Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Why do I need a school or university consultant?

A. You may not need one! Not everyone does. Whether you choose to use the services of an educational consultant or counselor for your admissions and application process requires serious consideration. We believe there are only three reasons why a family should consider the services of a consultant.

The first reason is if your school does not have a college counseling team at their school to assist students with the admissions and application process. While students and families are certainly able to complete the application process on their own, school and college admissions over the past 10 years in particular have become much more competitive and involved. There has developed a genuine need to ensure that the applicant stands out above other students who, at least on paper, look very similar to one another. Presenting your student in a way that gives him or her every advantage available to them can be the difference between admission and non-admission.

The second reason is if your school has a college counseling team, but you are either concerned with the expertise of the team or the counselor to student ratio. In either case, parents may be worried that their son or daughter will not have the expert or individualized attention they feel their child deserves or needs to complete the process successfully. An experienced independent and dedicated outside consultant can be very helpful in these cases.

There is no magic ratio of students to counselors that works best. At Admissions International, we accept only 16 students for every consultant, whereas independent school counselors typically serve between 40-80 senior students each. That does not include any of the other duties and responsibilities counselors are required to perform as part of their jobs. Good private consultants work with students on admissions, and that’s all they do.

Finally, international students more commonly consider applying to a variety of schools in colleges in various countries around the world. The requirements for these schools and national systems can vary greatly. Consequently, it is more challenging for school counselors to have the background, or the time, to become “expert” in the requirements of multiple national systems. A competent and experienced independent consultant will do the in-depth research to ensure the process is done correctly and that all options are considered.

Q. Why does Admissions International limit students to making application to only 10 schools or colleges? If we are willing to pay for it, why can’t we apply to more?

A. It's not about the money. There are very practical reasons for the guideline, including application limits often placed by the school your son or daughter currently attends. Keep in mind that, with some exceptions, you are completing an application to each individual school. These schools often have complex and numerous requirements. Except for the personal and academic data and information, what universities often require is quite specific and different from school to school.

Understanding that context,10 schools is a lot! For example, imagine that your student is applying to universities that have essay or personal statement requirements, which may number anywhere from 2-8 different essays. Now multiply that by 10 schools and you get a sense of the exponential workload required to produce a quality, successful application. Keep in mind that all of that is happening when students are also taking standardized tests, participating in demanding activities, and working to keep their grades up in school!

Each institution wants to know that your son or daughter knows exactly why he or she is applying to that school: what makes the school the right choice; why is your child a good fit for the school community; how does your student see himself as part of the school and community; how does your student's background set her apart from other students who are applying to that school? There is a limit to how much a student can learn and know about the institutions to which they are applying. A student who has taken a “shotgun” approach by applying to too many schools will become obvious to those schools in their applications, and their applications may be taken less seriously. That says nothing of how overwhelmed the student will be by the work required to complete the applications well.

In other words, limiting your search means that you are serious, and gives you the space to show that you are serious about the schools to which you are applying.

Q. Why doesn’t Admissions International offer SAT or other standardized test preparation classes?

A. We are experts in school, college, and university admissions. Our emphasis is on focusing our time with your son or daughter on the fundamentals and the intangible, more subjective aspects of the admissions and decision process. There are multiple ways for students to improve their test scores and, in some cases, students will certainly need to devote time and effort to raising or improving their scores. We can make recommendations for how to do that effectively and which recognized companies have a long track record of success in test preparation, but this is not where we believe our time with your student is best spent.

Q. Can you guarantee that I will get into that university?

A. Let’s be very clear. No consultant or college counselor can guarantee admission to any competitive university. If any consultant tells you otherwise, you should seriously reconsider using their services! Unfortunately, many school consultants around the world make promises to students and families that they cannot possibly keep to get families to sign on. We have seen this over and over again in our experience working with schools and families. It’s an exceptionally unethical practice and should raise red flags if someone ever tells you or implies that they will get you in to a particular school.

Why can't someone make that guarantee? Keep in mind that universities, particularly private colleges and universities, make admissions decisions based on their own needs, informed by multiple factors. These needs can vary from year to year, depending on the demographics and objectives of the school. Admissions decisions are also made by individuals and committees of people, not computers that simply crunch numbers or follow a formula. That means that they are unpredictable. These admissions people have their own ideas about who best fits their school's desired needs, and why one student will be a better fit than another. A student who is admitted into a school in one year may not have been admitted the following year, or the previous year. The bottom line is you never know and there are no guarantees.

Instead, what a good consultant will do is to guide students and families to develop a highly competitive list of schools for the student to apply to that will vary in the ‘likelihood’ of admission for each school. These are often referred to as Reach, Target, and Safety schools. In truth, every year there are both happy surprises and unhappy surprises when admissions results come in, but when students and families work together with their consultant to develop the best possible applications for this list of schools, the surprises are fewer and happier! In our experience, every one of our students has been admitted to multiple schools on their lists. All have included Target schools and many or most have included Reach schools.

Q. If we are going to hire a consultant, when is the best time to do that?

A. Great question. It depends very much on how certain the student is about his or her future plans. For example, if a student is interested in applying to universities in Europe (and it varies from country to country), it is essential to understand the requirements early to ensure that the student’s high school academic program will be sufficiently robust to meet those requirements. For students applying to the United States or Canada, for example, January of their grade 11 (Junior year) is a very appropriate time to engage the services of a good consultant. With that said, keep in mind that any student applying to the US should already have been participating in activities outside of academics that demonstrate genuine commitment, leadership, and accomplishment in areas such as fine arts, athletics, or co-curricular activities. It is far too late to begin thinking about those activities in your grade 11 year if you have not already been active in those areas. Remember, students have the best options when their Time and Achievement are sufficient to support their Ambition. As a general rule, then, earlier is better.

Q. How will you work with the college counselors at my school to make sure that everything gets done right?

A. This is a very tricky question for many consultants, because the relationship between college counselor and outside consultant does not often exist, for a variety of reasons. Instead, the communication is through the student and often reflects different advice and guidance that is, unfortunately, often in conflict with each other. This is another way that Admissions International is different. We come from inside of schools and, because of that, we know what counselors are doing and what they need and what they can do. We know how to support them and to provide the school counselors with what they need to best advocate for your son or daughter. We understand that there are some elements of the application and admissions process that only the college counselor is able to do (such as transcript submission or counselor recommendations), so it is important that we have a good and cooperative working relationship with the school counselors of all the students we work with. While it is true that we will do the vast majority of the application work with the students we serve, we encourage and welcome input and feedback from counselors in the process. In the end, the goal of any educator is the best interests of the student, and this is best achieved when counselor and consultant work together.

Q. What is your Sliding Fee Scale and am I eligible?

A. We believe that specialist advice and guidance should be available to any student who needs it and who is willing to do what is required to put their best efforts forward for university admission. With that in mind, Admissions International will adjust our posted fee structure for students and families with demonstrated need. Please ask if you feel this applies to you. We also have other financial incentives, including commissions for referrals and a discounted fee for full payment at time of contract. Ask for more details.