College Application Services

[High School Homeschool Dad]

What do you all think of services that help you make applications to colleges? They help you write your essays and fill out all the paperwork and make decisions about application.  They say that they increase your odds of getting into the school you want because they have knowledge about how the process works and what admissions staff are looking for. One service that I've run into is Aiming Higher Consultants (https://www.aiminghigherconsultants.com/).

Are these services worth it? If so, can you recommend a good one?

Is there a cheaper alternative that is just as good—either another service that’s cheaper or an alternative approach?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kevin

Edited February 19, 2019 by High School Homeschool Dad

[8filltheheart]

I don't think they are necessary. Applying to college has become a hugely profitable market (just like homeschooling) that preys upon the fears of the unconfident. It is absolutely possible to research the application process and successfully help your student apply on their own.  I personally wouldn't pay for the service. A student isn't going to be admitted to a school where they don't fit the admitted student profile regardless of the packaging. 

I have a family member who just spent thousands of dollars on a college app coach and recently found out that their Dd will be attending Appalachian State. She could have simply applied with a total cost of the app fee and test scores and ended up in the exact same place.

If you don't have time to research and understand the process and have money to burn, it can be a good option. But a little self-effort could save a lot of $$.

Edited February 19, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[teachermom2834]

A friend hired one for her dd who graduated a couple years ago. She spent thousands. This girl was a high achiever, NMF, tons of awards, etc. This consultant really encouraged her that she had great chances at some really competitive schools (Columbia, Yale) and also steered her toward public Ivies like Michigan which were not even on the radar. This girl applied to twelve schools I think and ended up with two acceptances both at safety schools. She didn't even get in to others that the coach and parents were considering a safety.

Not to mention she couldn't have afforded to go out of state to a school like Michigan even if she had gotten in. 

It was a pretty miserable application (and rejection) season. So many applications and essays and checks written, Now, the parents surely should have been more informed and I remember asking her why she was spending so much time on a couple applications that didn't really make sense. So, it isn't all the consultants fault but the consultant surely didn't improve the situation any.

My friend did say what she paid for the consultant basically taught her what not to do. She did not hire a consultant for her next dd with similar stats and that daughter ended up with much better and more affordable choices. 

My opinion is that parents don't need to pay for this service but like anything else, just paying for it doesn't mean the parents don't still have to be involved with setting expectations and discussing financial limitations. 

[8filltheheart]

29 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

A friend hired one for her dd who graduated a couple years ago. She spent thousands. This girl was a high achiever, NMF, tons of awards, etc. This consultant really encouraged her that she had great chances at some really competitive schools (Columbia, Yale) and also steered her toward public Ivies like Michigan which were not even on the radar. This girl applied to twelve schools I think and ended up with two acceptances both at safety schools. She didn't even get in to others that the coach and parents were considering a safety.

Not to mention she couldn't have afforded to go out of state to a school like Michigan even if she had gotten in. 

It was a pretty miserable application (and rejection) season. So many applications and essays and checks written, Now, the parents surely should have been more informed and I remember asking her why she was spending so much time on a couple applications that didn't really make sense. So, it isn't all the consultants fault but the consultant surely didn't improve the situation any.

My friend did say what she paid for the consultant basically taught her what not to do. She did not hire a consultant for her next dd with similar stats and that daughter ended up with much better and more affordable choices. 

My opinion is that parents don't need to pay for this service but like anything else, just paying for it doesn't mean the parents don't still have to be involved with setting expectations and discussing financial limitations. 

Your pt is important. I suspect if I had consulted an app coach that my kids' lists would have looked radically different than the ones we put together, and they would have ended up with fewer good options. Since we had very specific goals (high $$ merit and access to more than typical in-major courses), our own research efforts have paid off in well over $100(s)K in savings at this pt in time. I do not think any professional could have achieved what we did bc we were hyper focused on precisely what we believed matched our kids.

