Is hiring a college admissions consultant worth it?
With college tuition rising steadily each year and the compounding price of Ivy League institutions, it’s no wonder many parents and students are skeptical about spending money on a college admissions consultant.
However, instead of seeing this as an additional expense, it should be viewed as part and parcel of the overall investment that is an Ivy League education. If you’ve already made the decision to apply to the Ivies, you’ve already made the decision to invest a little more in order to reap the rewards of a better education. In fact, the statistics are quite clear on this matter.
The starting salary for the graduate of an Ivy League school is a whopping $80,000. When in the middle of their careers, this doubles to $160,000 on average. When compared to the average starting salary of graduates across the US which hovers around $50,000, it’s evident why Ivy League schools are a worthwhile investment.
Clearly, the better chances you have of getting into one of these eight world-class institutions, the better opportunities you’ll have to earn a higher salary in your chosen profession. In order to really determine whether Ivy League college consultants are worth it, however, you need to determine their success rates.
At AdmissionSight, we specialize in helping students just like you greatly improve their chances of getting into Ivy League schools. After decades of experience mastering the admissions process, we’ve seen some incredible results that can finally put this issue to rest.
For example, 98% of our students get accepted into the top 30 universities in the country. Even more impressively, 75% of our students are accepted into the Ivy League and top 10 universities. Given that the acceptance rate for Ivy League schools typically hovers anywhere between 4% and 7%, our services can help 10x an applicant’s chances of getting admitted to the Ivies.
As you can see, hiring a college admissions consultant is definitely worth it! The statistics speak for themselves and illustrate just how much of an impact these services can have on your chances of getting admitted.
How to find the right college admissions consultant for you
Even though we’ve established that admissions coaches can make a difference when it comes to increasing your chances of getting into your dream school, that doesn’t mean all college entrance experts are made the same. Some are trustworthy, effective, and experienced and some are just trying to make a quick buck off students and parents.
There are some in between, but you deserve the absolute best. Here we’ll take a look at some factors you should take into consideration to make sure that the admissions coach is a dependable and a good fit for you.
1. Check their customer reviews.
One of the most effective, quick, and simple ways to figure out whether a college admissions expert is compatible or not is to check their customer testimonials. If a coach doesn’t have any reviews, that should be seen as a major red flag.
Checking customer reviews is an excellent and accurate way to get a general feel for what it’s like to work with the coach. Short of working with the professional yourself, these testimonials are your best resource for determining what you can expect.
If you notice that the reviews are averaging on the mediocre or poor side, you might want to continue looking for a college admissions consultant who would be a better match.
While star ratings are important, it’s also helpful to read the reviews in-depth to see if their processes are a good match for you. When you find an experienced coach with a lot of positive reviews, you’re definitely on the right path.
2. Make sure they have multiple services.
Whether you’re the valedictorian of your school with stellar grades and perfect test scores or more of an average student who’s trying their absolute best, a worthwhile admissions officer should have something to offer.
No matter what you hear from the peanut gallery, there isn’t a singular factor that determines whether a student gets accepted. Instead, colleges take a holistic approach which means they consider a multitude of factors before making their final decision.
As a result, you’ll want to find an admissions coach who offers multiple services to reflect this variety. This ensures that all of the areas in which your college application needs work will be able to benefit from working with this expert.
Even the most advanced specialist in the world would still be a waste of your time if they’re only able to help in one specific area. The more services being offered, the better chance the admissions coach will be a good match for you.
3. They should offer personalized services.
A reliable college admissions expert won’t only be offering you a wide range of services. They’ll also put in the extra effort to individualize all of their offerings. In the end, you’re the most critical factor in your college application.
Universities want to see your uniqueness shine through, and the best college entrance experts can help you accomplish that goal. As a result, you should look for a specialist that takes your interests, preferences, and goals into consideration when offering their services.
While some might try to pedal a one-size-fits-all strategy, this is going to end up falling flat with admissions counselors who have spent decades going through hundreds of thousands of applications.
In order to make sure your stands out as much as possible, you’ll want to work with a professional who knows how to leverage your uniqueness correctly
4. Ensure they have substantial experience.
You wouldn’t let an inexperienced mechanic work on your vehicle, a poorly trained chef cook your dinner, or a novice contractor repair your home. So why should you allow an inexperienced college admissions “expert” to guide you in making one of the most important and sizable investments of your entire life – a college education?
You shouldn’t! And, fortunately, you don’t have to as long as you’re doing a bit of due diligence. To make sure you’re working with the most reliable specialist possible, you should ensure they’ve been working in the field for a considerable amount of time.
The more time they’ve had offering support and guidance to applicants, the better acquainted they are with the admissions process. And, as a result, the better equipped these experts are to help you. There’s no golden number, but we recommend working with a specialist who has at least a few years of experience.
5. The best specialists have impressive results.
Any college entrance expert worth its salt will have an impressive track record of successfully helping students get into some of the best schools in the country. The first place you can check to see these success rates is on their website.
However, if you can’t find it, feel free to ask. If a so-called admissions “expert” seems hesitant to share these results or claims to not track them, then you should consider moving on to your next option.
Working with a specialist with an actual track record lets you know you’re working with someone who is experienced, confident, and actually effective at what they do.
