Our team of experts provides personalized and high-touch support at every stage of the college application process.
These formative years are important for building a strong foundation for success. We will assess a student’s unique strengths, passions, and goals and will design a personalized, strategic roadmap. This roadmap will cover all aspects of a student’s high school journey and we will provide guidance for executing each step of that plan.
During this critical year, we provide holistic support as a student prepares to apply to college. We provide advice on leadership building, extracurricular development, summer planning, college list building, and more. We also offer work closely with students through all aspects of preparing their applications.
Regardless of where you are with preparing your applications, we are ready to jump in! Our team are experts at identifying a student’s strengths and crafting their compelling narrative. We offer tailored suggestions and work with you to execute them, ensuring a refined application.
Through this stand alone, virtual research program, we match high school students with PhD candidates from top research universities. Students will complete the valuable process of selecting a research topic, collecting and analyzing data, and producing a final paper or project as they dive deeper into their passions.
Our team of tutors support students in preparation for the SAT and the ACT as well as all academic areas. They have the expertise to effectively guide students through all standardized testing, including AP exams, ensuring that students are maintaining their academic profiles.
Applying to graduate school is competitive so don’t leave your application to chance. We have the expertise across a wide range of graduate programs and we will work with you to discover the best programs for your goals and to craft tailored applications, geared towards each of your individual schools.
93% of our students are admitted to one of their top 3 college choices.
Working with Oriel Admissions was the best decision that I made for my son’s college applications! Rona and her team went above and beyond, offering comprehensive support that exceeded my expectations. Their holistic counseling approach empowered my son to achieve his dream of being admitted to an Ivy League college. I highly recommend Oriel Admissions!
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The earlier that you begin your engagement with Oriel Admissions, the greater impact that we can have on your child’s admissions chances. A student’s curriculum in middle school will often determine their academic profile in high school. Starting as early as 8th grade can allow us to set your student on the path for academic success.
For our long-term counseling engagements, we create a Strategic Roadmap that is personalized to each student and is designed to provide guidance for how a student spends their time in high school. We can build this roadmap for our students as early as 8th grade up to as late as the first portion of 11th grade.
However, we can also support students in the later stages of their high school experience and often engage with students who are rising into their senior year or who may need assistance improving their applications while in their senior year.
Our unique 360-degree approach to counseling is how we provide students and families with the most comprehensive level of support, allowing students to develop the skills that they need to be successful in high school, in college, and beyond.
The student will have a primary college counselor who will meet with them on a regular basis for advising sessions (8th, 9th, and 10th grade) or who will work directly with them on their application (11th and 12th grade).
In addition to their college counselor, the student will be supported by academic tutors, SAT/ACT tutors, a career coach, a writing coach, and project mentors, as needed.
Rona Aydin, the founder of Oriel Admissions, is involved with every family as well. Rona will meet quarterly with the student to check on their progress and is always available to provide support and strategic direction as needed.
We offer comprehensive advising and planning services beginning as early as 8th grade, helping students navigate every stage of their academic and personal development.
As students transition into the college application process in their junior and senior years, we provide:
Our students come from all over the country and from all around the world. Our students attend public high schools, charter high schools, and private high schools. Additionally, we are well-versed in the educational systems of the countries that commonly send their students to study in the US.
Even if we have not worked with a student from your district before, we will quickly familiarize ourselves with your school and what makes it unique. After all, there are over 20,000 institutions providing a high school education in the US and we have not yet had the opportunity to work with students from all of them!
We guide students with diverse academic backgrounds. Our students are incredibly diverse in their interests and passions. They are creative thinkers, aspiring designers, and artists eager to explore innovative fields.
Many of our students are drawn to the humanities, seeking a broad and interdisciplinary education that fosters critical thinking and a deeper understanding of the world around them. We also work with students who are passionate about STEM subjects and are driven to build quantitative skills in fields like engineering, computer science, and medicine.
What sets many of our students apart is their desire to pursue dual interests. We encourage them to use their time in high school to explore these parallel passions, crafting a unique academic narrative that reflects their individuality.
Our students apply to a wide variety of colleges and programs. From Ivy League universities and small liberal arts colleges to large public flagship institutions, they seek out schools that align with their goals and aspirations. They apply to specialized programs such as arts and design schools, engineering and computer science departments, business programs, and even competitive BS/MD programs. No matter the path, we help our students present their best selves and achieve success across a broad spectrum of academic disciplines.
Our students apply to every imaginable college in the US, Canada, the UK, and other countries throughout the world. Many of our students are targeting Ivy League and other highly selective colleges. We are equally prepared to support students with diverse goals and college preferences, tailoring our guidance to meet their unique aspirations.
We recognize that no two students are the same, and we are equally prepared to support those pursuing a variety of goals and college preferences. Our team tailors guidance to each student's unique aspirations, ensuring they find the best-fit schools where they will thrive both academically and personally.
TL;DR: By April of junior year, Ivy-bound students should have a 3.9+ unweighted GPA with 4-6 AP courses, an SAT score of 1500+ or ACT of 34+, a clearly identified extracurricular spike with measurable impact, strong relationships with two academic teachers, and a concrete summer plan with research, internship, or program already confirmed. Students who … Continued
TL;DR: Five costly myths continue to derail college admissions outcomes for high-achieving families: that being well-rounded still works (it does not), that test-optional means tests do not matter (scores still help 70%+ of admitted students), that legacy guarantees admission (acceptance rates for legacies fell from 33% to below 12% at most Ivies), that rankings predict … Continued
TL;DR: By the end of junior year, the typical admitted Ivy League student has an unweighted GPA above 3.93, an SAT above 1520 or ACT above 34, 8 to 10 AP courses completed or in progress, 3+ years of deep commitment to one extracurricular domain with tangible achievements (published research, competition wins, revenue, or founded … Continued
TL;DR: Harvard rejects approximately 85% of valedictorians who apply (The Crimson, 2024). A perfect 4.0 GPA and 1580 SAT do not guarantee admission – they are the starting line, not the finish. The five most common reasons top students with perfect stats get denied from Ivy schools are: lack of a true extracurricular spike with … Continued
TL;DR: Starting college prep in April of junior year is late but not too late – 15 months of runway remains before the January 1 Regular Decision deadline of senior year. The honest answer: families can still substantially improve outcomes if they act immediately and strategically, but the marginal return on interventions decreases sharply after … Continued
TL;DR: Junior year is when your AP course load should peak at 4 to 6 AP classes, up from 2 to 4 in sophomore year. The most impactful junior-year APs are AP US History (or AP European History), AP Calculus AB or BC, AP Physics, AP English Language, and one AP aligned with your intended … Continued
TL;DR: Your school counselor writes a recommendation letter that every college on your list reads, and it carries different weight than teacher letters because counselors provide institutional context – your course load relative to what is available, your role in the school community, and any circumstances that affected your performance. 78% of admissions officers rate … Continued
TL;DR: Junior year is the single most important year in the college admissions process. Junior-year grades are the most recent complete academic year on your application and carry the most weight with admissions officers. 73% of admissions officers rank junior-year grades as the most important transcript factor (NACAC, 2025). The six highest-impact actions for juniors: … Continued