Anonymous wrote:Does anyone actually have a recommendation besides Richard Montauk who has been mentioned on DCUM multiple times but no one can actually vouch for having used him. Seems like this question gets asked often enough and yet there are never solid recommendations.

I can vouch for him. Create an email and I will talk freely with you. He got my DD into UVA, Cambridge for a Masters, a DPhil at Oxford and now Yale Law. And he is by the hour, not the $30K to sign on operations. Both of my kids have used him.

We used Richard Montauk. very happy

We used one for our kid. He had a 3.84 UW and a 1500 SAT, so he was strong, but not perfect.

He ended up getting into Vanderbilt ED1. The counselor helped a lot because he strategically positioned him by shifting his major, giving him a passion project, and reworking his activity sheet. He knew so much about the process and I'm confident he would've been rejected without the private consultant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Find someone who is really dedicated, and, smart, and strategic and read a bunch of their edited essays. That’s what you probably need.

The essay editing, though adds up if they are good and in demand.

But it can and does make a big difference that is more important in my mind than anything else.

- Two kids at T10/Ivy

I’m sorry, that really sounds like gaming the system. When is it no longer a student essay?

DP here. The student writes the essay, the counselor reads it and provides comments/feedback. The student revises the essay. In my kid's case, the counselor told my kid that her essay is completely the wrong topic and told my kid to write an entirely new essay. Well, my kid would never have taken that kind of advice from me, but in this case she followed-through. It was entirely her work and I don't think the essay sounds at all like it was written by an adult (I read the final common app essay).

Agree, this is our experience.
A good essay counselor goes back and forth on each essay 5-20 times, but they aren't writing it. They'll ask the kid to go deeper, explore why, show them way their essay hook isn't working, and what a deeper hook might look like. Light word suggestions/changes when word count is an issue.

The big thing a good person does is (ime) they spend weeks helping a kid outline/create an inventory of potential supp essay topics - anywhere from 20-30 essay starts or topics worthy of spotlighting for the various essay categories (why major; why school; community; diversity; intellectual curiosity; character trait, etc.). While it seemed exhausting this summer, well worth it.

And the other big thing to ask essay people when you interview is their experience with selective T20 essays: in their experience, which types of essays resonate with which schools; what traits should be emphasized at certain schools (I'd expect they won't tell you it all - but their response should show you if they'll be able to guide your kid with this degree of specificity); what material is good for an essay and what is good for a video or a potential LOCI, etc.

This is kid #2, and I found our essay person through word of mouth. Quite expensive and didn't use them with kid #1. I'd expect the good ones only go through personal referrals, so ask friends with older kids.

Does anyone actually have a recommendation besides Richard Montauk who has been mentioned on DCUM multiple times but no one can actually vouch for having used him. Seems like this question gets asked often enough and yet there are never solid recommendations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Find someone who is really dedicated, and, smart, and strategic and read a bunch of their edited essays. That’s what you probably need.

The essay editing, though adds up if they are good and in demand.

But it can and does make a big difference that is more important in my mind than anything else.

- Two kids at T10/Ivy

I’m sorry, that really sounds like gaming the system. When is it no longer a student essay?

DP here. The student writes the essay, the counselor reads it and provides comments/feedback. The student revises the essay. In my kid's case, the counselor told my kid that her essay is completely the wrong topic and told my kid to write an entirely new essay. Well, my kid would never have taken that kind of advice from me, but in this case she followed-through. It was entirely her work and I don't think the essay sounds at all like it was written by an adult (I read the final common app essay).

Anonymous wrote:
Find someone who is really dedicated, and, smart, and strategic and read a bunch of their edited essays. That’s what you probably need.

The essay editing, though adds up if they are good and in demand.

But it can and does make a big difference that is more important in my mind than anything else.

- Two kids at T10/Ivy

I’m sorry, that really sounds like gaming the system. When is it no longer a student essay?

Find someone who is really dedicated, and, smart, and strategic and read a bunch of their edited essays. That’s what you probably need.

The essay editing, though adds up if they are good and in demand.

But it can and does make a big difference that is more important in my mind than anything else.

- Two kids at T10/Ivy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Also, be direct about your budget. You can find consultancies that charge 20-30K. In my opinion they are the types that work to make kinds into who they are not. We were looking for someone to spend time with our kid who is who they are, advising about choices and materials.

I disagree, most consultancies who do not use actual former college admissions professionals charge very little but don't have the experience others who real former admissions directors do. It's more than just reading essays, it's about building a profile that's compelling to schools but also stays true to who the kid is. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and if you're going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on college then, IMO, you should invest in helping them get into the best school for them. We worked with a high-end company and it was an incredible experience all around - my DD got into a bunch of schools (with merit aid) and is very, very happy with her choice. She is thriving and I know this company helped.

