Admission Consultant Recommendation - Hourly services

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richard Montauk. Richardmontauk.com. We paid hourly for him to review Oxbridge application and essay This was two years back but I believe he was under $300 an hour. Total fee was under $3000. DD got into Oxford, then chose to use him again for grad school applications. She got in again and is there now starting her DPhil. I found him too late to help DS. There are just too many moving parts and too much to learn today to rely upon your public or private high school counselor. I, like some other posters here, think hiring an advisor is somehow cheating the system. I learned the hard way. We could have done better for the first child. And, FWIW, before the juvenile hecklers come on, I never dealt with Richard personally. He lives somewhere in New England. I am not he. I'm sure the moderator can confirm

He lives in Providence RI and sometimes does post on this site, but gets deleted.

no. [b]he has never posted here. He doesn't even know DCUM exists. Nor does he need to know. Want me to ask Jeff to confirm? I didn't think so.

We are in the Charlottesville area near UVA. I assume Jeff can pick that up. I don't know where Montauk is. All of his (xlnt) session are handled with your CHILD (not the adult) via computer.

I've never seen Jeff erase anything of that type. But I welcome him if so to call me.

I think it is YOU that have issues

I don't have issues. I wish I had hired someone for my SN kid but wasn't plugged enough in to realize that i could (no legacy/no money/ no first generation.

I post here because I made a mistake with my daughter. Langly public is processing 450 kids every year plus trying to deal with the quesitons of the junior parents below.

Either YOU the parent have to take on reading everything you can put your hand on or YOU need hire someone who knows what to do. It's that difficult. And yes

I I have a resume you would awe over. But I don't know squat about college admissions.

I'm very happy to ask Jeff to prove you wrong. I have no financial issue in the matter. I can confirm the oxford acceptance. Shall I ask Jeff?

Wrong and wrong again.

Seriously. I am happy to report this to Jeff and have him sort it out for you. I am a happy client of Montauk for my DS. DS would say the same. I am trying to help other parents because I wish I had done same for the older child but didn't. Had I known DCUM existed back when DC was applying, I might have learned about private coaches. I might have made smarter decisions for my DC. I didn't. Because I didn't knw such services existed. (think URM and first generation).
I stupidly relied upon the well-meaning FCPS college counselor. DD was a SN kid and we could have used private coaching. For some strange reason my husband and I thought we should rely upon the public high school counselor (don't get me wrong - they mean well, but they are processing 100s of kids to college). Instead, I relied on the overburdenede Langley hihg school college coach who was processing 400 seniors while coaching the parents and students of the 400 in the next junior class. I have no affiliation with Richard Montak. I am in Charlottesville area, formerly of Mclean, which I assume Jeff the moderator can figure out. I don't' know where Montauk is - my DS dealt with him (as do all coaches these days) by computer I just sent hte money which I thought was reasonable, more so with the Oxford results. Do you want a cancelled check? What IS your problem? Are you a competitor in the field trying to branch out?

I interviewed 3 college counselors and Montauk was my least favorite. I told him what kind of college DC was interested in (small liberal arts college not too far from home). Then he spent the entire conversation pushing international universities.

This is all the info I have, but I did get his name from DCUM and it was a dead end for us, so I am putting this out there.

AH, i get it. You never hired Montauk. You wanted freebies. After giving you a few hours of his time I bet it became obvious you weren’t going to hire him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't found anyone inexpensive who knows all the colleges that well. Maybe they exist out there, but the really knowledgeable and helpful experts are definitely not working for $120/hr for three, one-off sessions.

I think the hive mind on here, or maybe CC, is better if you want inexpensive advice concerning admission to a "top college".

There is a lack of genuine knowledge on here. In fact, the real knowledge, when it does exist, is kept close to everyone's chest for fear of raising the competition. Otherwise it's just opinion and conjecture and very few actual stats. There's a lot of BS.

We worked with a very expensive private college counselor who charges by the hour. A fraction of their advice was really very good. The rest of the time they made wild suggestions that were untenable or told long boring stories of their successes (student success) while simultaneously deriding and mocking those same students or their families. That didn't instill confidence in us to continue working with them.

What was the really very good advice?

