Don
Major: History
Rutgers University (Masters)
Harvard Business School
Institute for Education Management
Dartmouth College (Bachelors)
Major: History; Minor: Naval Science
PAST CONSULTING CLIENTS ADMITED TO:
Schools Clients Admitted Into: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Duke, Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Notre Dame, Northwestern, WUSTL, UVA, Vanderbilt, Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Swarthmore, Haverford, Wellesley, Carleton, Hamilton, Wesleyan, Emory, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, UCBerkeley, UCLA, USC, University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, NYU, RISD
COUNSELING AREAS
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Undergraduate Applications: Common App, Coalition App, Colleges’ own apps
PREVIOUS ADMISSIONS-RELATED EXPERIENCES
Princeton Admission Committee – member of the admission committee at Princeton for over 30 years. Director of Financial Aid. College Board Trustee.
I have been counseling students in admissions for over 40 years in total. After Princeton, as an independent counselor for 13 years, I have advised nearly 400 students, including about 100 Chinese students.
WHAT COLLEGES SEEK
The key concept in selective admissions is the “holistic” approach. Holistic means looking at the entire person, starting with academics, but paying considerable attention to personal characteristics, accomplishments, talent, leadership, a commitment to help others, essay impact, etc. Generally speaking, the more selective the college, the more emphasis is placed on these qualities.
ADMISSIONS CONSULTING PHILOSOPHY
My counseling goal is to strive to make the student the best applicant he or she can be, concentrating on both academic performance and accomplishments outside the classroom. In recommending colleges for students, I start with the student’s ability, performance, and accomplishments. Once I evaluate a student’s credentials (like an admission committee does), we then look at US News to see what the college possibilities are. I rate each student on both an academic and personal scale (like admission offices do) and use that rating to match students with appropriate colleges. I strongly believe in the importance of making a realistic college list rather than one that is filled with unlikely dream schools.