@blossom I think you provide some helpful advice, but suggesting that if he likes Williams, have him get excited about Middlebury is similar to saying if he likes Harvard have him get excited about Columbia. Not exactly an easier path.
I got the workbook “Write Out Loud” (http://www.amazon.com/Write-Out-Loud-College-Application/dp/0071828281) for my daughter the summer before senior year. It was recommended by one of the Parents of 2015 posters (bunheadmom). I don’t how much of it she really did but it did provide writing exercises. She found it very helpful in learning how to write about herself. I think many people find this a difficult task.
The reality is that in today’s selective admissions environment even a student like your brother needs help. The two firms that stand out nationally are Ivy Wise and Top Tier Admissions. Your brother doesn’t need the full range of services but he probably would benefit from assistance building a list of colleges that fit, review of essays and review of his applications. My D went through admissions cycle this year with 36 ACT and the usual associated qualifications. Maybe you shouldn’t have to use a consultant but if you can afford it, do it
Top Tier Admissions - Michelle Hernandez
Ivy Wise - Kat Cohen
Looks like these two names come up again and again …
With absurd prices beyond the reach of any but the top .001% How about $40 thousand for a package from Kat Cohen, who knows nothing more than the collective wisdom of this board? She and Hernandez have done a great job of marketing themselves to the super-wealthy, neurotic, prestige-driven hoards. OP, your sibling is eminently qualified for any school in the country, but so are countless others. Just let him be himself and show his passion for whatever his passion is. There are so many schools which would grab him just for his “numbers,” which help the schools make themselves look better. Great that you are trying to help him, but the counsel you seek can be found here, and won’t cost $2K. 
If you want to help your brother brainstorm an essay topic, check out the blogs of Janine Robinson (Essay Hell) http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/escape-essay-hell and Lynn O’Shaugnessy (The College Solution) http://www.thecollegesolution.com/a-favorite-college-essay-tip/
Very low cost or no cost help.
I am not familiar at all with Janine Robinson but I DID like her advice in this section:
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2014/06/college-app-grabber-trick-show-first.html
While not novel (very few things are) it does offer a nice illustration of the grabber and anecdotes. It is hardly new for the avid CC follower but very few juniors and seniors are. Most of them suffer from the abysmal input from teachers and parents.
One of the most difficult parts of the essay is not the writing but anticipating the reaction of the audience. A few months ago, Chicago decided to share an essay that “worked” and it would have been considered awful by plenty of readers. I was 50 shades of Chicago! Not a real surprise at a school that rewards the weird and the bizarre.
Years ago, Conn College produced a series of essays they liked. ALL of them were florid messes filled with clichés and about everything Harry Bauld recommended to avoid. One needed a bottle of Pepto to slug through them!
The tortilla essay that worked at Stanford triggered reams of copycats. It took years for Stanford to share that the student had been accepted DESPITE a poor essay. Go figure!
Knowing your audience is easier than done, but there is a danger in reading “successful” essays and emulating the style blindly.
Stanford did admit they like most of the essays, IIRC, but can’t admit all.
My older son wrote a computer program that did just that. The results were hilarious. He started with the results and then he wrote about how he’d rather program a computer than actually write an essay and how he’d gotten interested in programming. It wasn’t actually a great essay, but it had a good start and if I remember correctly he had a reasonably punchy last line too.
@mathmom, I love your son’s essay! It is hilarious.
Holistic approach was supposed to help minorities and underprivileged … In reality, it made an opalescent admission process. Rich are getting through with the help of consultants. Poor kids are at disadvantage, again.
Why not apply a merit system? Test-based admission, nothing holistic. No hooks, simple riles of games. Honestly, I think disadvantaged kids would be served better.
Rich kids are getting tutored for standarized tests and school work.
Yes, but it is much easier to fix.
“Honestly, I think disadvantaged kids would be served better.”
The data disagree with you.
As far as I can discern, there are unofficial quotas at most highly selective schools. The rich kids who get lots of help will, if the help is successful, bump other rich kids. They aren’t really competing against the poor kids. The colleges budget for X full-pay kids, and they’re going to admit a class that meets the budget.
@lonedarkness78 just a thought. One of my benefits at work is one of these services. The parents may want to check. I never knew until now!
@HRSMom, how interesting that your employer offers those services as part of your compensation. Do you mind me asking in what part of the US you live and in what general area you work? Obviously it must be something with a pretty sophisticated workforce for that to be a benefit.
Ny and banking. I was surprised too!
I was going to guess something Wall Street-related. (Not judging, just guessing!)
I don’t believe service offered by employer is that extensive, similar to legal, financial, marriage counseling. If I have a real legal or financial problem I would want to hire better experts.
I have to disagree with the posters who say you need help to get into a top college. We didn’t even read any books. My daughter wrote her own essays on the topics that were meaningful to her and each one was reviewed/proofread with no particular methodology by some subset of: her parents, two of her best friends, her English teacher, and her little sister in middle school. Those were her “consultants”. She’s not a brilliant writer–some of her essays were great and some were so-so.
I’m not going to search for it (you can) but some time ago I saw the results of the freshman class survey at Harvard. The majority of matriculated students did not use any college consultant. I don’t recall the numbers any more, but I think even among the most wealthy students, the majority did not use one, although in that income bracket quite a few did. I think it’s just plain wrong to say that everyone is using them and that you need to use one. I think there are a very small number of wealthy communities where this sort of thing is taken for granted and the vast majority of applicants are not doing this.