Anyone use Solomon Admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish DCUM's College and University Discussion forum really had a list of recommended counseling firms to use based on user feedback. It's crazy that many use such firms but don't want to recommend any, even in an anonymous forum like this. Strange!

Its because very few counselors provide true value. We used one for our son and it was a waste of money. I give information to friends but tell them that it made no difference. It is a predatory industry that prey on the anxieties of parents but everyone hires one because they are afraid of taking risks.

Yep yep yep.

My kid is having success in admissions because of their sustained work over 4 years and my advice. The counselor we hired was a scam. Took our money and gave us very little in return.

You do not need one. I promise!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We looked at their website and found it to be very slick but scammy. Reviews on Reddit were not good.

Now that we are done with the admissions process - looking back, 3 things matter:

Grades. SAT and essays. In that order.

No admissions counselor can help with 1&2

Essays depending on the kid, the ECs and how they fit.

Good luck.

They are in great demand nowadays because there are so many high stats kids. Public schools pump out 20-30% straight As. Any kid with a 1500+ think they have a chance. Yet they still don’t get in. That is why they are seeking help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked at their website and found it to be very slick but scammy. Reviews on Reddit were not good.

Now that we are done with the admissions process - looking back, 3 things matter:

Grades. SAT and essays. In that order.

No admissions counselor can help with 1&2

Essays depending on the kid, the ECs and how they fit.

Good luck.

They are in great demand nowadays because there are so many high stats kids. Public schools pump out 20-30% straight As. Any kid with a 1500+ think they have a chance. Yet they still don’t get in. That is why they are seeking help.

Yes, I think this is the problem. Too many high stats kids. We were close to hiring Solomon but ended up with TopTier Consulting. We definitely believed they helped with the process. We also started young, in 10th grade, so the counselor had a lot of time to work with our daughter. I highly recommend them, if price isn't a major factor. We have an only child so factored it into the cost of college education.

[Anonymous]

How much is TopTier Consulting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much is TopTier Consulting?

I think it's year-of-entry dependent but expect it to be close to $100K for 4 years. I don't know how much they charge just for the last two years, but I also don't think it's useful to go to counseling firms like this if you intend to only use them for the last 18 months. They provide the best outcome when you start early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked at their website and found it to be very slick but scammy. Reviews on Reddit were not good.

Now that we are done with the admissions process - looking back, 3 things matter:

Grades. SAT and essays. In that order.

No admissions counselor can help with 1&2

Essays depending on the kid, the ECs and how they fit.

Good luck.

They are in great demand nowadays because there are so many high stats kids. Public schools pump out 20-30% straight As. Any kid with a 1500+ think they have a chance. Yet they still don’t get in. That is why they are seeking help.

Also, the families are reasonably confident that their kids are straight As by junior year if they think their kids will be top 20-30%. Thus they are confident enough to sign up for a four year package in 9-th grade or earlier without the fear of losing that money. EC and narratives are the main differentiators for their college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me, or do they not really have this s#$ together? I've had a horrible time with their initial screening team between trying to coordinate a time and then actually getting that time right for the meeting invite. With so many other consultants out there, I'm wondering why I'm trying so hard with them.

We had an intro call with them last year while we were interviewing counseling companies. Solomon said being Indian and Bio is very hard for pre-med / Bio major and instead suggested public health major. They suggested to apply to a major that is less common like global health, public policy, education instead of Biology so it is easy to get into and then switch once he is at the university. We have heard switching later can be hard and risky. So we did not go with them

[Anonymous]

we used them for DD who is at ivy. she did well with multiple T20 admissions (although many rejections too) and in at almost all targets, safeties. i was really disappointed in their recommended list as they lowball you (i think this is the company, not individual counselor), but DD and i liked our counselor who agreed she should aim high. counselor was helpful with brainstorming majors, highlighting some EC, and keeping DD on track. she also was quite responsive with my multiple nuanced questions during the process as a former wash u ad com member. i also did a lot of my own research and helped with essay edits (they did very little).

