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By Alma
Are you currently stressing out about college admissions? If so, you are certainly not the only one.
Currently, getting into the college of your choice may seem like a distant dream. But, it is much more achievable than you anticipate it to be! For starters, according to the American Foundation, three-quarters of college applicants get admission to the colleges of their choice.
One thing that can help improve your odds is the right guidance from the get-go. Seeking help from an admission consultant is ideal for moving forward when working on your college application.
Here is how you can select the right guide.
- Check their success rate
When researching a college admission consultant, begin by checking out their success rate. In other words, what type of schools have their students been admitted to in recent years? This will help you gauge whether a given consultant has been able to keep up with the competitive selection process.
Additionally, analyze how their admission rates compared to the rates of highly selective schools. For example, how many of their students end up in Ivy Leagues. Apart from researching the consultant, also conduct research about the firm they belong to.
A successful, good quality firm will be transparent and open about its vision, experience, and strategy. Select a firm and consultant who is best aligned with your study goals and college aspirations.
Finally, peruse reviews about them online as well as from peers. First-hand experiences are the best in gauging the consultant’s personality, which is an immensely important factor in governing the overall experience of a student.
- Ensure diversity in services
It doesn’t matter if someone is an honor roll student with perfect grades or an average one struggling to keep up with the different aspects of student life; a quality consultant can help everyone irrespective of their class records.
This is because academia is not the only factor that is considered. Instead, a holistic approach is taken when selecting students. Hence, the right consultant will be able to present the best profile of each of its students so that they can excel in the colleges of their choice.
An admissions coach who has had experience with various colleges, including tier, ranking, and specialization, is the best option for all. This is because the more services that a consultant offers, the better they are at understanding the unique needs of a given student.
- Choose someone who you are comfortable with
Since you will be working with a college consultant closely for a considerable amount of time, you need to be comfortable with them to create a fruitful bond with them.
Once you have met with the consultant of your choice, ask yourself these questions to ascertain if they are the right pick:
- Are you comfortable in asking questions, even those you deem basic, with your consultant?
- Are frequent face-to-face meetings possible, or do you just have to skip to email or Skype? In the case of the latter, are you satisfied with a digital-only service?
- Is the consultant knowledgeable about admission strategies for homeschool applicants?
- Does the consultant have a broad knowledge about the colleges you are interested in?
Remember, a quality admissions consultant goes beyond merely working with students. Instead, they spend additional time reading and researching about different schools and programs. They have an extensive network with the faculty of different colleges. Each of these helps them in offering you the right advice.
- Seek personalized support
Remember, a cookie-cutter approach cannot work in the world of college admissions. Just because your neighbor’s son got into an Ivy League school in a certain way doesn’t mean that following his method to the tee will yield the same result for you.
Therefore, you don’t just need a consultant who follows a successful strategy. Instead, you need someone who can create the right strategy, which is personalized as per your capabilities, interests, and goals. Always make a point of asking a potential consultant whether they offer personalized and holistic attention to each applicant they guide.
Moreover, make sure who will be involved in helping you with the admission process.
Often, firms and consultants have a back-end team of their own that aids them with the application process. For starters, while some may help with your essays, others might provide you with a list of extra-curricular activities you ought to be participating in.
If you only know the consultant and not his team, you can never be sure about the quality of service the firm will be able to provide you with. If possible, try to select consultants that work alone since they will present a coherent and strong story in your application.
- Be clear about their process
The final step of selecting the right college admissions coach is finding out how the consultant and their team work with each applicant. Ask them to clearly describe their process. After all, an organized method is required for crafting an application that succeeds.
Here are some questions about the process you might want to ask:
- How will the applicant know what to do? What will be the timeline?
- How often will the consultant be available for a one-on-one session?
- How does the consultant stay updated with the trends of the admissions world?
- How will they go about addressing the applicant’s unique needs?
Ending Remarks
Getting into a college may seem like a daunting task when you are in high school. After all, your future life is somewhat dependent on the choices you make today.
Seek help from the right admissions consultant. This will not only help you in improving your chances of being selected in the college of your choice, but it may also help you in selecting the right majors and specialization.
After all, who else will have better knowledge of different programs and career paths than a consultant who has worked with numerous students?
Get your profile and application sorted. Put your trust in the right consultant. The rest is up to the college admissions committee. Good luck.