[catz]

I think ESPECIALLY as a homeschool parent writing a transcript that has been engaged and involved with your child's education for an extended period of time, you are in a unique position to guide the process.  And don't get me wrong, I researched for many hours (my oldest is a senior now, he is accepted to 5 schools, waiting on others, also auditioning for some music programs in the mix).  I do have a couple regrets about how we proceeded though the process, but we spread a wide net with merit money in mind and he should have some good options.  I went to a couple general info sessions done by people who do this type of consulting for a living and was very ungratified by the general answers and lack of up to the date specific knowledge I would have expected.

I can see use of this for families that have 2 working parents and a deep pocket book and very little time or students who may be more receptive to outside influence for follow up with dead lines, essays, etc.  

When we first started this process we were much more enamored with big name schools and rankings and reputation.  But once we got in and started running NPC's, it seemed clear that no school was worth 2X+ a reputable flagship's honors program (which is on the table with unexpected merit money too).  I think budget is talked about FAR too little in this process.  There are so many hidden gems out there.  There are many good ways to get your child a quality college education without breaking the bank.   Far better to save that money for the college budget for 99% of families out there.  

Edited February 19, 2019 by FuzzyCatz

[Mom0012]

1 minute ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Your pt is important. I suspect if I had consulted an app coach that my kids' lists would have looked radically different than the ones we put together, and they would have ended up with fewer good options. Since we had very specific goals (high $$ merit and access to more than typical in-major courses), our own research efforts have paid off in well over $100(s)K in savings at this pt in time. I do not think any professional could have achieved what we did bc we were hyper focused on precisely what we believed matched our kids.

What process do you go through to find schools that are a good fit for your children?  There are so many schools out there, it feels a bit daunting to figure out how to narrow things down.

[8filltheheart]

47 minutes ago, Mom0012 said:

What process do you go through to find schools that are a good fit for your children?  There are so many schools out there, it feels a bit daunting to figure out how to narrow things down.

I start with our budget. Our budget is only a small % of our expected familial contribution. Running net price calculators on schools' sites can give you an estimated cost.  Since no school without merit is affordable for us, we search for large merit scholarships that are either automatic or that our kids (based on their stats and backgrounds) will be competitive for. (And I am brutal in my assessment of my kids actual profiles compared to the profiles of students who are awarded the competitive scholarships.)

i would recommend learning how to understand common data sets. The CDs for the school provides the profile info for admitted students.  If you want your student to be competitive for scholarship $$, they need at minimum to be in the upper quartile profile.

After we determine the financial aspects,then we filter by major and more personal options (like location, size, dorms, etc).

For our less competitive kids, their options are limited to a CC or living at home and commuting to the local 4 yr. $$ limits everything for them.  If they want to have a 4 yr away college experience, they need to have top test scores or I think isn't happening. (Our current 11th grader has zero motivation for test prep, so living at home is a decision she made.)

Edited February 19, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[JazzyMom]

I spent $400 for a 1 (or maybe it was 2) hour visit with a consultant.  She did not tell me anything I hadn’t already learned here, and some of her advice was not right for us, and we did not take it.  Ds’ application process has gone better than I could have even imagined.

Same consultant helped a friend, and they spent a lot of hours (and money) using her services, and had a similar experience to what teachermom described above.

It takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to do the research on colleges and prep the supporting documents, but I think it’s something most parents can do with as good or better outcome than what the consultants can provide.  (With the exception of wealthy students applying to elite schools.)

[teachermom2834]

We also narrow down the college choices by budget first and honestly, there aren't many choices left after that for us. We start with test scores and see what schools offer significant automatic merit aid at the student's expected score. For my kids that has been the regional state universities (and the flagship depending on how high the ACT score is. We couldn't have afforded the flagship for our second ds) and possibly an out of state public or private that happens to have good aid.  My kids have also wanted to stay fairly close to home (though one did end up going 8 hours away) so that limited the search as well. 

