At IDEA we have over thirty years of experience advising students as they think about how their education can help them reach their goals and fulfill their dreams. Knowing where to study, and what to study when you get there, is one of the most challenging decisions you may have to make in your life, and deciding wisely can make all the difference between having a great college experience and having one that is unsatisfying and unhappy.
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We know that getting a great education comes down to finding the right fit between you and a college or university. For parents and students the amount of information and the many unknowns can be confusing and frustrating. What is the right school? How can I best prepare for admission? What happens after the decision? We’ve helped thousands of students as they think about questions like these and about the many options and difficult decisions that go into planning their futures. We know what works, what doesn’t, and why. There are no secret formulas or simple answers in all of this, except to make the best match student and institution. We have decades of hands-on experience working with students like you, students with dreams and aspirations, interests and goals, and the desire to make the most of them all.
Dr. Frank Ordiway
Educational Consultant | Advisor
After having served for twenty years as a Princeton faculty member and administrator — most recently, as Associate Dean of the College, Frank has extensive experience advising students on college, graduate school, and fellowships applications for all types of schools and opportunities domestically and abroad. He takes a comprehensive view of students and applications, prioritizing a good intellectual and cultural fit to ensure the best possible educational experience.
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Earlier, as Dean of Wilson College at Princeton, he also spent several years overseeing the broad educational trajectories of hundreds of students.
As a faculty member and administrator, Frank also developed institutional expertise in a wide range of areas pertaining to students: He served on the Committee on Admission and Financial Aid, on residential life committees, and on committees governing the University’s academic regulations, among others. His experiences give him expertise not only in advising students but also in understanding the larger university systems about which students and parents often need to know.
Frank has also, of course, been a student himself. Graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1981, Frank won a Fulbright Scholarship to Italy, and then earned a degree in classics from Cambridge University (Trinity) before returning to Princeton, where he earned his PhD in Comparative Literature in 1990 with the help of Mellon and Whiting Fellowships in the Humanities. Having lived and studied not only in the US, Great Britain, France, and Italy, but also (as the son of a United States Air Force doctor), in the Philippines, Frank has a particular interest in international education and the issues faced by students undertaking their education in foreign countries.