Our consulting services cover all aspects of the college admissions process. Below is a list of our primary services, as well as some examples of how our services add value for our clients.
Our overall goal is to serve our clients’ individual admissions needs. We expand our list of services when we need to in order to achieve that goal.
We recognize that each applicant is unique and has unique admissions consulting needs. We work with many so-called “nontraditional” clients who have unusual backgrounds or experiences, as well as with clients who are working to be admitted to selective schools and programs from waitlists. Each client receives customized advice from his or her personal consultant. Click here for more information on our services and fees.
College and University Selection
This is one of the most overlooked steps in the college admissions process. However, you are not going to get what you should out of your college education if you rush through this step and miss out on applying to your best-fit colleges. You could even run the risk of not being accepted into your top-choice programs.
Moreover, your admissions chances will be highest at the schools where you are a good “fit.” We can help you select these schools, thereby maximizing both your probabilities of gaining admission and of attending the optimal school for you, based on your interests and goals.
Admissions Strategies
We help each of our clients develop a personalized admissions strategy and formulate a “story” that will set the over-riding themes of their applications. We will also determine the best way to highlight the applicant’s strengths and to address any weaknesses or “holes” in their academic background or extracurricular experiences.
Drafting and Polishing Personal Statements and Essays
We help our clients select the content of their personal statements and essays, and advise them on how that material should be presented. We use our intimate knowledge of the college admissions process to carefully scrutinize each essay for opportunities to advance our clients’ cases to the admissions committees. We also review essays to ensure that the content serves to advance the client’s chosen admission strategy, rather than becoming sidetracked. As a final step, we proofread each essay for grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Please note, however, that we never write personal statements or essays for any client.
Interview Preparation
We help our clients prepare for college admissions interviews. We advise them on what to expect, how to prepare, what to say, and how to say it. We conduct mock admissions interviews and provide constructive critiques on interview performance. These mock sessions teach our clients what to expect in an actual interview, and they also help them to relax and therefore perform better when they are actually interviewed by admissions committees and alumni of their top-choice colleges.
Evaluating Admissions Options
We help clients understand and analyze their options when they receive simultaneous and multiple admissions offers from the top colleges. We can help you evaluate such factors as career opportunities, social life, and financial aid, and how each one fits into your admissions acceptance decisions.
Pre Admissions Consulting
We often work with high school students who want to know what they can do over the coming one to five years, prior to their high school graduation, to increase their chances of being admitted to their top-choice colleges and universities. We give advice on course selection and study habits, and on part-time work and extracurricular pursuits that will enhance their applications and make them more attractive to the top colleges. We offer comprehensive admissions consulting packages that cover scheduled and occasional unscheduled appointments to discuss college selection and positioning, and to provide assistance with as many college applications as the client wishes to complete during his or her senior year of high school. These packages cover applicants as young as seventh grade. You can try us out by signing up for a one hour initial consultation – if you come back for a package, you can deduct the cost of that hour from the package price!
Other College Admissions Services
Some of our other consulting services include:
- Advice on the SAT/ACT
- Evaluation of the majors offered at different colleges and universities
- Information on extracurricular activities and part-time jobs
- Tips on how to succeed in college
- Guidance on obtaining good letters of reference
Stress Relief
The college application process can be extremely stressful. Many clients have told us that we helped them enormously just by being there to answer quick questions or to give them ideas for essays. Otherwise, they said, they would have just spun their wheels, or worried. While we view ourselves as admissions consultants who help our clients maximize their chances of getting accepted into their top-choice programs, we do acknowledge that stress relief is a valuable byproduct for many of our clients.
One Final Note
This list is by no means all-encompassing. We have consulted clients on many other college-related issues. Each week we field many short, 5 to 15 minute phone calls from clients who have questions on a variety of college admissions, majors, social life, and other college-related topics. Chances are, if you’re facing an admissions issue, we have dealt with it before, either on behalf of a client or through our own experiences as former college admissions officers