If you used a consultant. . .

[Anonymous]

this question is for you. (I know there are those who believe using a consultant is a waste of money, etc.)

If you used an educational consultant during your child's application process, did you feel the consultant was biased toward elite schools such as Sidwell and would automatically steer you toward those schools? We're genuinely interested in finding the school that is the best fit for our child and our family, not the most prestigious school or most selective. The best fit might be the school our child is at now, or it might not be. My husband thinks a consultant will be biased toward the elite schools and might not offer an honest appraisal of the school our child attends now. What was your experience? I fully realize that many schools can offer a good fit; I'm just curious about parents' perceptions of the consultants' biases, if any. Thanks for your feedback.

[Anonymous]

We used a consultant (Georgia Irvin). For one child, she recommended very elite schools. For the other, she said that while he would do ok at the elite school his older sib attends, she would recommend a less pressured environment, and gave several specific schools to look at. We hadn't tried to lead her, but totally agreed with her assessment, and both kids are doing very well at their schools.

[Anonymous]

I used Georgia Irvin too and she recommended against applying to the elite schools. I am looking at pre-K and she and her associate spend close to an hour with my DC without me. They definitely thought he could do well at the elite schools at 3rd grade but thought a smaller school less intense school may be better for pre-K to 2nd. I thought their assessment matched my views of my DC. She is EXPENSE but I thought helpful.

[Anonymous]

Which private schools are considered to be less intense?

[Anonymous]

I also used Georgia Irvin, and she and her partner Pam were both very helpful. They felt our DC would do well at and had a good chance of being admitted to an elite school, but were not pushing these schools at all. They were interested in helping us find a good fit for our child. I don't think they have any particular incentive to push elite schools - why would they encourage a lot of potentially unsuccessful applications? They're expensive but worth it. I felt like they really know the schools. You can get the same info by doing a lot of research yourself - talking with friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends...but what they do is save you a lot of time.

[Anonymous]

I have researched and visited several schools, but I didn't see any that seemed intense or pressured for grades K through 3. I wouldn't want my DC in a school like that. Which schools are considered intense and pressured, and which are more laid back, especially in the early grades?

[Anonymous]

The three people that said they used Georgia sound very similar. Georgia, is that you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband thinks a consultant will be biased toward the elite schools and might not offer an honest appraisal of the school our child attends now.

We also used Georgia Irvin. In our case, she recommended the "elite" schools because thought academic rigor should be our most important criterion, but I don't think she has any incentive to do so all the time, especially given that the odds are against admission to these schools and a rejected applicant's parents are likely to be unhappy customers.