Top Myths About Educational Consultants

You are applying to the elite colleges of your choice.  Do you look for ways to improve your chances of making this dream come true?  If so, you have probably encountered a few of the prevalent myths about college admissions consultants, which make you wonder… are admissions consultants necessary? Can they provide college consulting help that can really make a difference?

Below are three common myths about college admissions consultants and IvySelect’s responses to them.

Myth #1: Your school guidance counselor can provide you with the same amount and quality of help as a private college consultant, especially if you’re attending a top private college prep school or boarding school.

False — The guidance counselor to student ratio at public high schools can be 700:1 or greater.  Private school guidance counselors often have student caseload ratios of about 50:1.  Heavy caseload burdens are compounded by the fact that school guidance counselors have other duties. These duties further reduce the time available for the kind of individualized attention that is necessary to meet the rigorous admissions requirements of elite colleges.

Obviously, school guidance counselors can provide only limited assistance to each student. They may be able to offer a modicum of guidance – once or twice – on the main Common App essay. However, they don’t have the time to assist with the supplemental essays that elite colleges require.  Therefore, generally, you are receiving NO guidance on the 1, 2, or as many as 7 supplemental essays and short answers you need to write for EACH of the 12 or 13 schools to which you are applying.

In contrast, IvySelect college consultants are dedicated to your success. As private college counselors, their time and attention is focused on you. They are not spread thin like even the most proficient and conscientious of school guidance counselors.  Your personal consultant will assist you vigorously in the preparation of essays and in doing the many other things that will improve the probability of your success. You enjoy their proven expertise in the arena of college consulting.  Additionally, unlike in-school guidance counselors who must be ”even handed” and work on behalf of all their students equally, IvySelect’s private college counselors have no divided loyalties and work only in your best interest.

Myth #2: If you work with a college admissions consultant, he or she will change the voice of your essays so that they won’t seem to be written by you.

False — IvySelect consultants are highly skilled and experienced. We help you brainstorm ideas and outline essays based on the best of those ideas.  Although we provide practical advice, you do the writing.  It will sound like you wrote it… because you did.  It’s the best of your writing, however, because we help you upgrade it with our in-depth feedback and editorial comments. Even the best writers make good use of a skilled editor.  Our approach to essay development leaves no “fingerprints” that would be evident to admissions officials. One way that we differentiate ourselves from other admissions consultants is that we elevate your essays without altering your authentic voice.

Myth #3: Employing your own college admissions consultant won’t make any difference to your chances for admission to an Ivy League or other top-tier college.

False —IvySelect’s college consulting assistance begins with the development of a strategic plan.  An overburdened school guidance counselor in the vast majority of cases doesn’t have the time to develop a sophisticated plan of this nature for you. Nor is it a part of what they generally do.  Yet a strategic plan is extremely beneficial, perhaps even indispensable, throughout the arduous admissions process.

Once developed, IvySelect and you execute the plan by ramping up your academic and extracurricular profiles so that they excel according to the metrics most valued by your targeted colleges. These metrics and values may not necessarily be published per se by the colleges. IvySelect discovers them through frequent interaction with admissions officials over time. You benefit from our knowledge.

IvySelect understands how best to position you to be marketed to your targeted schools. The strategic positioning process may begin as early as 9^th grade. It is advisable to begin working with us no later than 11^th grade.  An early start helps clarify which academic and extracurricular choices will achieve your plan.

IvySelect is also adept at providing you with guidance if you are getting a relatively late start in, say, September of your senior year. In such situations, we focus closely on your application strategy. We concentrate on your most passionate academic and extracurricular interests and we enable admissions officials to relate to you readily through these interests. Admissions officials are then able to “get you” quickly and take positive action on your application.
 

Your IvySelect consultant’s only job, the profession in which they specialize and excel, is to help you succeed in the hyper-competitive arena of admissions to Ivy League and other top-tier colleges.