News: College Counseling Snake Oil

For anyone who missed it--the New York Times had a front-page article on Sunday about college admissions counselors. Among other things, the article pointed out that--make sure you're sitting down, this is going to be a shock--many if not most have dubious credentials (at best) and are often a complete rip off.

Check out the original article here. (Including, of course, another reference to the now-famous $15,000-what-to-wear-to-your-interview consultant). (Today's followup is here)

Here's the point of the story:

“I guess there are snake oil salesman in every field,” said Amy Gutmann, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, “and they are preying on vulnerable and anxious people.”

Here's the truth: Applying to college is something of a crap shoot. There are a lot of stellar candidates, and very marginal elements--a slightly better essay or test score, a slightly better interview or teacher's recommendation--will make or break your application. And, as much as admissions officials hate to admit it, at the margin there's a lot of luck---with tens of thousands of applications to sort through, how could there not be?

If someone's guaranteeing you admissions for an outrageous price tag (and $40,000 is outrageous), they're lying. No one can guarantee you anything, and legitimate counselors would be the first to admit that. Save your money.

Or, if you simply must hire someone, make sure you get their credentials and (if possible) check--did they really do what they claimed to do? Or are they claiming to have been the head of admissions, when really, they were just a summer intern?

Sadly, as with everything else, it's buyer beware.... for a slightly more jaded take, make sure to check out this ---CJ

PS --- I've written this before, but I'll state it again. I'm not an admissions counselor. I've never worked in an admissions department. My focus is on teaching you how to conduct your college admissions interview the best you possibly can, based on more than 10 years of conducting interviews for my alma mater, a top-10 institution, in multiple cities with dozens of students.