Top Tier AdmissionsMaria Laskaris joins Top Tier Admissions as one of the most experienced admissions deans in the country. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 1984, and served as Director of Admissions at Dartmouth for over a decade where she evaluated tens of thousands of applicants. From 2007-2015 she served as the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Dartmouth, overseeing all facets of the admissions and financial aid processes. She played an integral role in developing key enhancements to the Common Application, serving on the 14-member Board of Directors. With over 25 years of admissions experience at one of the most selective colleges in the country, she provides an insider’s perspective like no other, with deep knowledge of selective college admissions.
In addition, Maria is proud of her long-term volunteer work with Opera North (Lebanon, NH) in fundraising, marketing and audience engagement. She is an avid masters rower with the Upper Valley Rowing Foundation (Hanover, NH) and also serves as a member of its board of directors.
Now that we’ve processed the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action, the next admissions practice under scrutiny is legacy admissions, especially at the most highly selective colleges and universities. Just a few days after the latest ruling, the Boston-based group Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights […]
Today, the Supreme Court overturned more than 40 years of case law that has consistently confirmed the legality of race-conscious admissions. In their 6-3 vote on both Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina, they restricted the ability of colleges and universities to consider a student’s […]
With its bracket-busting buzzer beaters and Cinderella stories, the NCAA’s annual basketball tournament has plenty of madness to go around this March. So, too, does the world of selective college admissions. This month, many university press releases breathlessly proclaim record-breaking volume and lowest admit rates in their history. WHAT’S BEHIND THE MADDENINGLY LOW ADMIT RATES? […]
Nearly 100 years ago, the president of Pomona College inaugurated The Claremont Consortium, modeled on the design of Oxford University. Blaisdell sought to provide students the intimacy of a small college coupled with the resources of a larger university, like libraries and research facilities. Today, the Claremont Consortium has grown to seven colleges including five […]
Now that December’s flurry of early admissions decisions has abated, we can take a deep dive into the data to understand both the results and the institutional priorities that drove decision-making. Spoiler alert: a growing number of applicants led to ever-lower early admit rates at many of the nation’s top colleges and universities. In our […]
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