What Do College Admissions Officers Look for in an Applicant?

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May 20, 2022May 20, 2022 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

To answer this question, let’s first start with an admissions officer survey by National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC).

I. NACAC factors:

Grades in All Courses
Grades in College Prep Courses
Admissions Test Scores (SAT, ACT)
Rigor/Strength of Curriculum
Essay or Writing Sample
Counselor Letters of Recommendations
Teacher Letters of Recommendations
Student’s Demonstrated Interest
Class Rank
Extracurricular Activities
Subject Test Scores (AP, IB)
Portfolio
Interview
Work Experience
State Graduation Exam Scores

II. Intangibles

Based on my professional experience, connected with visiting colleges and discussions with directors of admissions, there are other factors which we know are just as important and, in some cases, more important than the NACAC Admissions Survey Factors:

College application
Personal Statement
Supplemental essays
Collective interrelationship of all essays
WOW Factor
Attitude
Likability
Etiquette
Character
Grit/Challenge
Confidence
Charisma
Sense of self
Sense of others
Engagement
The unsaid
Conversational Intelligence
Cadence
Transparency
Cultural Intelligence
Cultural Agility
Emotional Intelligence
Uniqueness
Diversity/Inclusion
Family background
Comparative Student Profile Analysis

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If you think that getting into your top-choice college is just about having a high GPA, top SAT scores, high grades and a manufactured application and personal statement….THINK AGAIN!

This past year, I received calls and emails from parents whose children were rejected from all colleges to which they applied because they thought the college admissions race was just about grades, SAT scores, their perceived ‘unique’ applications, generic essays and perfect connections.

Here are some actual cases (based on phone calls from disappointed parents).

1. Case one: One student applied to 19 schools (including all the Ivies) and was rejected from 18 schools and waitlisted at local state school where the acceptance rate was 65%.

2. Case two: A suburban public high school in the Northeast where no one (not even the valedictorian) was accepted to the Ivies or BS/MD programs.

3. Case three: Valedictorian (SAT 1580, ACT 36, GPA 4.6 weighted, President and cofounder of non-profit, tutored students, volunteered, shadowed multiple physicians, published two research papers, Science Olympiad, President of Debate team, tennis) – rejected from all Ivy League and BS/MD programs.

4 . Case four: A public high school in Texas. Of the fifteen students who applied to BS/MD programs …ALL were rejected.

Ivy League and highly selective colleges and BS/MD programs use a holistic approach when evaluating applicants for admission. That means admission to these colleges is not based on a simple formula of grades and test scores. Instead, they consider a variety of factors: the student’s academic record, extracurricular interests, intellectual achievements and personal background to decide who will be rejected or accepted.

We understand the holistic approach and prepare our clients using our strategies for admissions success accordingly!

This year, several of our clients were accepted to multiple Ivies and multiple BS/MD programs!

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.

College Admissions: Are You Checking Your Social Media Profile?

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December 10, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

It should be common knowledge by now that using social media to display bad behavior or less-than-insightful opinions is easily discoverable. Yet incidents such as these still occur.

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Your social media profile is an important part of your college admissions journey. According to a Kaplan Test survey that polled nearly 300 college admissions officers, 36% of them looked at applicants’ social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to learn more about the applicant.

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When my team and I visit schools and have discussions with admissions they do admit that they review applicants’ social media platforms. In fact, what students post on social media can greatly affect not only acceptance odds but they can get acceptances revoked if unsuitable and offensive materials are found. When Harvard discovered offensive material being posted to a group chat by incoming freshman, they rescinded acceptance letters to 10 accepted applicants! And in 2019, Harvard rescinded its admission offer to a student who had made racist remarks in private chats and Google Docs two years earlier.

Even if you believe your social media posts are private, think twice about posting questionable entries, even if you’re just trying to fit in or be funny. College admissions officers will not laugh and you definitely won’t “fit in”. Because Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities receive so many qualified applications, they’re typically looking at social media to see if it tips the scales in anyone’s favor. So be careful!

We provide a Social Media Review and Analysis (SMRA) as a part of our comprehensive service for our clients and assist them to develop positive social media profiles so that they can standout during the admissions selection process.

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Dr. Lowe and his team of diverse admissions experts provide unrivaled, unmatched and unparalleled admissions advisory and educational research services for their clients. Most importantly, you work DIRECTLY with Dr. Lowe and get the benefits of his entire team. By working with Dr. Lowe, one-on-one, you work with his reputation, his expertise, his experience and his success!

Adda is Great in College Admissions (Maybe)

November 29, 2021November 29, 2021 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

Many of the families we serve participate in Adda. It’s great for them. Intellectual conversation, exchanging important educational tidbits based on worldly knowledge and information deemed to be exclusive and privileged is used to propel their families forward. Unfortunately, by definition and practice, Adda equates to collective group thought and perhaps insularity. Based on diversity and inclusion research, when you are insular in your discussions and decision-making processes, sameness of thought limits your success.

Relying on Adda in the quest to be admitted into highly-selective colleges and BS/MD programs is the antithesis of standing out and is counter to our college admissions Wow Factor concept. Sounding like everyone else results in rejection decisions.

With Adda, as it applies to college and BS/MD admissions, one might believe that all that is necessary is to call different educational consultants to ask multiple questions, and then share answers. However, to seasoned professional educational consultants like me, it is obvious that this “strategy” does not work.

Year after year, tens of thousands of students (other than our clients) are rejected from Ivy League and highly-selective colleges and BS/MD programs. Perhaps this is what needs to be discussed in Adda.