This week, Lee Academia's team gathered data from 2002-2013 and created this graph on the left. We can see the increased interest in U.S Colleges/Universities as more and more International students apply and seek LAEC's High School/College/Graduate School Counseling.

Lee Academia limits the number of students we work with, as we dedicate our expertise and professionalism in helping each and every one of our clients. In 2012-2013, we see a tremendous increase in our International Students (especially from China) applying to U.S. Colleges seeking our help during the Spring and early Summer term, thus limiting our availability for American students.

Here are sample services that we helped our International Students with:

• Choosing U.S. Boarding, Colleges & Graduate Schools
• College List - Selection 
• College Research
• College Tours & Visits
• ART & Visual Schools
• Art Portfolios
• Interview Training
• Building Resume / Brag Sheet
  
• Applying to High Schools/Colleges/Graduate Schools
• TOEFL / IELTS Preparation
• SAT / ACT Preparation
• MCAT/GRE/GMAT/LSAT and more
• Finding Interests / Extracurricular
• College Application Essays
• Transitions / Adapting to U.S. Colleges
• Scholarship Searches for International Students
• GAP Year / Conditional Year / Transfer Admissions
  

So don't hesitate and enroll now! LAEC is a first-come, first-serve based Educational Consulting center. We will do our best to accommodate all our interested students and parents from both the U.S and International countries. Contact us now.

Last week, top high school students from around the world found out whether they were attending one of the eight prestigious Ivy League universities Fall of 2014.

This year was extremely competitive for some of the Ivies, as Princeton University, Cornell University, and University of Pennsylvania had one of their most selective admissions classes ever recorded, and Brown University, Yale University also had a lower acceptance rate than last year's rate.

Princeton admitted 7.28% of applicants and accepted 1,939 students out of 26,641 applicants. This was down slightly from their 7.29% in 2013.

Cornell admitted 14% this year, taking 6,025 students from 43,041 applications. Cornell accepted 15.2% of applicants last year. While Cornell has the highest admissions rate in the Ivy League, the school dropped their admissions percentage point this year.

University of Penn admitted 9.9% applicants to the Class of 2018, where it was 12.1% for the Class of 2017. 3,551 of 35,788 applicants was accepted.

Brown University admitted 8.6% acceptance rate, with 2,619 of 30,291 applicants accepted. Last year, Brown had a 9.2% acceptance rate.

Yale University was the last to release their admissions data, and posted a lower acceptance rate than last year's 6.72% Yale admitted 6.26% acceptance rate this year, admitting 1,935 of 30,932 applicants.

The other Ivies saw their acceptance rate rise from last year.

Harvard University admitted 5.9% of applicants from last year's 5.8% admissions rate, accepting 2,023 of their 34,295 applications.

Columbia University admitted 6.94% of applicants, up from their record low of 6.89% acceptance rate for Class of 2017. Columbia accepted 2,291 of their 32,967 applicants.

Dartmouth College took 11.5% of applicants to the Class of 2018, which was up from last year's 10% admissions rate. Dartmouth received 19,235 applications and accepted 2,220 this year.

Other top colleges also released their admissions data this week. MIT took 7.7% of applications. Here's a summary of the data:

• Brown University — 30,291 applicants (2,619 accepted)
• Columbia University — 32,967 applicants (2,291 accepted)
• Cornell University — 43,041 applicants (6,025 accepted)
• Dartmouth College — 19,235 applicants (2,220 accepted)
• Harvard University — 34,295 applicants (2,023 accepted)
• University of Pennsylvania — 35,788 applicants (3,551 accepted)
• Princeton University — 26,607 applicants (1,939 accepted)
• Yale University — 30,922 applicants (1,935 accepted)

The U.S. News & World Report surveyed more than 1,300 graduate schools and programs and ranked them according to their methodology.

They offered a sneak peak of the 2015 Best Graduate Schools rankings. Surveying 453 accredited master's programs in business, the U.S. News & World Report listed in alphabetical order the top 10 highest-ranked business schools:

Columbia University (NY)
Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH)
Harvard University (MA)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
New York University (Stern)
Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
Stanford University (CA)
University of California—Berkeley (Haas)
University of Chicago (Booth)
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 

The actual ranking and score of these and other graduate schools – including those offering full-time, part-time and executive MBA programs – will be available March 11, 2014, on usnews.com. Use #BestGradSchools.

Lee Academia's professional experts can help you with your graduate/professional school journey. Contact us for more information.

Some colleges were accused of violating the federal law that bars institutions from requiring student-aid forms other than the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats.

111 institutions were identified that appeared to be establishing additional requirements for students to complete costly additional forms, such as College Board's CSIC/Financial Aid Profile.  Of the 111 colleges identified, 58 of them explicitly stated that applicants must submit the Profile form to secure any financial aid. The other schools directed applicants to submit both the FAFSA and the Profile to obtain aid, though they did not specify what each form was used to assess.

While more than 200 institutions use the Profile to evaluate students' eligibility for institutional aid, they also asked for more detailed and complicated financial questions than does the FAFSA and students had to pay a fee to submit it. President of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said he doubted the colleges were withholding federal aid from students who had failed to complete the Profile, but he acknowledged that some of their websites could be clearer. He also mentioned that if there was a practice where schools would not award federal aid, then the schools should be held accountable. More likely it would need to be more clear on the consumer-information piece.

For more guidance and information about the FAFSA, tuition cost, or financial aid process, contact Lee Academia financial consultants can help. Contact us now.
 

As students are consulted by their Lee Academia Consultant and waiting to receive their College Athlete Game Report, here are the next 4 steps to prepare:

1. Develop your Initial Email correspondence.
2. Develop your Student Athlete profile.
3. Develop your Personal Video.
4. Organize your upcoming schedule to be included in your correspondence.

