Lindsay Petry
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
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I've spent a decade in higher education, starting in Residence Life, earning my Master of Arts from Cornell University, moving into the admissions office, and eventually founding Optimal Admissions in 2021.
While working in Admissions at Cornell University, I discovered the part of the job I loved most wasn't reading applications, but the unique conversations I had with prospective students at information sessions who just wanted to get it right, and the long phone calls with nervous families. The most rewarding moments were when I could take something mysterious and make it make sense for a student or their family. It eventually pointed me toward the other side of the desk, independent admissions counseling.
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Why I started Optimal Admissions
I kept seeing the same thing: qualified, capable students missing the mark, not because they didn't have the potential, but because nobody had told them what admissions committees were actually looking for. The process is deliberately opaque. Institutions rarely explain what an ideal application looks like, leaving families to guess. I wanted to change that. Not by doing the work for students, but by pulling back the curtain and giving them the information they needed to make smart decisions for themselves.
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A different kind of approach
My Master of Arts from Cornell focused on Classical Bioarchaeology, which is a fancy way of saying I studied ancient lives through human remains. It might sound like an unusual background for a college counselor, but it shapes how I work in ways I didn't expect. It taught me to ask better questions, look beneath the surface, and help students get genuinely nuanced about their academic interests. It also comes in handy when students are developing research projects or need help editing papers before publication.
My experience as a first-generation college student navigating higher education has led me to value educating my clients as the foundation of our work. I explain the why behind everything. I want students to leave every session understanding the process more deeply than when they arrived, not just checking boxes on a list. I tell almost every family I work with: it's not my job to make decisions for you. It's my job to make sure you have everything you need to make the right ones for your family.
I intentionally bring optimism to every conversation. I hear from families all the time that other potential counselors told them they were too far behind in the process to achieve good results or that they shouldn't bother applying to a certain school. That's not how I work. I believe in being realistic, but realistic doesn't mean discouraging. Every student I work with has a story worth telling, and by helping them find it and tell it well, they arrive at decision season having submitted applications they're proud of and with results that reflect their true potential.
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A little more about me
When I'm not working with students, I'm usually with my dog, Pebbles, or watching a documentary. I live near Greenville, South Carolina, and work with students across the country entirely online.