It was specific to my kid's HS course choices and EC's in connection with their desired major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richard Montauk. Richardmontauk.com. We paid hourly for him to review Oxbridge application and essay This was two years back but I believe he was under $300 an hour. Total fee was under $3000. DD got into Oxford, then chose to use him again for grad school applications. She got in again and is there now starting her DPhil. I found him too late to help DS. There are just too many moving parts and too much to learn today to rely upon your public or private high school counselor. I, like some other posters here, think hiring an advisor is somehow cheating the system. I learned the hard way. We could have done better for the first child. And, FWIW, before the juvenile hecklers come on, I never dealt with Richard personally. He lives somewhere in New England. I am not he. I'm sure the moderator can confirm

He lives in Providence RI and sometimes does post on this site, but gets deleted.

no. [b]he has never posted here. He doesn't even know DCUM exists. Nor does he need to know. Want me to ask Jeff to confirm? I didn't think so.

We are in the Charlottesville area near UVA. I assume Jeff can pick that up. I don't know where Montauk is. All of his (xlnt) session are handled with your CHILD (not the adult) via computer.

I've never seen Jeff erase anything of that type. But I welcome him if so to call me.

I think it is YOU that have issues

I don't have issues. I wish I had hired someone for my SN kid but wasn't plugged enough in to realize that i could (no legacy/no money/ no first generation.

I post here because I made a mistake with my daughter. Langly public is processing 450 kids every year plus trying to deal with the quesitons of the junior parents below.

Either YOU the parent have to take on reading everything you can put your hand on or YOU need hire someone who knows what to do. It's that difficult. And yes

I I have a resume you would awe over. But I don't know squat about college admissions.

I'm very happy to ask Jeff to prove you wrong. I have no financial issue in the matter. I can confirm the oxford acceptance. Shall I ask Jeff?

Wrong and wrong again.

Seriously. I am happy to report this to Jeff and have him sort it out for you. I am a happy client of Montauk for my DS. DS would say the same. I am trying to help other parents because I wish I had done same for the older child but didn't. Had I known DCUM existed back when DC was applying, I might have learned about private coaches. I might have made smarter decisions for my DC. I didn't. Because I didn't knw such services existed. (think URM and first generation).
I stupidly relied upon the well-meaning FCPS college counselor. DD was a SN kid and we could have used private coaching. For some strange reason my husband and I thought we should rely upon the public high school counselor (don't get me wrong - they mean well, but they are processing 100s of kids to college). Instead, I relied on the overburdenede Langley hihg school college coach who was processing 400 seniors while coaching the parents and students of the 400 in the next junior class. I have no affiliation with Richard Montak. I am in Charlottesville area, formerly of Mclean, which I assume Jeff the moderator can figure out. I don't' know where Montauk is - my DS dealt with him (as do all coaches these days) by computer I just sent hte money which I thought was reasonable, more so with the Oxford results. Do you want a cancelled check? What IS your problem? Are you a competitor in the field trying to branch out?

I interviewed 3 college counselors and Montauk was my least favorite. I told him what kind of college DC was interested in (small liberal arts college not too far from home). Then he spent the entire conversation pushing international universities.

This is all the info I have, but I did get his name from DCUM and it was a dead end for us, so I am putting this out there.

AH, i get it. You never hired Montauk. You wanted freebies. After giving you a few hours of his time I bet it became obvious you weren’t going to hire him.

DP but I think you need to take a break. You're just venomous and this is a board where people are looking for good advice, not insane adversaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

I would add to this advice

+ Freshman/Sophomore year look at having EC experiences both in and out of school and where they might be leadership opportunities by junior/senior year for activities

+ If you go the route of hiring an essay coach and nothing else make sure between you and your child there is a spreadsheet with the essay prompts, supplemental essay prompts, honor essay (if applicable), due dates, an order to approach applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richard Montauk. Richardmontauk.com. We paid hourly for him to review Oxbridge application and essay This was two years back but I believe he was under $300 an hour. Total fee was under $3000. DD got into Oxford, then chose to use him again for grad school applications. She got in again and is there now starting her DPhil. I found him too late to help DS. There are just too many moving parts and too much to learn today to rely upon your public or private high school counselor. I, like some other posters here, think hiring an advisor is somehow cheating the system. I learned the hard way. We could have done better for the first child. And, FWIW, before the juvenile hecklers come on, I never dealt with Richard personally. He lives somewhere in New England. I am not he. I'm sure the moderator can confirm

He lives in Providence RI and sometimes does post on this site, but gets deleted.

no. [b]he has never posted here. He doesn't even know DCUM exists. Nor does he need to know. Want me to ask Jeff to confirm? I didn't think so.