For us there just isn't a finding a perfect fit college. It is more of finding a handful of schools that will work and finding the best fit from that handful. It just isn't financially feasible to do it any other way. I know that sounds sad to many people but honestly it is very freeing to know you aren't going to end up way over your head financially and it takes the pressure off of finding that perfect fit. 

My 10th grade ds will likely be my highest scorer and could potentially be admitted to more competitive schools but we aren't even looking at that. We are absolutely unable (unwilling?) to pay our EFC so any schools that focus on need based aid are just not even on the table. He will also focus on the automatic merit aid schools and choose from there. 

And I know someone is going to come right along here and say ds should apply anywhere he wants because you never know how the aid will work out. But we have been down this road twice now and I feel I have a very good idea how aid will work out for us. If ds wants to apply to some dreamy school he can, AFTER he has all his ducks in a row for applications and scholarships at the schools he can actually afford. I do have a ds at an out of state private and one at an out of state public so I do know that can sometimes work out.

Okay- that was off topic but I sometimes I feel the need to share that cost is absolutely our major factor in narrowing down the list and I make no apologies about it 🙂

 

[8filltheheart]

41 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

We also narrow down the college choices by budget first and honestly, there aren't many choices left after that for us. We start with test scores and see what schools offer significant automatic merit aid at the student's expected score. For my kids that has been the regional state universities (and the flagship depending on how high the ACT score is. We couldn't have afforded the flagship for our second ds) and possibly an out of state public or private that happens to have good aid.  My kids have also wanted to stay fairly close to home (though one did end up going 8 hours away) so that limited the search as well. 

For us there just isn't a finding a perfect fit college. It is more of finding a handful of schools that will work and finding the best fit from that handful. It just isn't financially feasible to do it any other way. I know that sounds sad to many people but honestly it is very freeing to know you aren't going to end up way over your head financially and it takes the pressure off of finding that perfect fit. 

My 10th grade ds will likely be my highest scorer and could potentially be admitted to more competitive schools but we aren't even looking at that. We are absolutely unable (unwilling?) to pay our EFC so any schools that focus on need based aid are just not even on the table. He will also focus on the automatic merit aid schools and choose from there. 

And I know someone is going to come right along here and say ds should apply anywhere he wants because you never know how the aid will work out. But we have been down this road twice now and I feel I have a very good idea how aid will work out for us. If ds wants to apply to some dreamy school he can, AFTER he has all his ducks in a row for applications and scholarships at the schools he can actually afford. I do have a ds at an out of state private and one at an out of state public so I do know that can sometimes work out.

Okay- that was off topic but I sometimes I feel the need to share that cost is absolutely our major factor in narrowing down the list and I make no apologies about it 🙂

 

I wanted dd to apply to URochester for my own information when I was consulting.  It took no additional effort other than reducing an essay she had already written to 100 words (she spent about 30 mins doing so) and asking a friend to write a letter.  I asked her to bc I wanted to see how UR would respond to a homeschool applicant with no APs or DE grades and only foreign language tutors as any type of outside teaching.  She was accepted and with scholarship $$, so that revealed quite a bit of info to me in terms of what colleges really need to see. 

[Lanny]

Hello Kevin and welcome to WTM.   Even if we had the $ to pay for the kind of services  you describe in the first post, which we do not have, I doubt that my DD would be in the position she is in now, with our having done it "DIY" (Do it yourself) had we paid some Consultant to "help" us.  Did we do it perfectly? No.  Is my DD competitive with people with higher stats, etc. than she has? Positively.   She wrote all of her Essays. She filled in the Applications. Recently, she  had a 60 minute Interview with someone from an extremely selective university.   

I have researched universities for her.   Some were on our list.   Some I researched because they contacted my DD and she asked me to check them out for her. She has done the rest. She has done everything by herself.

If someone else had done all of that for her, I doubt, very very very much, that she would be as competitive as she is today.

