Hi nronronronro-ga
The operative term here is ADMISSIONS CONSULTANT.
These are paid consultants or firms that assist students, either
privately or in general ways, to make their way through the process of
applying to universities. It is a new field sparked by the harsh
competition for places in high-end Universities.
The first half (or more!) of this new wave of consultants are those
who specialize in undergraduate admissions, walking the newbie family
step-by-step through the college application process to increase their
chances for acceptance into their school of choice. These folks are
found in the admissions offices of most Universities, as independent
consultants working in high school guidance offices, and as online
services.
Unfortunately for your aspiring student, the second group of
consultants specialize in one of the “Big 3” fields of study: Law,
Medicine, MBA. Examples include:
MBA http://www.mbaexchange.com/
Medical School: http://www.judycolwell.com/
Since the field is a relatively new one there aren’t many consultants
advertising online. Many work through the admissions offices of
Universities and will assist students with their application process
into that university, but they are not much help when it comes to
individual coaching.
I’ve looked through a large number of sites for you (25-30) and have
discarded them all because they don’t offer what you’ve asked for or
they appear unprofessional. Unprofessional does not get you into an
Ivy League school. You need something high-end.
Also, many turn out to be just “Essay Services”, some even
unscrupulously offering to sell applicants essays.
Essay services
http://www.accepted.com/Grad/
In the end I only found one large firm online that appears to meet all
of the needs of your employee. They offer both general information
and individual counselling to prospective students including graduate
students in any field. The staff have strong credentials and they have
experience dealing with Ivy league schools. The company is called Ivy
Edge.
IVY EDGE
http://www.ivyedge.com/
Services include:
Admissions Essays - editing
Complete Admissions Strategy Consulting
Recommendations
Resume, Cover Letter, CV
Term / Research Paper assistance
They offer three service levels depending on the needs of the
applicant:
Level One: Complete Consultation Packages
Level Two: Hourly Consultation Service
If you desire assistance with a number of the aforementioned
application areas, then the Hourly Consultation service will suit all
of your needs. You will have the ability to choose a specific
consultant.
Level Three: Topic Specific Consultations
Need assistance with one critical application area? Then the Topic
Specific Consultation can help.
And, finally, they have a staff of over 40 consultants (each with
specific specialties) and offer one-on-one counselling if desired. All
staff resumes are available here:
http://www.ivyedgeconsulting.com/Complete_Team/complete_team.html
The ONLY place where this company varies from your specifications is
price. The graduate school consultants charge $329/hour.
http://www.ivyedgeconsulting.com/Consulting_Main/Level_2/Graduate_2/graduate_2.html
But remember, your employee will not be spending hours at a time in
the consultant’s office talking about ideas, getting off-topic, and
racking up hourly rates. Although they do offer live-help, he will be
using his consultant only for very specific tasks. I’m sure he’ll be
able to control costs with no trouble. (Hey, he’s going into economics
isn’t he?! :-) )
A final thought --
DO ADMISSSIONS CONSULTANTS HELP?
“.. private, paid college consultants have no influence in admissions
decisions at Dartmouth or Princeton. Neither Dartmouth nor Princeton
communicates with consultants about individual students; nor are
recommendations written by consultants considered in the decision on a
student’s application. Alas, we are unable to prevent private
consultants from taking credit for the admission of students who would
have been offered admission in any event. Your article highlights a
disturbing trend that devalues the substantive accomplishments of
students, thereby promoting the sort of cynicism and anxiety that lead
some families to consultants in the first place.”
--- Karl Furstenberg and Fred Hargadon, the Deans of Admission of
Dartmouth and Princeton
http://www.dartreview.com/archives/000869.php
“As the competition to get into the top schools has heated up in
recent years, admissions consulting has become a real growth industry.
The problem is that it's sometimes hard to distinguish a legitimate
consultant from one who has little knowledge or insight into the
process. The good ones can help, so don’t rule them out summarily.”
--Ben Baron, Mid-Atlantic regional director of the Kaplan Educational
Centers; former independent college admissions consultant.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/levey/bob121598.htm
The best of luck to your employee! I do hope that IvyEdge meets his
needs. As I said, this is a new field and there aren’t many
professionals out there yet. If anything I’ve said isn’t clear, please
feel free to ask for clarification.
--K~
Search terms:
“Admissions consultant” combined with “ivy league”, “graduate achool” |
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