The big companies are hit or miss. My brother hired a a big name and the counselor assigned was just terrible and didn't click with my niece. The replacement was better but in no way worth the money. Maybe one of the founders would have been. With their son, they are going with a non-big name person recommended by a friend for 1/4 of the cost (literally) and have found it much more useful.

Anonymous wrote:op, I get why you are looking for someone. We hired a well known essay coach for $18k — the worst money we spent as far as getting the kid into a tippy-top school. But essays were done before deadlines.

Questions to ask consultant - have they helped a kid get into the colleges you kid is aiming for? What do they do if your kid is rejected from ED/REA schools? Ask for an example of essay feedback so you know whether or not it meets your needs. Some coaches preserve the kid’s voice (good) whereas other rewrite so much, it sounds like the adult is applying to college.

That is a crazy amount of money and can make clients feel their kid iss entitled to acceptances. Both of these are wrong.

OP, ask friends and neighbors. The most satisfied people I know are the ones who spent 4-5K and hired independent counselors, not people in the big companies. The biggest pluses I have seen is helping a kid stay on track and lower the stress plus strong feedback on essays.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Also, be direct about your budget. You can find consultancies that charge 20-30K. In my opinion they are the types that work to make kinds into who they are not. We were looking for someone to spend time with our kid who is who they are, advising about choices and materials.

I disagree, most consultancies who do not use actual former college admissions professionals charge very little but don't have the experience others who real former admissions directors do. It's more than just reading essays, it's about building a profile that's compelling to schools but also stays true to who the kid is. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and if you're going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on college then, IMO, you should invest in helping them get into the best school for them. We worked with a high-end company and it was an incredible experience all around - my DD got into a bunch of schools (with merit aid) and is very, very happy with her choice. She is thriving and I know this company helped.

I agree with this.
You need a strategy - not just a person who will help your kid upload activities into Common App.
Someone who knows how to make your kid stand out and maximize changes with a unique, distinguishing profile attractive to T20 (with your kid's authentic interests in mind).
A person like this likely charges at least $25k to help with 5-10 reach schools.

You can get excellent college counseling assistance for much less.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Also, be direct about your budget. You can find consultancies that charge 20-30K. In my opinion they are the types that work to make kinds into who they are not. We were looking for someone to spend time with our kid who is who they are, advising about choices and materials.

I disagree, most consultancies who do not use actual former college admissions professionals charge very little but don't have the experience others who real former admissions directors do. It's more than just reading essays, it's about building a profile that's compelling to schools but also stays true to who the kid is. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and if you're going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on college then, IMO, you should invest in helping them get into the best school for them. We worked with a high-end company and it was an incredible experience all around - my DD got into a bunch of schools (with merit aid) and is very, very happy with her choice. She is thriving and I know this company helped.

Unfortunately, the schools my kid is targeting don't offer merit aid, and I feel confident about my research, but I'm glad your expense was offset!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Also, be direct about your budget. You can find consultancies that charge 20-30K. In my opinion they are the types that work to make kinds into who they are not. We were looking for someone to spend time with our kid who is who they are, advising about choices and materials.

I disagree, most consultancies who do not use actual former college admissions professionals charge very little but don't have the experience others who real former admissions directors do. It's more than just reading essays, it's about building a profile that's compelling to schools but also stays true to who the kid is. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and if you're going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on college then, IMO, you should invest in helping them get into the best school for them. We worked with a high-end company and it was an incredible experience all around - my DD got into a bunch of schools (with merit aid) and is very, very happy with her choice. She is thriving and I know this company helped.

Come on. You are the kind of sabretooth parent, who also spent a ton on money on tutors, thousands of dollars on other programs, researched a ton and not willing to take a chance also spend a boatload of money on an expensive consultant. Nothing wrong, but your child already had all the advantages to make getting into a selective college very likely. No surprise.

Most of these AO's are long out of the admissions loop and just relying on their name to make money. They are out of tune and out of touch most of the time with current admissions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Also, be direct about your budget. You can find consultancies that charge 20-30K. In my opinion they are the types that work to make kinds into who they are not. We were looking for someone to spend time with our kid who is who they are, advising about choices and materials.

I disagree, most consultancies who do not use actual former college admissions professionals charge very little but don't have the experience others who real former admissions directors do. It's more than just reading essays, it's about building a profile that's compelling to schools but also stays true to who the kid is. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and if you're going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on college then, IMO, you should invest in helping them get into the best school for them. We worked with a high-end company and it was an incredible experience all around - my DD got into a bunch of schools (with merit aid) and is very, very happy with her choice. She is thriving and I know this company helped.

I agree with this.
You need a strategy - not just a person who will help your kid upload activities into Common App.
Someone who knows how to make your kid stand out and maximize changes with a unique, distinguishing profile attractive to T20 (with your kid's authentic interests in mind).
A person like this likely charges at least $25k to help with 5-10 reach schools.

Anonymous wrote:One simple rule I would advice is: do not hire any college counseling service that has the word Ivy in it.

this is hilarious and unfounded