Yes, I am curious, too.

Anonymous wrote:We used Clare Anderson and she helped immensely. All three of our kids ended up at a Big 3. Note she did not "get them in" but gave us great advice about strategy.

What type of strategy?

I don’t think a consultant is necessary. Honestly, if this board is good for anything, it’s for the lowdown on all the area private schools. The main advice I would give is to do your research. This includes pedagogy, admissions chances, etc. Visit the schools. Don’t be overeager in the interviews. And being full pay goes a long way these days.

The schools are looking for well adjusted kids who can handle the school work.

As a teacher, I had a consultant call me to ask about a child who was shopping for a better fit. It was not a secret, but the consultant told me more than she should have about their home life.
Buyer beware.
I was kind of upset for the family that they paid a consultant who shared gossip about their parenting and habits.
(It wasn't even juicy.)

We used Clare Anderson and she helped immensely. All three of our kids ended up at a Big 3. Note she did not "get them in" but gave us great advice about strategy.

Anonymous wrote:Amore Learning went above and beyond for me and my family. Liz and her team were incredible and not expensive at all.

Wow I did not have that experience at all. They were not prepared for our initial chat, charged us for essay time they didn't actually do and we had NO follow-up. Would highly not recommend.

ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek and DCUM has always been very useful…whether you want to admit it or not

Blows my mind that anyone would consider DCUM a reliable source of information for any school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rich people have the money to consult their kids to success. Poor people are taking their shot in life in the dark and will work full time hours in manual labor as well as study hard while rich people will hire consultants, never work manual labor and study simultaneously, and manipulate the systems to get ahead. In the end will rich people will get the good jobs and no debt and poor people will get the sht jobs and high debt without anyway to pay the debt. Welcome to third world America.

What’s the point of working hard to be successful and wealthy if you can’t use your money to ensure your child’s success. Sorry, life is not fair. For someone with $1M+ HHI, $5K-$10K to save their family time and stress is invaluable. And before someone claim that these parents don’t care enough about their kids to do their own research, you obviously don’t understand the concept of opportunity costs and the value of time for wealthy people.

See I don’t get this. Even if I were wealthy, I would never consider the time researching schools or supporting my child’s education to be an “opportunity cost.” I wouldn’t trust some random uncertified professional to do it.

That said, I realize that a lot of people are not really capable or interested in actually doing the research. All the information really is on DCUM but they are fine with just paying someone to tell them or just don’t think it’s that high stakes - they’ll just apply 15 places and get in somewhere. and if they are wrong they are wrong and don’t care. I’ve got a friend who is just consistently totally wrong about schools that she thinks her kid has a chance at (public and private) and I’ve learned to just ignore it because inevitably she’ll learn. “Oh that’s so sad that the school that takes 2 7th graders every year didn’t have a spot for your kid!!”

In my case I agreed to hire a consult just so that my xDH could hear what I already well knew - that no private school would accept our IEP kid except maybe 1 or 2 I already knew of. It was good for someone else to say it that he would actually listen to!

In America we have the Trumps and the Trumpnots. When Trump is the role model of Christians we are truly fkt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hired a consultant, and she did her best, but it didn’t work out. We applied to four schools and were accepted into only one. Looking back, we don’t feel she was particularly helpful. She did assist us, but ultimately, consultants don’t have the power to influence admissions.

These private schools are extremely careful. They manage millions of dollars and generate significant revenue. Their admissions offices would never risk their reputation, or that financial stability, by admitting students just because someone asked or pulled strings.

If a child gets into all of the “big three” or just one, it likely would have happened with or without a consultant. If consultants truly had that kind of power, it would amount to paying your way in, which would be a major scandal.

I used one too because I was stressed, and I wanted an easy pass, but now I just feel stupid when I think about it.

You are exactly right--a consultant can not influence admissions. But a good one can help you hone a list of schools that are likely to admit your child based on the child's needs and what the school is looking for. And they can help you craft a compelling application and show you what admissions officers are looking at and what to emphasize. I'm talking about high school admissions. I feel like lower school is a different animal but by the time you get to high school, the child is supposed to be doing the application themselves.
We used one for HS admissions and I do not feel stupid at all. We didn't know anything about the private school world and I just didn't understand how everything works. Not just talking about the timeline of events -- the nuances of the whole process. Totally worth it to me.

This isn't true. There are definitely consultants that have direct connections to admissions offices and can place phone calls to advocate for your kid. If anything, the school feels more comfortable admitting a student that has already been given a stamp of approval by the consultant.

Anonymous wrote:We hired a consultant, and she did her best, but it didn’t work out. We applied to four schools and were accepted into only one. Looking back, we don’t feel she was particularly helpful. She did assist us, but ultimately, consultants don’t have the power to influence admissions.

These private schools are extremely careful. They manage millions of dollars and generate significant revenue. Their admissions offices would never risk their reputation, or that financial stability, by admitting students just because someone asked or pulled strings.

If a child gets into all of the “big three” or just one, it likely would have happened with or without a consultant. If consultants truly had that kind of power, it would amount to paying your way in, which would be a major scandal.

I used one too because I was stressed, and I wanted an easy pass, but now I just feel stupid when I think about it.

You are exactly right--a consultant can not influence admissions. But a good one can help you hone a list of schools that are likely to admit your child based on the child's needs and what the school is looking for. And they can help you craft a compelling application and show you what admissions officers are looking at and what to emphasize. I'm talking about high school admissions. I feel like lower school is a different animal but by the time you get to high school, the child is supposed to be doing the application themselves.
We used one for HS admissions and I do not feel stupid at all. We didn't know anything about the private school world and I just didn't understand how everything works. Not just talking about the timeline of events -- the nuances of the whole process. Totally worth it to me.

We used a consultant out of Alexandria and she really helped us to understand our child better and what schools would help him to thrive. He was in the neighborhood public school and it was not working. Ultimately, she helped us to identify schools, the application process and the decision-making process. Her advice, knowledge and calm was invaluable.

+1 Sounds EXACTLY like our experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hired a consultant, and she did her best, but it didn’t work out. We applied to four schools and were accepted into only one. Looking back, we don’t feel she was particularly helpful. She did assist us, but ultimately, consultants don’t have the power to influence admissions.

These private schools are extremely careful. They manage millions of dollars and generate significant revenue. Their admissions offices would never risk their reputation, or that financial stability, by admitting students just because someone asked or pulled strings.

If a child gets into all of the “big three” or just one, it likely would have happened with or without a consultant. If consultants truly had that kind of power, it would amount to paying your way in, which would be a major scandal.

I used one too because I was stressed, and I wanted an easy pass, but now I just feel stupid when I think about it.

+1

Anonymous wrote:It sucks to be you and poor.

Sucks to be you and an idiot.