<p>Has anyone hired an "educational consultant" when applying to private schools? Are they worthwhile? My son is an 8th grader and applied out for grade 9. We did open houses, interviews, looked at the websites, the whole nine yards, and, in the end, none of us, my DH included, had a good feel for any of the schools. My son didn't really seem excited about any of them either. In the end, he was accepted at 2, waitlisted at 4. He did "revisits" at the 2 where he was accepted, but decided what he really wanted to do was go back to his own school, which has a 9th grade. I think some of it might have been "comfort level," but I didn't want to force him to attend a school where he could not envision himself, even after a "revisit" day. Will a consultant be able to narrow down the schools that are a "good fit" for our son? Just would like feedback from someone who has used one.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>we used an educational consultant throughout the whole process and she was great. i think that the main attraction of using one is how they will really “push” their client on to the school. i really believe that my educational consultant was the final push i needed to get off of the lawrenceville waitlist. they will also arrange everything with the schools so that the parents don’t need to. they are not miracle workers, but they definitely can give an edge to their client over a similar candidate.</p>
<p>This is interesting. The word “consultant” is usually tied to a large price tag. Forgive me, but this sounds like another way FA applicants are at a disadvantage. On the other hand, congratulations to all those who were accepted without a consultant!</p>
<p>To a certain degree, one could count amazing programs like A Better Chance (for minority FA candidates) as “consultants”. They do an amazing job with placement. There is also a NYC based squash program that does an equally amazing job. I figure there are a few others out there that don’t cost a penny.</p>
<p>We didn’t use a consultant, but I was always under the impression that they aren’t that expensive. The issue is not cost, but finding a good well-connected one. But remember that no matter what you pay - **you **are still the appliant and even with a consultant a C student isn’t going to get into Andover.</p>
<p>I know someone whose daughter used one for college and the ones she looked at were in the $1,500 - $3,500 range. Considering they can make up for their cost by securing additional financial aid, locating scholarships, and other tid bits, it can pay for itself. But that is college, I don’t know the cost of the BS ones. I do know that my girlfriends daughter ended up getting nearly full-rides at three schools, so I’d say the consultant was worth the cost. But again, that’s college, not BS.</p>
<p>I am wondering about the general cost - or some sort of range - that is charged by a boarding school consultant. Do they charge by the hour of by the project? I am considering using one for my child, but am not sure what is a general fee. There is one in my community who charges something like $75 per hour, and this if for help finding the “right fit”, narrowing down choices, etc. Not actually getting my child in, but more giving direction. Nothing like what a college consultant would be doing. Does this fee sound about right?</p>
<p>We have used one for college for our oldest who is in HS (That is one advantage of PS). She was great.
Caveat: If the person tells you that “they will get you into school x” RUN. There is an association that “vets” them.</p>
<p>There are many schools out there. We used the “big book” (?Princeton) which helped eliminated down to small number based on our criteria. I would suggest doing that first.</p>
<p>wcmom1958,</p>
<p>The reason I am asking, is that son applied to 9th grade to 6 six schools, and was waitlisted at 4. He applied for FA at all of them. He currently goes to a private school, and the placement director there told me the reason he did not get into XYZ school was due to financial aid. He said schools were particularly hard hit this year, and they had to give FA first to their present families. If he had told me that to begin with, we would have sought another avenue for FA.</p>
<p>Did your son apply to day schools only? If so, would you consider allowing him to apply to boarding schools as well this year?</p>