In the strongest possible language, while remaining polite, I want to discourage you and your family from paying a 3rd party to do that work for you.

Spend time as I did on USNEWS.COM and on COLLEGEDATA.COM and possibly on NICHE.COM (I have only spent a few minutes on NICHE.COM) and look at the schools and where your student might fit in.

You wrote "they say" and that's what Marketing people do when trying to sell their services and there is absolutely no way that you can be positive that your student will do better if you hire them than if you are like us and "DIY".  

You can see on CollegeData.com for example, what the university admissions offices list as their priorities when considering an applicant. Am I positive that information is 100% correct? No. But there's a good chance that it is correct. One can also get a feel for what they are looking for, by reading on the web site of the university involved and on other web sites.

If you needed surgery, then, yes, I would suggest that you pay someone to do the work for you. In this case, it is, IMO, better to "DIY".    

Good luck to your DC!

[Hoggirl]

21 hours ago, teachermom2834 said:

And I know someone is going to come right along here and say ds should apply anywhere he wants because you never know how the aid will work out. But we have been down this road twice now and I feel I have a very good idea how aid will work out for us. If ds wants to apply to some dreamy school he can, AFTER he has all his ducks in a row for applications and scholarships at the schools he can actually afford. I do have a ds at an out of state private and one at an out of state public so I do know that can sometimes work out.

Okay- that was off topic but I sometimes I feel the need to share that cost is absolutely our major factor in narrowing down the list and I make no apologies about it 🙂

 

 

I’m sure not going to say that! 

I have a friend who I have been helping a bit through the process with her daughter.  Not as a professional - just as a friend.  Which, honestly, made it a bit more challenging to talk about the budget.  Notwithstanding my asking was she *sure* they could afford the family contribution numbers they were seeing running NPCs - “We’ll work it out” was her reply - they forged ahead.  They have a unique financial situation that is definitely skewing their numbers in an unfavorable way, but their bigger challenge was thinking that any outside scholarships would be applied to and reduce what THEY, the family, were expected to pay.  Her daughter is in contention for a Coca-Cola Scholarship.  I’m pretty sure they told her if she got that, they could make it work.. They were thrilled when she was accepted SCEA to Yale.  She then contacted me a week later, devastated and stunned to learn that outside scholarships would NOT change what Yale expected the family to pay. Now they are scrambling, trying to figure out what to do, seeing if Grandma will help,  etc.  Yes, there are other schools on the table, and she has some that are affordable.  But the bar has been set, and nothing is going to compare to Yale for her. 

So, I absolutely agree that folks should not allow their kids to apply to schools that are unaffordable.  I have never understood the mindset of doing that at all.  I wish I would have pushed her harder about the money.  Honestly, it does sometimes go back to the “magical thinking,” though.  

I think admissions consultants can be beneficial.  As someone else mentioned - two working parents.  They can be a good buffer between parents and child during a stressful time. But, I don’t think they are necessary.  I equate them to having a personal trainer or a housekeeper. No one needs those, but many people want to have them.  For folks with money, I think having a college admissions consultant is a bit of a status symbol. 

 

[kokotg]

This isn't something I would pay for because 1. I don't have the money for it and 2. I think I'm at the point now where there's not much they could tell me that I don't already know. But it's taken me a LOT of time researching (not to mention making transcripts, writing course descriptions, etc) to get to this point. And I've watched friends go through the same process and feel much more overwhelmed by it than I have for whatever reason (lack of time because of work or other obligations, distaste for spending massive amounts of time googling and reading stuff online), and I think for some people the peace of mind of having someone else handle some of this stuff would be worth it. Everyone has a different point where time is worth more than money. I enjoy doing all the research AND I'm kind of a control freak about such things, so it wouldn't have been a good fit for us. 

[8filltheheart]

8 minutes ago, Hoggirl said:

For folks with money, I think having a college admissions consultant is a bit of a status symbol. 

