Private school admissions consultant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.schoolfirstnyc.com/wendy/

Wendy Wilkinson at School First. She is former head of admissions at Sidwell and at NCS.

+1 for Wendy Wilkinson. She knows Big3 well, obviously. But she really focuses on fit and finding the right school, not just the right name.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for the recs. When is the best time to start working with one? I would be interested in application help/interview prep, but also in learning about activities etc that can make an applicant stronger

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all for the recs. When is the best time to start working with one? I would be interested in application help/interview prep, but also in learning about activities etc that can make an applicant stronger

I’d start in Aug at the latest. You’ll want to be touring schools in Sept. We found that different consultants had different packages based on what you need them for.

[Anonymous]

I hired a well respected one but I would have done just as well to blow 1k on a dinner out and do it myself.

I did use a bigger company for test prep for the same kid and that was well worth it, but they focus on high school students, not middle school kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:application help/interview prep

Neither of these are enough to change admissions outcomes meaningfully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:application help/interview prep

Neither of these are enough to change admissions outcomes meaningfully.

What will change outcomes then?

[Anonymous]

Things largely out of the applicant/family's control, like hooks and school recommendations. The main controllable factors are grades and test scores. It's really that simple the vast majority of the time.

[Anonymous]

We worked with a consultant and she helped us through the entire process, including helping us to identify right fit schools and applications. She was a steady, knowledgeable support right up until the end when we ended up getting off of the waitlist for two schools. She calmly helped us navigate that stressful situation. Recommend getting support!

[Anonymous]

We used Clare Anderson and she was very helpful. We were not looking for our kid to get into the most competitive school possible. Rather, we were looking for a good fit considering who my kid was and what our family wanted from a school culture. We needed up with choices and my kid is happy.

[Anonymous]

How much roughly are these consultants?

Is it helpful for a Kindergarten admission, or not really worth the money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much roughly are these consultants?

Is it helpful for a Kindergarten admission, or not really worth the money?

I think it might be even more important in K where your kid does not have grades and test scores. We did not use a consultant btw

[Anonymous]

For GDS Marnie Weinstein: https://www.wec.education/marnie. She knows that school inside out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For GDS Marnie Weinstein: https://www.wec.education/marnie. She knows that school inside out.

FYI: Marnie is a GDS alum and was a GDS teacher, but she sent her kids elsewhere for early elementary.

[Anonymous]

Yet another up vote for Lindsay White. We really liked her and, more importantly, she helped our kid get where he wanted to go (for HS).

[Anonymous]

We worked with Theodra Washington and loved her. She helped us identify schools that were the best fit. Would do it again.