We are in the Charlottesville area near UVA. I assume Jeff can pick that up. I don't know where Montauk is. All of his (xlnt) session are handled with your CHILD (not the adult) via computer.

I've never seen Jeff erase anything of that type. But I welcome him if so to call me.

I think it is YOU that have issues

I don't have issues. I wish I had hired someone for my SN kid but wasn't plugged enough in to realize that i could (no legacy/no money/ no first generation.

I post here because I made a mistake with my daughter. Langly public is processing 450 kids every year plus trying to deal with the quesitons of the junior parents below.

Either YOU the parent have to take on reading everything you can put your hand on or YOU need hire someone who knows what to do. It's that difficult. And yes

I I have a resume you would awe over. But I don't know squat about college admissions.

I'm very happy to ask Jeff to prove you wrong. I have no financial issue in the matter. I can confirm the oxford acceptance. Shall I ask Jeff?

Wrong and wrong again.

Seriously. I am happy to report this to Jeff and have him sort it out for you. I am a happy client of Montauk for my DS. DS would say the same. I am trying to help other parents because I wish I had done same for the older child but didn't. Had I known DCUM existed back when DC was applying, I might have learned about private coaches. I might have made smarter decisions for my DC. I didn't. Because I didn't knw such services existed. (think URM and first generation).
I stupidly relied upon the well-meaning FCPS college counselor. DD was a SN kid and we could have used private coaching. For some strange reason my husband and I thought we should rely upon the public high school counselor (don't get me wrong - they mean well, but they are processing 100s of kids to college). Instead, I relied on the overburdenede Langley hihg school college coach who was processing 400 seniors while coaching the parents and students of the 400 in the next junior class. I have no affiliation with Richard Montak. I am in Charlottesville area, formerly of Mclean, which I assume Jeff the moderator can figure out. I don't' know where Montauk is - my DS dealt with him (as do all coaches these days) by computer I just sent hte money which I thought was reasonable, more so with the Oxford results. Do you want a cancelled check? What IS your problem? Are you a competitor in the field trying to branch out?

I interviewed 3 college counselors and Montauk was my least favorite. I told him what kind of college DC was interested in (small liberal arts college not too far from home). Then he spent the entire conversation pushing international universities.

This is all the info I have, but I did get his name from DCUM and it was a dead end for us, so I am putting this out there.

AH, i get it. You never hired Montauk. You wanted freebies. After giving you a few hours of his time I bet it became obvious you weren’t going to hire him.

DP but I think you need to take a break. You're just venomous and this is a board where people are looking for good advice, not insane adversaries.

I don’t see anything “venomous “. Parents trying to get free advice out of private counselors is a problem in the consulting field. It happens to lawyers too. At some point the professional has to hint or say “ok I’ve talked to you twice for two hours each time. You know where I am so if you want to sign a contract you know where to find me.” And some parents are offended by that and go away but, if so, those are the families you don’t want to work with … especially if the parents are too involved in the process. But parents and students never actually hired someone shouldn’t be posting about them here. This is a forum about helping people navigate the college admissions process

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you please recommend admissions consultant who charges hourly. Looking to set up one or two sessions to get some targeted advice and ask questions for a kid looking at top colleges. Not looking for packages or essay, applications help etc. If you used someone like that and were happy with their service, can you please share website/name? Thank you.

Most of the people I know with admissions consultants either have a package or have more than one or two session if using a la carte services.