overall, it wasn't worth the 15k for 3 apps (maybe 5k?) and not sure it really made a difference other than helping us feel less clueless and anxious, but we had the $$ to spend and as our first time through, it was helpful to have an objective voice giving feedback and for DD to discuss her application with someone other than parents. we won't use for DD2 now that we have experience. it's critical to look at naviance data and the context of child's high school. DD went to strong MA public hs that sends disproportionate numbers to BU, NE so when solomon recommended ED to BU, i was not happy with that strategy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we used them for DD who is at ivy. she did well with multiple T20 admissions (although many rejections too) and in at almost all targets, safeties. i was really disappointed in their recommended list as they lowball you (i think this is the company, not individual counselor), but DD and i liked our counselor who agreed she should aim high. counselor was helpful with brainstorming majors, highlighting some EC, and keeping DD on track. she also was quite responsive with my multiple nuanced questions during the process as a former wash u ad com member. i also did a lot of my own research and helped with essay edits (they did very little).

overall, it wasn't worth the 15k for 3 apps (maybe 5k?) and not sure it really made a difference other than helping us feel less clueless and anxious, but we had the $$ to spend and as our first time through, it was helpful to have an objective voice giving feedback and for DD to discuss her application with someone other than parents. we won't use for DD2 now that we have experience. it's critical to look at naviance data and the context of child's high school. DD went to strong MA public hs that sends disproportionate numbers to BU, NE so when solomon recommended ED to BU, i was not happy with that strategy.

lol it’s like recommending a NYC kid ED NYU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much is TopTier Consulting?

I think it's year-of-entry dependent but expect it to be close to $100K for 4 years. I don't know how much they charge just for the last two years, but I also don't think it's useful to go to counseling firms like this if you intend to only use them for the last 18 months. They provide the best outcome when you start early.

100k for 4 years? That is like college tuition

[Anonymous]

We talked with them but opted for a smaller company that charges about 5K.

Solomon seemed more geared towards a slick total package thing, trying to make (some) kids something they're really not, and our kid has already worked really hard and just needs some occasional guidance and help tying together a narrative out of things that already exist. They're a Junior so no news yet but so far we are happy with this path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much is TopTier Consulting?

I think it's year-of-entry dependent but expect it to be close to $100K for 4 years. I don't know how much they charge just for the last two years, but I also don't think it's useful to go to counseling firms like this if you intend to only use them for the last 18 months. They provide the best outcome when you start early.

100k for 4 years? That is like college tuition

Yes, it is. However, if you're trying to give your kids more time to focus on their high school coursework, it's a worthwhile strategy. Otherwise, someone has to take on that role, and the research involved in doing so is quite extensive. It also depends on which schools your child is applying to, their intended major, and the projected acceptance rates of those schools four years from now. There's a lot to consider. Some of these larger firms have the data to support real-time decision-making. It all depends on the counselor you're assigned to and how well they understand the process. I think for families that can afford it, it's a bit of stress relief for both the parents and the child. We really liked Solomon. Sometimes we didn't agree with their decisions, but overall, the help they provided our family was worthwhile. As a family involved in dual medicine (surgery), my husband and I simply didn't have the time to assist, and we wanted our kids to focus on their classes and discover what they wanted to achieve in high school. Our view of Solomon’s services was that they provided an academic coach for them, mainly because we couldn't do it ourselves and just didn't have the time to figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked at their website and found it to be very slick but scammy. Reviews on Reddit were not good.

Now that we are done with the admissions process - looking back, 3 things matter:

Grades. SAT and essays. In that order.

No admissions counselor can help with 1&2

Essays depending on the kid, the ECs and how they fit.

Good luck.

They are in great demand nowadays because there are so many high stats kids. Public schools pump out 20-30% straight As. Any kid with a 1500+ think they have a chance. Yet they still don’t get in. That is why they are seeking help.

Also, the families are reasonably confident that their kids are straight As by junior year if they think their kids will be top 20-30%. Thus they are confident enough to sign up for a four year package in 9-th grade or earlier without the fear of losing that money. EC and narratives are the main differentiators for their college admissions.

We are on this boat. Stats is not a problem for DC. School has about 20% straight As so we are pretty certain he will easily be one of them. Need someone advice on undersubscribed major, ECs, essays, etc to differentiate him.