People who spend huge amounts of $ on private college consultants are wasting their money

[Anonymous]

Having done admissions interviews for my Ivy alma mater... I promise that admissions staff can tell the difference between an essay written by a kid and an essay written by a consultant. They can tell the difference between padded resumes and genuine intellectual interest. And they don't care at all about recommendations from famous people. Yes, legacy preferences and athletic preferences are real, and corrupt, and yes, test prep can help, on the margins, but if you are planning to hire a consultant, don't waste your money, people. Take the money you'd have spent on that and put it into a fund to help your kid buy their first home or whatever. It's a much better investment.

[Anonymous]

A true college consultant is not writing essays..they are helping to make an appropriate lists for applications. Maybe suggesting a good essay topic to complement the profile. Yes you can hire someone to take care of the whole process but they are not exactly college consultants.

[Anonymous]

We had a great experience with our college consultant - so OP I disagree that it was a waste of money.

[Anonymous]

Clearly, the only consultants worth hiring are those that funnel bribes to get your child in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A true college consultant is not writing essays..they are helping to make an appropriate lists for applications. Maybe suggesting a good essay topic to complement the profile. Yes you can hire someone to take care of the whole process but they are not exactly college consultants.

Yes they are and the service is called a "comprehensive package" whereby you start working with the consultant in freshman or sophomore year.

[Anonymous]

I agree, OP. But it's all part of the "what's merit when you can pay an adult to tweak stuff for you?" mentality.

[Anonymous]

I would challenge your assertion that a consultant is a waste of money based on the logic you provided primarily because the essays you read or the resumes that you review are probably enhanced by a parent, an uncle/aunt, or another relative. I suspect that those are the ones that you would catch. I didn't even know that this industry existed before this big story broke in the news yesterday. Wouldn't a college consultant be more surreptitious anyhow and know how the game is played?

For example, the guy that is being convicted (Singer?) gave advice to some parents who photoshopped their son's head on someone else's body (to show that their kid was a water polo stud) that they should find a different picture because the picture of the body was way too high out of the water and only a few athletes are able to get that kind of height in the water. My point is that these college consultants know what admissions folks or coaches are looking for and make the [insert essay, resume, athlete picture, etc] believable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would challenge your assertion that a consultant is a waste of money based on the logic you provided primarily because the essays you read or the resumes that you review are probably enhanced by a parent, an uncle/aunt, or another relative. I suspect that those are the ones that you would catch. I didn't even know that this industry existed before this big story broke in the news yesterday. Wouldn't a college consultant be more surreptitious anyhow and know how the game is played?

For example, the guy that is being convicted (Singer?) gave advice to some parents who photoshopped their son's head on someone else's body (to show that their kid was a water polo stud) that they should find a different picture because the picture of the body was way too high out of the water and only a few athletes are able to get that kind of height in the water. My point is that these college consultants know what admissions folks or coaches are looking for and make the [insert essay, resume, athlete picture, etc] believable.

That's true but it's dishonest and unethical. Thankfully, some daylight is now being shed on these despicable practices.

[Anonymous]

each admissions counselor we have met at many different schools said not to bother.

You hire someone to give you a questionnaire about your kid and they come up with a list? Don't you know your kid better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would challenge your assertion that a consultant is a waste of money based on the logic you provided primarily because the essays you read or the resumes that you review are probably enhanced by a parent, an uncle/aunt, or another relative. I suspect that those are the ones that you would catch. I didn't even know that this industry existed before this big story broke in the news yesterday. Wouldn't a college consultant be more surreptitious anyhow and know how the game is played?

For example, the guy that is being convicted (Singer?) gave advice to some parents who photoshopped their son's head on someone else's body (to show that their kid was a water polo stud) that they should find a different picture because the picture of the body was way too high out of the water and only a few athletes are able to get that kind of height in the water. My point is that these college consultants know what admissions folks or coaches are looking for and make the [insert essay, resume, athlete picture, etc] believable.

That's true but it's dishonest and unethical. Thankfully, some daylight is now being shed on these despicable practices.

I'm the PP you are responding to. The argument is not whether these consultants are dishonest or unethical, it's whether people spending huge amounts of $ on private college consultants is a waste of money. I am not so naive to think that the people who are running these scams are not good at their job...that's why they get paid the big big bucks.

Now I agree with you, those that cross the line, are unethical and dishonest. But I have to believe that there are some that are good, maybe not many. That said, I don't see the difference between college consultants and lawyers. Lawyers know the game (law), they know the players (judges), and know how to play the game to their client's advantage. Isn't that the same thing here with college consultants? And by the way, I think that parents or relatives that over help on their kid's essays, application, etc are in a way cheating as well. There is another thread asking about who helped with your college application back in the day when you were applying to college and no one is calling out parents who do more work than the child in filling out a college app.

As a parent of a couple elementary school kids, this subject is demoralizing because the entire game is stacked against the average joe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a great experience with our college consultant - so OP I disagree that it was a waste of money.

We did, too. It was not a huge amount of money, and it was aimed at matching our kid rather than getting him in where he didn't belong.

I also thought it was a great way to protect my kid from my anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:each admissions counselor we have met at many different schools said not to bother.

You hire someone to give you a questionnaire about your kid and they come up with a list? Don't you know your kid better?

That isn't how it worked. He spent time with my kid to figure out what my kid really wanted from college and worked with him on how to articulate it. My kid found the process overwhelming. Consultant recommended a career oriented summer program before senior year, which was great - kid had a good time and realized he needed to shift focus to a related field. I wouldn't have thought about this.

I like in the end that my kid picked a school based on program attributes and not pretty buildings and fluff.

[Anonymous]

OP shows that he or she knows nothing.

And “alumni interviews”? Ha! They are merely a way for alumni to feel included and needed. If you think they matter, we can discount anything you say about the college application process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a great experience with our college consultant - so OP I disagree that it was a waste of money.

We did, too. It was not a huge amount of money, and it was aimed at matching our kid rather than getting him in where he didn't belong.

I also thought it was a great way to protect my kid from my anxiety.

I wonder if any consultants are matching kids to Longwood, Radford or St. Mary’s College? Probably not.

Face it, “consultants” are hired to grease the skids for elite college admission. Otherwise, why hire them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


OP shows that he or she knows nothing.

And “alumni interviews”? Ha! They are merely a way for alumni to feel included and needed. If you think they matter, we can discount anything you say about the college application process.

+1000