Ummmmmmm...........I cannot say YES emphatically enough. The scenario I described above? I offered to help them for free, but I was not a good enough status symbol for them. When I found out where they were applying, I knew what the outcomes were going to be long before they started receiving answers. But, hey, a consultant will be happy to take your $$ even if they know ahead of time that the application process could have been a very simple one without all the hoop jumping and grooming that they generated for "show" (or to presumably earn their pay.)

[madteaparty]

42 minutes ago, Hoggirl said:

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by madteaparty

[JazzyMom]

21 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

I wanted dd to apply to URochester for my own information when I was consulting.  It took no additional effort other than reducing an essay she had already written to 100 words (she spent about 30 mins doing so) and asking a friend to write a letter.  I asked her to bc I wanted to see how UR would respond to a homeschool applicant with no APs or DE grades and only foreign language tutors as any type of outside teaching.  She was accepted and with scholarship $$, so that revealed quite a bit of info to me in terms of what colleges really need to see. 

 

What do they really need to see?

[teachermom2834]

In the case of my friend who hired the consultant it really wasn’t a financial status symbol to have hired a consultant but more a situation of thinking the child was so very deserving of the Ivy League and would be miserable if she could not attend such a school with other students of her caliber. So it was that kind of pride, not really wanting everyone to know they could afford a consultant but really thinking her child needed to attend such a school and anything less would be a disaster. That sounds dramatic but some people do get swept up that way.

The consultant definitely didn’t understand or acknowledge financial constraints. The “safety” schools were admissions safeties but not good financial deals. So this girl got into some very expensive safety schools she was not even excited about. 

I guess the main clientele for a consultant doesn’t have such a budget but being able to pay a couple thousand on a consultant does not mean one can pay $50,000/yr for college. 

[8filltheheart]

4 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

In the case of my friend who hired the consultant it really wasn’t a financial status symbol to have hired a consultant but more a situation of thinking the child was so very deserving of the Ivy League and would be miserable if she could not attend such a school with other students of her caliber. So it was that kind of pride, not really wanting everyone to know they could afford a consultant but really thinking her child needed to attend such a school and anything less would be a disaster. That sounds dramatic but some people do get swept up that way.

The consultant definitely didn’t understand or acknowledge financial constraints. The “safety” schools were admissions safeties but not good financial deals. So this girl got into some very expensive safety schools she was not even excited about. 

I guess the main clientele for a consultant doesn’t have such a budget but being able to pay a couple thousand on a consultant does not mean one can pay $50,000/yr for college. 

I think the qualifier that of "folks who have $$" is a completely different scenario. I'm describing a family who takes trips to Africa for safaris or Alaskan cruises at the drop of a hat bc they "need" to get away. It was definitely a status "requirement" for their srs who expected it.

[8filltheheart]

29 minutes ago, JazzyMom said:

What do they really need to see?

My perception is that the higher ranked schools want top test scores, in-depth coursework at a high level (but does not need to be AP/DE), and internal motivation. Kids do not need a long list of ECs. They want kids who have interests outside of just school and have demonstrated that they are willing to develop that interest.  (That pretty much sums up my dd's app.)

Your avg U requires much less. I was thinking of top 50 schools when I posted that.

Edited February 20, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[Hoggirl]

I will say that I have a friend who used a consultant to find good merit scholarships for her son.  Idk what she had to pay him, and I know with some effort, she could have done the same thing herself.  They are kind of donut-hole-ish and needed to chase merit.  To her, what she paid the consultant was worth it because he saved her money by finding good merit scholarships.  That was her perception. 

But that is a different tack than chasing rankings.  They were not doing that at all.  They were chasing the best fit for her ds’s desired major that was affordable for their family. 

