<p>Hey, everybody! In graduate school admission, do expensive guidance counsellors still play an active role? As we know, in undergraduate admission, many paid counsellors with a lot of connections are influencing the final admission results. Does this happen to graduate school admission as well?</p>
<p>While I cannot speak to whether paid admission consultants "influence final admission results" in undergraduate admissions, I can absolutely assure you that there is no such phenomenon in graduate admissions.</p>
<p>This is because graduate school selection is by academic discipline, with an emphasis on "fit" with various programs' faculty and their specializations. Your professors in your discipline can (and usually do) provide the best guidance in regard to which programs would be most appropriate for you to consider. This is because they know very well the reputations of the graduate programs in their field. They know who teaches where, what their methodological preferences are, what their current work is about, and just as importantly, how well they mentor their grad students.</p>
<p>It would be impossible for a professional consultant or "guidance counselor" to keep up with academic books and journals in every field and subfield of study in order to be appropriately informed about faculty in every program in every discipline. </p>
<p>We professors only know these things in respect to our own fields and subfields, obviously because it is part of our job to do so, but also because we have collegial relationships with other faculty in our respective disciplines. We know who studied where, and with whom, and whether or not it was a worthwhile experience. We know which programs produce formidable scholars and researchers in each subfield within our discipline. If we are unsure about a particular subfield, we can easily call a colleague and find out.</p>
<p>Thank you, professor. Such consultants are indeed very active, especially in countries outside US. Sometimes and in certain regions, seeking their helps even becomes a necessary 'procedure'. So I am afraid that such people will play a role again in graduate admission.</p>