As admission rates declined, the college planning industry blossomed. If you're bewildered by the options, you're not alone. College planners and essay coaches fall into four main groups. Each has pros and cons.
1) The medium-sized agency typically owned by a Generation X woman (or two) and staffed by under-30 Ivy (or Ivy Plus) honors grads.
PROS: The actual tutors (but not necessarily the owners) excelled in multiple subjects in elite colleges and typically have extensive tutoring and/or test prep experience. They're passionate and relate well to teens.
CONS: Knowing how to tutor biology or English literature doesn't mean you know how to work with a teenager with weak writing skills, who is therefore anxious.
2) Solo mom counselors who started this business after shepherding their own children through the application process.
PROS: Because they have kids, "mom counselors" relate well to teenagers. They're also well-organized and excel at social media, where they remind students about deadlines. They've done their research about scholarships and have "helpful tips" for teens navigating the process.
CONS: These women are rarely professional writers or educators. They may have taught in primary or secondary school, but having a teaching credential doesn't qualify you to help someone write a first-person essay. Even if they have an M.F.A., they're "creative writers," not experts in analytical-critical prose or autobiographical writing.
3) Concierge Educational Consultants catering exclusively to UHNWI (Ultra High Net Worth Individuals), with packages starting (at the low end) between $20,000 and $25,000.
My friend spent as much on advising as he did on his daughter's first year at a top-15 private school ($80,000). The private schooler began working with her consultant in 9th grade. The consultant planned her courses, extracurriculars, and summer activities long before college visits began.
PROS: Many of these agencies are staffed with, or run by, former AOs (admissions officers) who left an elite university fairly recently (5 to 10 years, say). Knowing how the Stanford admissions committee operates is useful, but if a consultant worked at Wesleyan in 2000, the knowledge is out of date. Like 1), these agencies hire elite college grads, often with prestigious graduate degrees.
CONS: High cost. $20,000 and up is impossible for all but the wealthy. These consultants also tend to be quite controlling. They promise to get their clients into one of their three top choices. Even if they're dealing exclusively with what Scott Galloway calls "the freakishly remarkable,” they can deliver on this promise because they decide where students apply, weeding out schools students are unlikely to be admitted. I'm all for being realistic, but I would never work with an agency that put their success rate over my desires and needs.
4) Hybrid planners with pre-recorded online courses, webinars, monthly memberships ($50-$99), Facebook groups, plus an option for personalized feedback and one-on-one counseling.
PROS: Affordability. A 30something friend I cast in a New York cabaret show I produced at 54 Below is CEO of a large agency which offers tutoring (from 5th to 12th grade), test prep, college planning. They've recently partnered with an agency that helps students apply to medical school. For successful students with excellent executive function skills, this model works well. My friend hires the best people. His tutors are as caring and passionate about teaching as they are about their areas of specialization. But he's a brilliant, intimidatingly talented Yale grad as well as triple threat (actor, singer, dancer) with a budding film career. In other words, one in a million.
CONS: This model may not provide sufficient support for students with a range of challenges (from ADHD to anxiety to Aspergers). I see neurodivergent students who have underperformed in high school (or who didn't begin to perform well until 11th grade) and want to explain to AOs why they should be admitted to a school, even if some of their metrics fall below that school's admissions standards. This type of student needs a more personalized approach--as well as individual attention. The current generation also has Zoom fatigue from one or two years of remote learning.
I fall into none of these groups. I'm an independent college planner and essay coach, but I'm not a mom. I'm also an honors Ivy graduate with distinction in English (Yale, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), but I'm 52. I offer concierge service but don't cater exclusively to the 1% (the majority of my students for three years came from working or middle class immigrant families).
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