[gstharr]

• Having earned a b.a., and a professional degree from elite universities, I am the go to college advisor for the children in my circle of friends and relatives. The kids all have great high school GPAs, and very good, but not outstanding test scores.  They all get into UCs, but not the private equivalents.  I know when I start working with them that will not get into the wow schools because of the lack of ECs.  They don't summer school/afterschool,  play sports, scout,  or anything else, and they don't volunteer.  ( their parents actually discourage outside school activities so that they can concentrate on schoolwork.) So, nothing especially interesting in their applications. Interestingly, I am helping the son a client with his jr. college transfer applications.  This kid has internships, co-authorships, and recommendations that are unbelievable.  I think he will be my first Stanford or Ivy.

[High School Homeschool Dad]

Can anyone suggest a book that I can read to tell me all the steps I need to be taking to help my daughter get into the school that's best for her?

Thanks for all of the feedback, by the way. It has been very helpful.

Kevin

Edited February 20, 2019 by High School Homeschool Dad

[Hoggirl]

Fiske Guide to Colleges - Edward Fiske, Sourcebooks, 2018

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges - Loren Pope, Penguin Books, 2012

Admission Matters: What Students and Parents Need to Know About Getting into College - Sally P. Springer and Jon Reider, Jossey-Bass, 2017

College Match: A Blueprint for Choosing the Best School for You - Steven R. Antonoff, EDUConsultingMedia, 2017

The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price - Lynn O’Shaughnessy, FT Press, 2012

8 First Choices: An Expert’s Strategies for Getting Into College - Joyce Slayton Mitchell, SuperCollege, 2017

College Admission - How to Get Into Your Dream School: Real Students, Real Stories - James W. Lewis, NSHSS, 2018

Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: an Antidote to the College Admissions Mania - Frank Bruni, Grand Central Publishing, 2016

Here are some options to get you started!  

[Sebastian (a lady)]

College consultants come in a lot of different variations. They can charge tens of thousands and do a lot of heavy lifting of the application (maybe even more than they should). Or they can charge by the hour or have discrete package pricing for specific help (like creating a college list or encouraging a student through the essay writing process).

I'm working on a certificate in Independent Educational Consulting as my future post-homeschool avocation. 

Things to look for:

What credentials do they have? Do they have a certificate in college consulting (there are several colleges that offer this)? 

Are they members of professional groups for consultants.  IECA, HECA, and or NACAC.

Are they experienced in areas you need? Homeschooling?  Athletic recruits? Fine arts portfolios or auditions? 

Do they seem to over-promise acceptances to highly selective colleges? (I'd consider this a warning sign.) Or do they talk about finding good matches or good fits and developing a college list that isn't just reaches?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Fwiw, we didn't hire a consultant.  I did spend many hours reading threads here over several years.  The HS2Col email list was also helpful. 

Where I think a consultant might have helped was with my second son. It was hard for me to contextualize his stats relative to his peers.  He applied to over a dozen schools because I wasn't sure who might accept him.  In hindsight I could have paid for some consulting if we had been able to trim down the college list a bit. We would have saved on application fees, score reports, transcript requests and postage even by identifying sooner what he really wanted and which school had that available. 

[saw]

On 2/23/2019 at 12:17 AM, Sebastian (a lady) said:

College consultants come in a lot of different variations. They can charge tens of thousands and do a lot of heavy lifting of the application (maybe even more than they should). Or they can charge by the hour or have discrete package pricing for specific help (like creating a college list or encouraging a student through the essay writing process).

I'm working on a certificate in Independent Educational Consulting as my future post-homeschool avocation. 

Things to look for:

What credentials do they have? Do they have a certificate in college consulting (there are several colleges that offer this)? 

Are they members of professional groups for consultants.  IECA, HECA, and or NACAC.

Are they experienced in areas you need? Homeschooling?  Athletic recruits? Fine arts portfolios or auditions? 

Do they seem to over-promise acceptances to highly selective colleges? (I'd consider this a warning sign.) Or do they talk about finding good matches or good fits and developing a college list that isn't just reaches?

