"Top qualified applicants, after all their hard work (and parents' work) and preparation deserve the best and should not settle for less"- Dr. Paul R. Lowe
Many parents already know that high school guidance counselors are overwhelmed and do not have enough time to provide adequate college admissions advisory services for their children especially when their children are applying to Ivy League and highly selective colleges. Real college admissions advising is a 24/7 profession where we meet with our clients after school, evenings, weekends, during school vacations and during the summer.
At PECAAG, we help comprehensively with and understand every aspect of a student's admissions journey (applications, essays, interview preparation, standardized tests planning, college visits, letter of recommendation selection, Differentiating Advantage Edge planning , and much more) so that admissions committees know the individual behind the scholarly achievements (behind the application). By combining the latter and the diversity expectations of each incoming class, our clients are accepted. Our 2017 Acceptance Results.
5. When parents call us for college admissions advice, here are some comments we hear from parents:
- The counselor has too many assigned students and doesn't have the time.
- The counselor doesn't even know my child.
- The counselor's college choices are very different from my child's.
- The counselor discourages my child from applying to certain colleges.
- The counselor is only familiar with in-state and nearby colleges.
- The counselor has a handful of colleges she recommends.
- The counselor doesn't get along with my child.
- The counselor has limited knowledge about Ivy League and highly selective and competitive schools.
- The counselor is new and or inexperienced.
"Year after year, I hear the horror stories from parents whose kids got in nowhere because they thought the college admissions race was just about grades, SAT scores, their perceived 'unique' applications, generic essays and perfect connections." - Dr. Paul Lowe
Why Hire Us When Your Child Already Has A High School Guidance Counselor?
1. The U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics reported that, on average, public high school guidance counselors spent only 22 percent of their time on college admissions and selection!
17. You need an admissions partnerwho understands every facet of the college admissions process so that your child is accepted, not rejected!
3. A recent poll reports two-thirds of young adults said their school counselor was of little help finding the right college.
4. With the heavy workload of most high school counselors, few know their students well or have the time to provide the undivided attention needed in this vital process. School systems (even in suburban towns) burden counselors with many duties unrelated to college counseling.
7. Unlike other educational consulting firms, Dr. Lowe (as CEO and President) 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. As an educational consultant with over 18 years of experience and with a multifaceted background, he specializes in challenging, unique and seemingly insurmountable cases.
8. Dr. Lowe has developed a wealth of contacts and connections through out the college admissions industry.
9. Dr. Lowe was a former Brown University regional admissions interviewer and the national area chairperson for Brown's Talent Quest Program.
10. Unlike high school guidance counselors, Dr. Lowe visits colleges and universities several times annually and meets with his clients after school, weekends, school holidays and during summer vacations and provides in-home consultations.
11. Dr. Lowe is unique in his approach and strategies in college admissions because he personally knows and understands diversity, how it applies to competitive college admissions, and how students must stand out to be accepted.
12. Our exclusive concierge-type admissions advisory services cater to families who want to engage an admissions expert (over and above guidance/college counselors and/or local educational consultants with limited insights, experience, knowledge or credentials) to help them successfully navigate the admissions process
13. Dr. Lowe understands the Holistic Approach and Review and Character Skills assessments used in decisions at Ivy league and highly selective colleges.
14. Public high school guidance counselors and private school college counselors can not and do not provide a personalized 24/7 service. Dr. Lowe and his admissions team can and do!
15. Dr. Lowe heads a team of admissions advisors experienced in helping students who have been waitlisted and rejected. His team consist of qualified consultants experienced in this specialty and former Directors, Assistant Directors and/or Associate Directors of Admissions of Ivy League and highly competitive colleges and universities who have the combined experience of evaluating thousands of applications.
16. Through years of successfully helping students get into their top choice schools, Dr. Lowe developed a subspecialty to specifically help students gain admissions into their top-choice colleges after they have been deferred, waitlisted or rejected: College Application Rejected.
6. We certainly don't want to minimize the fine work that many high school guidance/college counselors perform. However, problems perceived by parents and students arise as a result of the combination of:
- Too many students - public high school counselors have an average: caseload of 125 to 500 students.
- Too many students - private high school college counselors have an average: caseload of 30 to 100.
- Too many responsibilities - counselors are overwhelmed with multiple responsibilities.
- Inexperience - counselors do not have college admissions experience nor have the time to visit colleges.
- Use of a one-size-fits-all computer program and simple worksheets to navigate the admissions process.
- Other non-academic counseling - testing, attendance, occupational choices and disciplinary issues.
- Other non-academic counseling - scheduling, crisis counseling, absenteeism and family-services referrals.
- Too little time! - counselors do not have the time to provide adequate college advice to all students.
2. The National Association for College Admissions Counseling survey reported that high school guidance counselors have an average caseload of 125 to as high as 500 students, making them unable to provide adequate college guidance.
We Know What Guidance Counselors Don't Know!