For some of the University’s future students, the idea of simply compiling a list of colleges and to starting to fill out applications may be a relic of the past. Many students are turning toward independent educational consultants, who simultaneously help students navigate the admissions process and cause concerns for admissions offices about bias toward wealthy students and inauthentic, “packaged” applications.
Getting more than a guidance counselor
Independent educational consultants, who can be found all across the nation, help high school students in a number of ways, said Mark Sklarow, executive director of the Independent Educational Consultants Association.
“[They] help find a good match between student’s academic, social, cultural and other needs and college that would be the right place for them,” Sklarow said.
Independent educational consultants work with students in much the same manner as high school guidance counselors work with high school students, Sklarow said, adding, though, that consultants typically are able to spend much more time with each student.
“Research has shown that in a public high school, counselors spend about 20 minutes with students on their college search, with a private counselor a student is likely to spend 12 to 15 hours on a college search.” Sklarow said.
Sklarow noted, however, that not all consultants offer the same services; many consultants specialize in working with students with different needs, such as students with learning disabilities or student artists who need to know specific rules about portfolio applications.
“There are a number of different specialties,” Sklarow said. “I think that when students are applying to college we know not every college is right for every student. A student who needs [learning disability] support needs to know where they’re going to succeed because they need to know they’ll have the correct resources.”
As College of Charleston freshman Abby Pickus noted, consultants are also viewed as a valuable resource by some families who are sending their first child to college.
“I’m the first child [in my family] to go to college,” said Pickus, who used a consultant’s services last year, “My parents didn’t know how to start everything, so they thought it would be a good way to keep up and stay organized so I didn’t fall behind in the application process.”
Growing popularity?
Employing independent consultants has become an increasingly popular practice during the last few years, Sklarow said, adding that the use of independent consultants may increase in the same way that the use of SAT preparatory classes has in recent years.
“We think there are between [3,000] to 4,000 private college consultants in the U.S.” Sklarow said. “It’s still a pretty small number, but it’s about double what it was five years ago.”
Assoc. Admissions Dean Gregory Roberts, however, did not agree that the use of independent consultants will become as popular as SAT preparatory courses.
“SAT prep courses are much less expensive; I think fewer people will be able to afford independent consultants.” Roberts said. “I don’t think you can ignore the cost issue involved — not a lot of families can afford this type of thing.”
Are consultants only for wealthy students?
Sklarow said about one-third of consultants charge by the hour, with an average rate of $130 per hour. Most consultants though, Sklarow said, provide package deals for continued service over the course of two or more years.
“$3,500 is an average price,” Sklarow said of package deals. “When you break that down over three years, still it’s a fair amount of money.”
Sklarow noted, though, that consultants’ prices vary by geographic region.
“In some parts of U.S. it can cost about $500,” Sklarow said. “[But] if you go to New York City, you could be spending $6,000 to $7,000.”
Sklarow acknowledged that consulting may have been confined to the wealthy in the past but said the service is becoming more accessible.
“As field has grown, people have looked for different groups at different pricing levels, at different processes to make it more affordable,” Sklarow said. “The average student using a consultant is a public high school student whose family is middle class. As the field continues to grow, it will become more affordable to working class and poor families.”
Until consultants’ services become more affordable for all, Pickus also said the use of independent consultants could be considered an advantage for those students who can use their services.
“I guess it would be an unfair advantage,” Pickus said. “I could’ve done this on my own; [the consultant] was just more of a motivator and she pushed me to get the work done.”
Consultation for U.Va. admissions
While high school students are using consultants in increasing numbers, the University’s admissions office said students are not advertising that fact in their applications.
“We wouldn’t be able to tell if consultants were used or not,” Roberts said. “There’s not a spot in the application for it.”
Roberts noted that while University admissions cannot usually tell if an applicant has used a consultant, admissions officials do sometimes express concern about applicants that look suspiciously put-together.
“There are occasional conversations in admission review about students being too packaged — meaning it looked like they worked with somebody,” Roberts said.
For example, Roberts cited cases in which “writing in personal statements is extremely poetic and eloquently written, yet there is nothing else in application to suggest strength in writing.” Roberts said this can lead to conversations among admissions officials about students “who look like they’ve been working with a consultant — that’s the fear.”
Roberts said the University values authenticity, rather than carefully scripted applications prepared with the help of a consultant.
“Do we catch that every time? No, there’s really no way that we could, but we have an experienced staff so we are able to catch things that a lot of others might not,” Roberts said. “We want to know the real student, not the packaged student.”
Roberts added, though, that he understands students may be motivated to use consultants because of increased pressures associated with the application process.
“A lot of this is driven by students’ fears of the process, which is unfortunate,” Roberts said. “As admissions become more competitive, students are looking for an edge, any edge.”