For example, at AdmissionSight, we proudly and visibly display on our site that 75% of all of the students we work with end up getting accepted into an Ivy League school or Top 10 university. Seeing these numbers makes it easier to envision how much these professional coaches can help you and why they’re worth the investment.
6. Look for specialists that are transparent.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of eager students from across the country begin the process of applying to college. As you’ve come to learn, this period comes with a lot of anxiety and uncertainty.
This leads many students and parents to look for help from experts. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who take advantage of this need and pretend to have the expertise to provide college admissions services without having much of anything to offer.
To make sure you’re working with a worthwhile specialist, you should only work with one that’s open and honest. Their website should have a lot of detailed information about their experience and history.
The real trustworthy admissions experts will have features in prominent publications. Perhaps the most effective way to determine their level of transparency is to speak with them directly. All of your questions should be answered without any problems.
7. Make sure they’re specialized.
If you’ve set your sights on attending a top-tier university such as an Ivy League school, you’ll want to find a college entrance expert who specializes in the area. Just because an admissions specialist can help students prepare for getting into college, that doesn’t mean they can help high-achieving students tackle the rigorous application processes of the country’s best universities.
Finding a professional that focuses on this area ensures you’re getting effective and quality service. For example, AdmissionSight has focused on helping students get into Ivy League schools and other prestigious universities for over a decade.
All of our services are specifically catered to ensure your application ends up being sufficient to catch the attention of admission officers at these schools.
8. Look for free insider tips.
While anyone can easily advertise their services as an “expert”, this obviously doesn’t mean they really are a specialist. One of the best ways to determine if an admissions counselor is really as good as they claim is to check to see what kind of advice they’re offering for free.
The majority of reliable and professional admissions experts will provide helpful information for free in order to catch the attention of high students and parents looking for answers about the college admissions process. For example, AdmissionSight regularly updates its informative blog with helpful tips and insider tricks.
We cover a wide variety of topics regarding the college admissions process including everything from helping students deal with the stress of applying to college to explaining the way the Common App works.
You should be reluctant to work with admissions “specialists” who charge a fee before offering you any information. There’s no way to determine if they’re legitimate or not without getting a little taste of what they have to offer beforehand. If the advice being provided is helpful and informative, you know you’re dealing with a reliable and reputable expert.
9. They should offer a free consultation for college admissions.
How can you know a college admissions coach is a good fit for you before even speaking with them? Well, you shouldn’t have to! Any college admissions expert worth the investment will have no trouble scheduling a free consultation during which you and your parents can ask any questions about the services being offered and the college admissions process overall.
You should feel free to ask specific questions about how many people they’ve worked with, what their success rates are, and more. You can think of this as a vetting process. You should ask everything you need to determine if they’re a good fit for a college admissions consultant.
Without this quick introductory meeting, it’s tough to make an informed decision. If a self-proclaimed admissions “expert” charges you before even talking to you, it’s a bad sign.
An effective, reliable, and experienced specialist understands just how big of a decision this is for students and parents and will respect the sensitivity of the choice by providing a free consultation period.
10. Personal Experience
You already have your sights set on the Ivy League, but there are so many questions you have about the application process. How hard is it really to get into Stanford? What can you do to increase your chances of getting accepted?
What exactly are admissions staff looking for? In order to make sure you’re getting an admissions expert who is a perfect fit for you, it’s important to find one who has first-hand experience applying to an Ivy League school. In other words, working with an entrance expert who has successfully applied to and graduated from the Ivies ensures they’re knowledgeable about what it takes.
For example, AdmissionSight was founded by a graduate of Princeton University. Due to this experience, you can rest assured that we know exactly what we’re talking about.
We know what top-level universities like Stanford are looking for and how you can greatly increase your odds of getting in. While other admissions counselors might claim to be “experts”, they don’t really have the first-person experience needed to support others in the process. We’ve proven that our strategies are repeatable, ensuring you can use the same ones to get into the school of your choice.
Searching for Ivy League college consultants?
Whether you’re a high schooler starting to make the transition to college or parents with a kid who’s approaching that age, you’ve probably been losing a little bit of sleep thinking about the college admissions process and everything that it entails.
As we’ve mentioned before, a professional college admissions consultant can help alleviate some of that stress by greatly increasing a student’s chances of getting into the school of their dreams. We personalize all of our services to take the personal strengths, goals, and academic interests of our clients into account.
Here are some of our most popular and most effective services:
- Essay Editing Service: We work one-on-one with applicants to help them decipher their college essay prompts while adding that spark of personality that can take your responses to the next level.
- Academic Guidance: It’s difficult deciding which high school courses are best suited to help you accomplish your college goals. Our highly experienced team of experts can help guide parents and students with these decisions.
- Interview Preparation: Many Ivy League schools have an interview portion of their admissions process. We can help you prepare for the interview so you know what to expect, how to act, what to say, and more.
- Extracurricular Planning: While academics play a major role in the success of your application, they’re not everything. We can help you choose extracurricular activities that will catch the attention of admissions staff while also piquing your interest.
- Summer Program Selection: Got some spare time over the summer? We can point you in the direction of some excellent summer programs to add to your application.
If you want to learn more about what AdmissionSight offers or how you can get started, please contact us to set up a free consultation. We look forward to working with you!
