Private School Consultant

[Anonymous]

Curiosity is killing this cat. How much does a such a consultant charge and what’s the scope of work?

[Anonymous]

Peter Braverman is excellent. An outstanding editor (on essays) and a joy to work with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Peter Braverman is excellent. An outstanding editor (on essays) and a joy to work with.

This is my guess for the person who worked for the pp who was unhappy with the experience.

[Anonymous]

It's already a privilege to go to a private school. You people need even more of a leg up to make sure your kid goes to the "right" one? Obnoxious. Do the private school admissions yourself. Trust me, it's not *that* hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also used one frequently discussed on this board and she was a complete waste. I feel bad naming her name but she was the top of the top in terms of cost and experience if that helps. She did absolutely nothing helpful that I can discern. She didn’t help us narrow a list of schools, didn’t help us organize anything, didn’t help us define a strategy for our kid, barely commented on essays, and steered us wrong on some key decisions. When we talked she often couldn’t even remember major details about my kid. And she certainly never got to know us or my kid well enough to do any advocacy, which was what she advertised. Huge waste!

Please do name the person. There is no point if sharing if you don't name her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meghan Bracewell

We used her and she absolutely sucked. Just do it yourself. An unnecessary waste of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curiosity is killing this cat. How much does a such a consultant charge and what’s the scope of work?

We did not use a consultant, but I know of one who charges families $25,000 for a 1-year contract to find a school. Not sure of the scope of work other than I know she works closely with the admissions teams at schools.

[Anonymous]

+1 for Peter Braverman. As pp noted, superb editor who isn't afraid to tell you your essay sucks and provide clear, spot-on guidance on how to make it better. He really got to know our kid and our family, and was a great advocate for us through the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We also used a consultant - one who is named frequently on DCUM - and it was a complete waste.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Rich people jobs are sleaze ball work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 for Peter Braverman. As pp noted, superb editor who isn't afraid to tell you your essay sucks and provide clear, spot-on guidance on how to make it better. He really got to know our kid and our family, and was a great advocate for us through the process.

Was not our experience at all. For us he knew only the "river road corridor" schools-had no understanding of how DC publics and Maryland publics and VA schools in general--private and public actually operate and did not follow up with admissions officers once decisions came out as he had promised he would. Super charming and nice but really narrow in perspective. If you want to get your kid into Maret or GDS sure..fine but if your kid has a nuanced set of needs ( not special needs -just complex) , or might do better in certain programs at different schools its not worth the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Waste of money

A nice racket it is.
All the parents I know who hired consultants either
A) didn't feel like doing their own homework about their child's options (working parents who didn't prioritize child)
B) needed someone to therapy them into the reality of middling options
C) really and truly clueless about schools (i.e. immigrant) in which case the consultant is basically project managing the application package

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also used one frequently discussed on this board and she was a complete waste. I feel bad naming her name but she was the top of the top in terms of cost and experience if that helps. She did absolutely nothing helpful that I can discern. She didn’t help us narrow a list of schools, didn’t help us organize anything, didn’t help us define a strategy for our kid, barely commented on essays, and steered us wrong on some key decisions. When we talked she often couldn’t even remember major details about my kid. And she certainly never got to know us or my kid well enough to do any advocacy, which was what she advertised. Huge waste!

Please do name the person. There is no point if sharing if you don't name her.

We used Lindsay White.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We used Lindsay White.

PP or DP

[Anonymous]

Just ask on this forum. You don’t need a consultant.