With application anxiety on the rise, Roberts noted that conversations among admissions officials regarding possible consultant packaging are also on the rise.
“These consultants have been around for years, but there are more now than there used to be,” Roberts said. “There has been more of a conversation that students are more packaged than themselves.”
Roberts added that if consultants contact the University’s admissions office for information, the office treats them as it would anyone else calling for information about University admissions.
“With independent consultants, it’s more about general information ... and our process, but we provide that information to anyone who calls.” Roberts said.
What do counselors do?
Gaining information about universities’ admissions process is only one aspect of consultants’ jobs. Getting to know customers on a personal level is also a critical component of the job. Most consultants start working with high school students during their junior year, although some have been known to start as early as freshman year, Sklarow said.
Leslie Kent, an independent educational consultant who works outside Washington, D.C., starts working with students following the summer of their junior year because starting earlier could cause students unnecessary stress.
Kent said she tries to get to know students as well as possible to help them figure out which type of college would be the best choice for them. Consultants use various techniques to try to better understand students’ personality of the student their working with to help them understand what they are looking for in a college, Sklarow said.
“Many consultants will do career exploration, so that they can sit with a student and think about where they’re heading and what [their] career interest may be,” Sklarow said. “Many will also do Myers-Briggs ... that explores whether you are outgoing or introverted, react to things emotional or rationally — all these things that relate to what kind of environment will you thrive in.”
Once a consultant has become familiar with a student and his or her aspirations, the focus turns to selecting schools, Kent said.
“One of the first things I do is identify schools that would be a good fit,” Kent said. “Because I’ve visited more than 300 campuses, I’m more than just a guidebook.”
Sklarow explained that consultants usually visit hundreds of college campuses across the nation to help students get an idea of what different college atmospheres are like.
“The thing that makes education consultants unique is that they spend an awful lot of their time ... at college campuses,” Sklarow said. “When you talk with a student and a family and you find out what a student wants in a college, if there’s a political or cultural predisposition, a consultant has all that information to draw on.”
Sklarow added that finding a school that is a good fit for a student is an important choice that many students usually do not consider very closely.
“In Northern Virginia, most kids think if they’re doing great in school, they should be applying to U.Va.,” Sklarow said. “Yet very few students think about if it’s the right place ... based on what [they] want to major in [or] how [they] feel about a large versus a small campus. What a good consultant can do is help a student look at all of those things.”
Kent also said one of her main tasks is to ensure students remain focused throughout the lengthy application process.
“I definitely help them keep on task,” Kent said.
Sklarow added that consultants help students stay on task the way most high school counselors would if they had the time.
“Very often high school counselors will say ‘This is the deadline, if you miss it, too bad for you.’ A consultant will say ‘We’re approaching the deadline,’ so someone has your back.”
Sklarow noted, however, one portion of the college application process is not part of the consultant’s job: filling out applications for students.
The “only thing I don’t want to imply is that they [consultants] take over,” Sklarow said. “The student still has to be the first to work; a consultant is there to help and advise.”
Why work with a consultant?
Though students are still responsible for completing their applications, working with a consultant can make the application process much more clear-cut and organized, Pickus said.
“We looked at what kind of schools I wanted, she gave me a profile and helped me weed out schools,” Pickus said. “She got me prepared months in advance. I heard back from schools months before everyone else did — I didn’t stress about college like everyone else did.”
Pickus started working with Kent the summer following her junior year in preparation for the fall application process.
“I had all my essays written in the summer, so by the time the application process came, I had everything filled out and I just picked an essay for that application,” Pickus said. “It was tedious, but I had everything organized and finished in a timely manner.”
Pickus also added that Kent helped her eventually find the school that was not only the best option for her but also allowed her to understand her realistic odds of getting into various schools.
Pickus said Kent complied lists of schools that she thought Pickus might like based on their conversations, then gave her the percentage changes of her being admitted to the schools.
“I think it was the best fit,” Pickus said of her new school. “There was a 20-percent chance for me to get in [to College of Charleston], so when I got in it was pretty exciting.”
Consultants: still a good idea?
Though some students such as Pickus find consultants to be helpful in finding the right school, Roberts said consultants are unnecessary most of the time.
“Personally, I think students get outstanding counseling at their own high schools,” Roberts said, “The only argument I could see is if students were at a high school with huge numbers of students and the counselor doesn’t have time to work with them the way an independent consultant would. So I can see the appeal, but I think students receive very good guidance for the most part, so, to me, in most cases it’s a waste of money.”
Sklarow said the difference between consultants and high school guidance counselors is just a question of time.
“In some ways, its not very different from what a school counselor would do, except a consultant spends much, much more time with them than a guidance counselor at a public high school would.” Sklarow said, “It’s what guidance counselors would do if they had the time.”
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