After receiving and understanding the College Athlete Game Report, here are next 4 steps to take:

1. Send out your finished email to your initial contact.
2. Be sure to respond to every correspondence you receive from the coaches.
3. Expand your contact list, as needed. Your College Athlete Game Report will only have 30-50 schools.
4. Master the college interview process... Be prepared to talk to college Face to Face.

Need Help developing your email, student athlete profile, and/or your video? Call Lee Academia @ 347-948-8863 for more details on these services. Get your College Athlete Game Report today!

By 2018, 63% of all job openings will require a post-secondary education.

In other words, almost 2 in every 3 jobs will be COMPLETELY CLOSED to you if you don’t have a college degree.

And considering that those with a college education make an average of 64% more than those who don’t...This fact should really freak you out.

If you haven’t started earning college degree, or if you took classes but never finished, the time to take action is NOW.

Lee Academia experts can guide you through choosing degree programs available, and help you qualify for government grants or scholarships.

As some students are taking their ACT exam this weekend, here are some tips and tricks to remember.

1. Keep calm and carry on.
On test day, relaxation is the key...but this is easier said than done, right? Take it easy and plan to give yourself plenty of time to wake up and get to the test center. Remember, breathe! Eat breakfast.

2. Stay positive.
Tests are boring, but think positively. Try smiling while you're taking your ACT test. Belief affects behavior, so it'll work if you stay positive.

3. Practice, Practice, Practice.
If you want to be good at something, you have to practice.

4. Come prepared.
Bring your admission ticket, cells phones are NOT allowed, bring a watch to keep track of time, your photo ID, calculator, and No.2 pencils.

5. No blanks.
You will not be penalized for guessing, but before you go crazy with that No.2 pencil, try to narrow down at least one or two answers that are definitely wrong.

For last minute ACT review, schedule a CRAM session (1-hour) now with an ACT expert today! Contact us for more information.

With approximately 450 boarding schools in 2012 and tuition at these schools ranging from free (yes, free!) to well over $50,000 per year, many parents and students choose to go to boarding schools.

There are plenty of reasons why attending an independent school is a great idea. With boarding school experiences adding another dimension because it involves the student 24/7 for weeks at a time; the academics, athletics and extracurricular activities are interwoven into a student's schedule in a remarkably balanced way. So whether a coed school or a boys' school or girls' school is chosen, you will find a boarding school which meets your requirements. Additionally, you can find boarding schools that offer military training, educating students with learning differences and special needs.

Financial aid is given at several boarding schools with general financial aid packages.

Everyone boarding school is unique so ranks do not matter there. What does matter is finding the school which best fits the child. Find the right boarding school for a child is one of the most important and expensive decisions you will ever have to make, similar to the college process.

Parents and students can research thoroughly on their own, only to find that most websites look alike and very few give information on the profile of typical accepted students. Families who want the guidance often turn to independent educational consultants, like Lee Academia's Educational Consultants, who have worked with over 50 students and parents this past admissions cycle.

These professionals are paid by the families to advise them on the boarding school search and admissions process. Many offer full service comprehensive packages that span over a year’s time, and others have shorter packages or an hourly rate.  A typical consultation will start with a focus on the student’s background and interest in boarding school; this includes a review of his transcript, testing, activities, interests, and academic successes and challenges of the past.  Lee Academia's professional consultant will talk with the student and parents about goals for the future and what they hope to get out of the boarding school experience.  We have given examples of schools that are nurturing or offer learning support, or those which give extra help to students when they need it. We discuss the pros and cons of the more rigorous schools, or might help a family decide whether to repeat a year.   Lee Academia's professionals know the inside scoop on boarding schools, and they get this through their campus visits, meetings with admissions officers, and by seeing the successes of the students who they place at schools.  We help families determine a list of schools to apply to, and this discussion customarily takes many months, but in certain cases can be done within one meeting.

For information or a consultation to see if boarding schools are right for you or your child, contact us.

Stay tuned to our success and admissions results, as they will be posted up on the website as we receive them.

Creating an #SAT or #ACT study schedule that allows you to pace yourself will help you avoid burnouts.

For many students entering their junior year of high school, one of the most stressful parts of preparing to apply to college is taking the SAT or ACT. When students are inundated with so many different test-taking tips, strategies and services, it can be quite challenging to sift through them all.

One of the most important things for students to do in preparation for the SAT or ACT is to map out exactly when they will take the test and how they will study for it. The following are three tips for designing such a timeline. 

1. Sign up for a test date far in advance: The SAT is offered seven times per year nationally; the ACT is offered six. Once you determine which test you will be taking, the first thing you need to do is look at the upcoming test schedule and decide on a date to take it. Make sure that you avoid all possible conflicts in the time immediately preceding it. Don't let things that you can control interfere with your preparation during that time. 

2. Take the test early: While it would be great if you could reach your target score the very first time you take the test, you will most likely have to take it once or twice more in order to attain the score you want.  Improvement comes naturally through repetition. No matter how many practice tests you take, it is difficult to simulate test day conditions before actually experiencing what it's like to be sitting in that test-taking room.  It will be impossible to take the SAT or ACT multiple times prior to applying to colleges if the first time you take it is late in the fall of your senior year.  With plenty of time left in your junior year, you leave yourself ample time to take the exam once or twice more.

3. Simulate testing conditions: Reserve the last two weeks in your studying schedule for taking a full sample exam, and make sure to simulate test day conditions as much as possible. 

The closer you can get to feeling exactly what it is like to take the test, the less stressful the real experience will be.

For more tips on how to set up a study plan timeline for yourself, get in touch with our experts.