I'm with Sebastian on this one. I'm also working on a certificate in Independent Educational Consulting and, as part of that, spend a lot of time reading on this subject. We did use two consultants for my DDs, who were in a highly unusual high school situation. The first was expensive and awful. The second helped only with the essay and was great. DDs really enjoyed writing the essays. For the rest of their application, we were lucky that there were people at their three different schools who were able to help with their crazy homeschool and regular school transcripts and so on. In summary, I think IECs can be very useful, particularly in certain situations. IECs can act as a buffer between parent and child, help international students understand how the US is different, help American students understand international options and help find financial aid, merit scholarships or work with recruited athletes and artists/musicians. That said, I am getting the impression that IECs are becoming a go-to for wealthy families, and I dislike this. I'd prefer to see IECs working with students whose parents cannot easily figure out the process (like first gen kids from schools that don't send kids to college) and students who need a bit of extra advice. 

[Lanny]

This thread came to mind when I read numerous articles (mostly in my Google feed on my phone) about the scandal that broke this week. In one of those articles (sorry I don't have a link to include here) there were mentions of several organizations where the providers are supposed to comply with legal and ethical standards.  If you have $$$$$ to spend on that, I suggest that you look before you leap.

[SanDiegoMom]

I have a relative who spends 4,000 per kid on college counseling, just for them to go to their state flagship.  They administer practice SAT's, help with essays, advise on extracurricular activities, etc.  I think you can get better information just on these boards or in the books mentioned above.  Some of the advice (arrange a fundraiser baseball game for some non-profit organization) just really rubbed me the wrong way.  It's not something this kid would have done on his own - it was purely a shaping operation.  Makes me very cynical. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

So far as I can tell, Singer was not part of any of the professional organizations for eductional consultants or admissions counselors. 

IECA is the Independent Educational Consultants Association.  They have a couple checklists that include questions to ask. 

12 Questions to Ask

https://www.iecaonline.com/quick-links/independent-educational-consultants/members/marketing-tools/ieca_12-questions-1/

12 Warning Signs

https://www.iecaonline.com/quick-links/parents-students/what-is-an-independent-educational-consultant/12-warning-signs-that-an-independent-educational-consultant-is-not-worth-hiring/

Rhere are some people who choose not to join professional organizations because they mainly do pro bono work and find the annual dues too steep for what they do.

I think I'd also draw a distinction between someone who is willing to come alongside and be your encouragement through the process (how to make a transcript, what course descriptions look like, bringing you chocolate when the Common App won't load) and someone who claims to know a lot about a lot of colleges.

It's definitely a buyer beware world. But there are also some good, talented,  and experienced people out there who are concerned about increasing access to college.

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Sebastian (a lady)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I wanted to add that the vast majority of students don't attend a highly selective school.  Acceptance rates are indications of popularity and name recognition, and are often not reflecting deep insight of the academic offerings and opportunities at the school.

I like this handout from Colleges That Change Lives about what to ask about a school. https://ctcl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/CTCL-How-to-Choose-a-College-Thats-Right-for-You-English.pdf

When you look at the annual acceptance thread here, most of those were not the result of hiring someone to coach and package the student. There are lots of knowledgeable helpers on the board. Don't be afraid to use them.

If you need more help, whether that is a close friend who has been there done that, or a homeschool specific adviser or someone with wider experience, look for someone who has good ethics, and is offering services that match what you need.

 

[Lanny]

@Kevin In the OP you included these words:  "They help you write your essays and fill out all the paperwork and make decisions about application."

Recently, in the aftermath of the College Admission scandal, I have read articles about services who Edit and/or Write Essays for university applications.   

IMO Some very minor editing might possibly be OK.  Having someone else write an Essay for an applicant, or do the majority of the work, is not OK.   That crosses a line.

[musicianmom]

On 2/19/2019 at 9:39 AM, 8FillTheHeart said:

(And I am brutal in my assessment of my kids actual profiles compared to the profiles of students who are awarded the competitive scholarships.)

 

How do you find the profiles of scholarship winners?