacher Recommendations

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March 29, 2021March 29, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Teacher recommendations are an important part of the college admissions process. Many colleges and universities require two teacher recommendations.

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Letters of recommendation should be from teachers who have taught you in core academic subjects in your junior or senior year. Ideally, they should be from different core subject areas and from teachers who know you well, like you, and are likely to write well. From my discussion with admissions officers, colleges are more interested in obtaining teacher recommendations from instructors that describe your abilities, performance and motivation of success in their classroom and your willingness to work hard as a learner. My discussion with several Ivy League admissions officers revealed that they use teacher recommendations to add a more subjective and personal perspective to their assessment of your qualifications, which can reveal aspects of your personality that don’t always come out on paper.

You should approach your teachers in the early spring of your junior year, or, if you are asking senior teacher, early in the fall of your senior year not only to to give them sufficient time to write the letter, but also because many teachers set limits on how many students they are able to accommodate.

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We developed customized steps, our Winning Recommendation Strategies (WRS) for each client so that they obtain excellent teacher recommendations from the right teachers! We are confident that our client’s teachers will write enthusiastically supportive letters of recommendations!

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

“We provide our clients access to our specialized knowledge!” – Dr. Paul Lowe

“Parents hire us because they choose to pay an admissions expert who will help them avoid making mistakes.” – Dr. Paul Lowe

Waitlisted at Private Schools – Now What?

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March 3, 2021March 10, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Since March 2nd, my firm has been inundated with continuous inquires (phone calls and emails) from stunned and stressed-out parents because their children are wait-listed. Many of the inquiries are from parents whose children have been wait-listed from ALL schools to which they applied!

One of the effects of COVID-19 on private school admissions is that more families are choosing private school for their children; thus, the competition has increased. Private schools that were competitive are now hyper-competitive and schools that were marginally competitive are now competitive. We have observed an increase in applications (and therefore waitlisted applicants) in schools in the tri-state area, especially the “Fairchester” area (Westchester and Fairfield Counties) and Northern New Jersey

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 this hypercompetitive environment, in many cases, wait-listed may be “forever”. Top schools rarely “reject” students outright. The outcome, however, remains unchanged…a perpetually waitlisted student has not been accepted and will not have a place in their private school of choice.

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. An understanding of real-time changes, as well as nuances particular to each school at a particular point in time are important for successful outcomes 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. As a result, after the waitlist, they reapply again only to be waitlisted AGAIN.

When parents call our firm to inquire about our services, they engage us because they understand the importance of investing in their child’s educational future. The successful outcome is invaluable and preferable compared to the prospect of their child being waitlisted again and again and again.

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.

Dr. Paul Lowe’s Private School Review: Hackley School

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March 2, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Dr. Lowe and his team of admissions advisors visits and reviews top private day and boarding schools. Hackley School is rated by Niche as: #2 Best Private High School in Westchester, County NY. It is a coeducational K-12 school day school with a five-day boarding program located in Tarrytown, NY. It’s motto: “Enter here to be and find a friend.”

Here are some interesting facts:

Student/Faculty Ratio – 7:1
Average Upper School Class Size – 16
Student-led Upper School Clubs: 42
27 different sports with over 64 teams across grades 7-12
Tuition (Lower School/K-Grade 4): $42,460
Tuition (Middle School/Grades 5-8): $46,980
Tuition (Upper School/Grades 9-12): $49,975 / Additional $15,000 for 5- day boarding fee
Hackley has a five-day boarding program for 30 residential students in grades 9-12.
Hackley’s COVID-19 Response

Hackley’s college matriculation rate to Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities is high. College Matriculation for the Classes of 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. The following colleges and universities enrolled five or more Hackley graduates during this period:

Brown
Colgate
Cornell
Dartmouth
Duke
Georgetown
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Princeton
Tufts
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
UPenn
Yale

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Hackley is one of the top day schools in the Fairchester (Fairfield/Westchester) region. Admissions is hyper-competitive. It’s one of the many reasons why many parents who reside in Westchester and Fairfield Counties retain our firm!

Dr. Paul Lowe featured on MarketWatch

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February 27, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

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,” says Dr. Lowe. “Only parents who want their children to have expert advice and a competitive advantage in the college admission process hire us.”