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+--- Thread: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? (/showthread.php?tid=296959)
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help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - special - 07-10-2025
Hi
Did anyone use a company like this one to help guide your student through the college application process?
https://admittedly.co
We had a few meetings and they surely sound convincing. Kids wants to go to an Ivy League school.
RE: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - SrBigStuff - 07-10-2025
No. Just visit and email the schools to express interests and do all of the online Zooms and all that other baloney. There's no way you'll predict the outcome as there is no rhyme nor reason for acceptance, outside of the obvious academic achievement. Also, reinforce this fact into your kid.
RE: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - anonymouse1 - 07-10-2025
I think it depends a lot on circumstances. Some kids can get a real boost, others not so much. Also, how much does it cost?
I would spend a couple hundred dollars talking to a consultant and getting some guidance, but your mileage may vary.
RE: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - AllGold - 07-10-2025
I have a friend and colleague who is doing this kind of advising for the college application process. Honestly, I've paid zero attention (other than seeing a couple of his announcements) because I don't have any kids going to college so I couldn't really tell you more.
RE: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - jdcjdc - 07-10-2025
we used a person, as opposed to a service. The first kid thought I was super helpful, the second kid thought I was a waste.
if they don't have the grades (4.4+), APs (as many as possible 4-5s) and extra curricular (government, key club, debate, sports) then forget it.
We are in California -- UCs are the best public. My youngest carried a 4.19, many of APs, but light gov + 1 club -- no sports (physically limited) or other clubs or a job -- and did not get into any UCs. rejected at most, wait-listed at UC Berkeley. State schools were a breeze, but the jump to UC seemed far.
assuming its mostly the same for regular vs ivy schools
RE: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - Lux Interior - 07-10-2025
(07-10-2025, 04:43 AM)jdcjdc Wrote: We are in California -- UCs are the best public. My youngest carried a 4.19, many of APs, but light gov + 1 club -- no sports (physically limited) or other clubs or a job -- and did not get into any UCs. rejected at most, wait-listed at UC Berkeley. State schools were a breeze, but the jump to UC seemed far.
What's the differentiation between UC & state? I thought UCs were state. I would think Berkeley would be the most selective of the UC system.
I come from a UC family. Parents were Berkeley, sister was Santa Barbara, brother was Davis.
I broke the mold and went to Penn State.
I think in-state tuition at UCs was <$1000 when I was applying (late 80s).
RE: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - creektech - 07-10-2025
I have no advice, this is all foreign to me. Times have certainly changed. I was near the top of my class (not Val/Sal) and a single sport athlete, but nothing special IMHO. I got accepted everywhere I applied, including University of Chicago, but received virtually no financial support. Ended up at state college with a decent scholarship and graduated debt free.
RE: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - gabester - 07-10-2025
Times have changed as far as college admissions, and there is still fallout from the COVID 19 pandemic. Things will be even more uncertain than ever with Federal funding, loan, and policy changes.
As far as Ivy League schools - I know anecdotally of a straight A student who had an SAT score above 1550 and ACT score above 33, 5's on many core AP exams like english, calculus, sciences, was a state qualifying athlete in their sport every year of high school, participated in several extracurriculars - but did not lead any; the kid is an excellent writer and had a hook for their essays that indicated how they would contribute to the school community.
The family's financial situation was solidly upper middle class but the parents both worked and no one was independently wealthy. It would have been a stretch to afford top tier private schools' average $70k annual tuition versus the state schools.
They were NOT accepted at any of the top 25-level private institutions that they applied to. They were accepted at every place else including nationally and globally ranked state flagship universities (not in California tho as the out of state cost of the UCs made it infeasible.)
A number of top 50 to 100 institutions offered scholarships, grants, and tuition rebates.
This is the kind of kid who, 30-50 years ago, likely would have gotten in to some place like Northwestern or Stanford or and would have gotten a free ride if their family lacked means. Now, the student in question did not have any particular overwhelming desire to attend one of these prestigious institutions... no "need" to go to NYU or Brown.
Two things are going on and neither of them good for talented middle class students.
The "common app" used to apply for college allows applications to up to 20 schools mostly free of charge (some institutions do have their separate application requirements that have a cost associated with them, but it's usually like $50-150.) So kids will max out those applications to "improve their chances" of getting in somewhere. Then it becomes an arms race as the top institutions receive more applications from which they can accept a very limited number of students - and perversely this improves a school's ranking because of it's desireability.
Also the top tier institutions see great benefit from their network of alumni and they appear to be focused on bringing in new students that they perceive will help expand that network. So it helps to get accepted if you are (1) already wealthy and can afford college without a second thought as this implies you already have access to networks of means that will benefit the school (2) from a diverse background, again expanding the network to new areas of support (3) have truly unique, exceptional generational talent. The most elite schools can overlook #1 if the student is strong in 2-3, but they're unlikely to accept students from middle income and certainly there's no financial aid on the table for families making above $200k or so. As such, then, colleges are more likely to accept the kids who have less means or who can fully afford it because they fear the negative impact of admitting students who don't attend because parents convinced them to go to the much less expensive $10-40k year state schools.
Even then all of this is a sort of legacy of the old days where a certain class of parents is paying for the college experience of being in dorms, eating at the cafeteria, free of direct adult supervision, learning how to navigate living and learning. Many of these kids would be better served by actually affordable community college within everyone's reach, and getting work experience in jobs that interest them and are accessible to them.
RE: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - jdcjdc - 07-10-2025
UC (University of CA) and CSU (Californis State University) exist on 2 levels. (I just remembered the both got into UCD, but didn't want to go, did not like the school)
There are fewer UCs, have more money, all have Masters and Doctors programs. UC Berkley (and UCLA) are often rated the best public schools in the nation -- most (but not all) have large sports programs, hospitals, tons of coummity involvement. most have a low acceptance rate, 10-15%.
CSUs do not have that. Most have masters, but limited options, rare for DRs. Some of the schools have a near 100% acceptance rate -- even if you have a 3.5 or less. There are exceptions, both of my kids got into Cal Poly SLO, which technically a CSU, but is the highest rated CSU, better than some of the UCs.
fwiw, Cal Poly got 80,000 applications... and I belive that's the norm at most all the UCs. Cal Polys overall acceptance rate hovers around 25%, and some majors as low as 8%. With our oldest, we were told a GPA of 4.0 was minimum. Some majors will have 500+ applicants and only accept 20 people. UCLA has a 10% acceptance rate, with similar numbers for some majors.
Its not easy anymore...
RE: help with the college application process? Did anyone use companies for this? - Acer - 07-10-2025
Among four kids, one of ours tried for an Ivy League, Cornell, and they genuinely wanted to go there. We certainly were not going to buy or legacy our way in. We did not use a service, we just did what the school told us to do. Despite what I thought was some objectively compelling evidence of potential for his major, the vibe was pretty much Fat chance, kid.
Thing about this case is that a consultant can't fix what you don't have. You're best off hiring one while the child is still in utero if you really want to be prepared.