So I am not sure OP if it meets what you are looking for specifically (hourly, can advice on your specific challenge, and have availability) but the ones my friends have mentioned using for the college process in general
Potomac Oak College Consulting https://www.potomacoaktutoring.com/college-consulting
College Thoughts https://collegethoughts.com/
Prep Matters https://prepmatters.com/parents-students/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richard Montauk. Richardmontauk.com. We paid hourly for him to review Oxbridge application and essay This was two years back but I believe he was under $300 an hour. Total fee was under $3000. DD got into Oxford, then chose to use him again for grad school applications. She got in again and is there now starting her DPhil. I found him too late to help DS. There are just too many moving parts and too much to learn today to rely upon your public or private high school counselor. I, like some other posters here, think hiring an advisor is somehow cheating the system. I learned the hard way. We could have done better for the first child. And, FWIW, before the juvenile hecklers come on, I never dealt with Richard personally. He lives somewhere in New England. I am not he. I'm sure the moderator can confirm

He lives in Providence RI and sometimes does post on this site, but gets deleted.

no. [b]he has never posted here. He doesn't even know DCUM exists. Nor does he need to know. Want me to ask Jeff to confirm? I didn't think so.

We are in the Charlottesville area near UVA. I assume Jeff can pick that up. I don't know where Montauk is. All of his (xlnt) session are handled with your CHILD (not the adult) via computer.

I've never seen Jeff erase anything of that type. But I welcome him if so to call me.

I think it is YOU that have issues

I don't have issues. I wish I had hired someone for my SN kid but wasn't plugged enough in to realize that i could (no legacy/no money/ no first generation.

I post here because I made a mistake with my daughter. Langly public is processing 450 kids every year plus trying to deal with the quesitons of the junior parents below.

Either YOU the parent have to take on reading everything you can put your hand on or YOU need hire someone who knows what to do. It's that difficult. And yes

I I have a resume you would awe over. But I don't know squat about college admissions.

I'm very happy to ask Jeff to prove you wrong. I have no financial issue in the matter. I can confirm the oxford acceptance. Shall I ask Jeff?

Wrong and wrong again.

Seriously. I am happy to report this to Jeff and have him sort it out for you. I am a happy client of Montauk for my DS. DS would say the same. I am trying to help other parents because I wish I had done same for the older child but didn't. Had I known DCUM existed back when DC was applying, I might have learned about private coaches. I might have made smarter decisions for my DC. I didn't. Because I didn't knw such services existed. (think URM and first generation).
I stupidly relied upon the well-meaning FCPS college counselor. DD was a SN kid and we could have used private coaching. For some strange reason my husband and I thought we should rely upon the public high school counselor (don't get me wrong - they mean well, but they are processing 100s of kids to college). Instead, I relied on the overburdenede Langley hihg school college coach who was processing 400 seniors while coaching the parents and students of the 400 in the next junior class. I have no affiliation with Richard Montak. I am in Charlottesville area, formerly of Mclean, which I assume Jeff the moderator can figure out. I don't' know where Montauk is - my DS dealt with him (as do all coaches these days) by computer I just sent hte money which I thought was reasonable, more so with the Oxford results. Do you want a cancelled check? What IS your problem? Are you a competitor in the field trying to branch out?

I interviewed 3 college counselors and Montauk was my least favorite. I told him what kind of college DC was interested in (small liberal arts college not too far from home). Then he spent the entire conversation pushing international universities.

This is all the info I have, but I did get his name from DCUM and it was a dead end for us, so I am putting this out there.

AH, i get it. You never hired Montauk. You wanted freebies. After giving you a few hours of his time I bet it became obvious you weren’t going to hire him.

DP but I think you need to take a break. You're just venomous and this is a board where people are looking for good advice, not insane adversaries.

I don’t see anything “venomous “. Parents trying to get free advice out of private counselors is a problem in the consulting field. It happens to lawyers too. At some point the professional has to hint or say “ok I’ve talked to you twice for two hours each time. You know where I am so if you want to sign a contract you know where to find me.” And some parents are offended by that and go away but, if so, those are the families you don’t want to work with … especially if the parents are too involved in the process. But parents and students never actually hired someone shouldn’t be posting about them here. This is a forum about helping people navigate the college admissions process

Assuming that poster wanted something for "free" is pretty toxic.

[Anonymous]

I think we've all seen your recommendation for this guy by now. Truly. It's enough. It makes people not like him, seems spammy and weird - which isn't fair to him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richard Montauk. Richardmontauk.com. We paid hourly for him to review Oxbridge application and essay This was two years back but I believe he was under $300 an hour. Total fee was under $3000. DD got into Oxford, then chose to use him again for grad school applications. She got in again and is there now starting her DPhil. I found him too late to help DS. There are just too many moving parts and too much to learn today to rely upon your public or private high school counselor. I, like some other posters here, think hiring an advisor is somehow cheating the system. I learned the hard way. We could have done better for the first child. And, FWIW, before the juvenile hecklers come on, I never dealt with Richard personally. He lives somewhere in New England. I am not he. I'm sure the moderator can confirm

He lives in Providence RI and sometimes does post on this site, but gets deleted.

no. [b]he has never posted here. He doesn't even know DCUM exists. Nor does he need to know. Want me to ask Jeff to confirm? I didn't think so.

We are in the Charlottesville area near UVA. I assume Jeff can pick that up. I don't know where Montauk is. All of his (xlnt) session are handled with your CHILD (not the adult) via computer.

I've never seen Jeff erase anything of that type. But I welcome him if so to call me.

I think it is YOU that have issues

I don't have issues. I wish I had hired someone for my SN kid but wasn't plugged enough in to realize that i could (no legacy/no money/ no first generation.

I post here because I made a mistake with my daughter. Langly public is processing 450 kids every year plus trying to deal with the quesitons of the junior parents below.

Either YOU the parent have to take on reading everything you can put your hand on or YOU need hire someone who knows what to do. It's that difficult. And yes

I I have a resume you would awe over. But I don't know squat about college admissions.

I'm very happy to ask Jeff to prove you wrong. I have no financial issue in the matter. I can confirm the oxford acceptance. Shall I ask Jeff?

Wrong and wrong again.

Seriously. I am happy to report this to Jeff and have him sort it out for you. I am a happy client of Montauk for my DS. DS would say the same. I am trying to help other parents because I wish I had done same for the older child but didn't. Had I known DCUM existed back when DC was applying, I might have learned about private coaches. I might have made smarter decisions for my DC. I didn't. Because I didn't knw such services existed. (think URM and first generation).
I stupidly relied upon the well-meaning FCPS college counselor. DD was a SN kid and we could have used private coaching. For some strange reason my husband and I thought we should rely upon the public high school counselor (don't get me wrong - they mean well, but they are processing 100s of kids to college). Instead, I relied on the overburdenede Langley hihg school college coach who was processing 400 seniors while coaching the parents and students of the 400 in the next junior class. I have no affiliation with Richard Montak. I am in Charlottesville area, formerly of Mclean, which I assume Jeff the moderator can figure out. I don't' know where Montauk is - my DS dealt with him (as do all coaches these days) by computer I just sent hte money which I thought was reasonable, more so with the Oxford results. Do you want a cancelled check? What IS your problem? Are you a competitor in the field trying to branch out?

I interviewed 3 college counselors and Montauk was my least favorite. I told him what kind of college DC was interested in (small liberal arts college not too far from home). Then he spent the entire conversation pushing international universities.

This is all the info I have, but I did get his name from DCUM and it was a dead end for us, so I am putting this out there.

AH, i get it. You never hired Montauk. You wanted freebies. After giving you a few hours of his time I bet it became obvious you weren’t going to hire him.

DP but I think you need to take a break. You're just venomous and this is a board where people are looking for good advice, not insane adversaries.

I don’t see anything “venomous “. Parents trying to get free advice out of private counselors is a problem in the consulting field. It happens to lawyers too. At some point the professional has to hint or say “ok I’ve talked to you twice for two hours each time. You know where I am so if you want to sign a contract you know where to find me.” And some parents are offended by that and go away but, if so, those are the families you don’t want to work with … especially if the parents are too involved in the process. But parents and students never actually hired someone shouldn’t be posting about them here. This is a forum about helping people navigate the college admissions process

Assuming that poster wanted something for "free" is pretty toxic.

It's seen commonly in service fields. You don't think consultants talk? A parent calls up five college counselors and picks their brains each for an hour but doesn't sign up. What the counselor is selling is experience in their head (and computer). As a lawyer, I'm constantly asked for free legal advice and run the other way when I see it coming.

I think it's toxic when someone writes a bad review and hasn't even been a client. Would you write a Yelp if you hadn't eaten at the restaurant?