Financial Aid Scam (SK Education Consulting Group)

Parents Forum
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<p>First of all, I would like to say that I'm not a financial professional and am just stating my opinion, which I will support below.</p>

<p>So my mother and I recently went to a "college consulting" group called SK Education Consulting Group. My whole take on the experience: it's a scam. </p>

<p>1) First and foremost, my mother found out about it through a Vietnamese friend living in Westminster, who has close ties to the Viet community there. By close ties, I mean you can characterize her friend as a FOB dude. You know, those traditional Asians quite intent on the whole "you must go to good college for future and honor" stuff, but has little clue about the actual process itself. Going in, I already had a hunch that SK preyed on this certain population.</p>

<p>2) So I did more research. Here's what I found: [ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CofqzO9jHgU"&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CofqzO9jHgU&lt;/a> ]. You may not understand the Vietnamese midway (which also proves my hunch correct, they're just targeting fob parents). The whole video goes like this: "SK is so professional...," "SK is the top firm for college consulting...," and more bs. At one point in the video, one of the ladies says "out of 10 financial aid application, 8 gets rejected..." and "we don't want you to worry about the financial aid documents but to focus on getting good grades." The thing about this though, is that if there's something unsatisfactory, the college will send back to you for edit and it's not the end of the world. In the end, the guy says "come on in we'll help you with financial aid and scholarships." Not true, because they don't actually do scholarships, it's just an appealing keyword thrown out there.</p>

<p>3) Now, my mother and I actually sat down to discuss about this; they gave us a contract for financial aid counseling, too. "The client agrees to pay $2000 for 9 private colleges and a # of UC's. Each additional college costs $200 more." That's not even the shady part. "Cancellation is permitted within 3 days and require a cancellation fee of $1,200." $1200 wtffff.</p>

<p>4) When we first came in, one of the ladies pretended to be interested. Asked for my SAT scores, application, as well as lied that the dude working there went to MIT ._. no doubt to foster some kind of deep desire to please. They don't even need all my info for the financial aid, mind you. And if you aren't familiar with fob, traditional Vietnamese culture, we worship the word "MIT." Dude comes over, spots a potential weakness, says he got 800 on all his Subjects, and attempts to stronghand me into "you need a lot of help buddy."</p>

<p>5) During my unpleasant experience there, another Vietnamese family went in. They seemed really meek and submissive, probably are the perfect targets. I overheard their convo and they most def paid for this scam service. I felt SOO bad, I mean I was willing to sit through the session just to learn more about dealing against scamming, but this family seemed already poor (wearing old shirts, worn out face and skin, struggling to understand scum dude's English) and it's SO effing unfair that they're being preyed upon just because they care about their kid's education. As an underprivileged teen, I personally know the financial struggles of any concerned parent. I'm over-joyed to find out I just got accepted into Columbia Early Decision, (my dream school!!). I don't have to worry about the application anymore, but obviously I'm one of the lucky ones. </p>

<p>So I'm not just ranting here. I'm asking what can we do as a community to help those less informed families? Does anyone know the right course of action to take? I mean this is ****ing ridiculous. 2k dollars for pages of forms? Even their website is insulting. It's specifically designed for gullible, concerned parents.ugh.</p>

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<p>Two things: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>It takes two to tango, and the same applies to people to engage a company that pretends to have cases of College Holy Water and some secret sauce. People fall for informercials and scams because they are willing to participate and are hoping to gain an advantage. </p></li>
<li><p>As far as the community part, this --right here-- happens to be one that attemps to correct some of the pitfalls through shared experience. It is not perfect but it goes a long way to supplement the work of GCs and debunk standards myths. Just know that it is often easier to repeat the “secrets” and the “scammy language” than to offert correct advice. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>On a personal note, you might consider create a blog that describes your own experience and success to get into Columbia and share your years in New York. Even if only a handful learn from you, it would be worth the effort. </p>

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<p>I always thought those things were a scam. I can understand why someone with unusual financial aid circumstances (lots of assets, a business, etc.) or high income may need help, but for most people it is easy to just fill out the FAFSA and CSS Profile and use resources like this (as @xiggi) mentions, the College Board, etc.</p>

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<p>OP, is there a community center for Vietnamese folks where you live? Or a church many people belong to? Get the word out there. </p>

<p>Does your school have a college night? Could counselors talk about financial aid and stress that FAFSA is free? I live in a community with many immigrants (not Asian however) and that is one of the messages at our college night. We are a mixed community and are lucky enough to have some college resources for lower income and immigrant students. </p>

<p>Having said all that, the one person I know of who fell for a scheme like the one you describe was a non fob white person. The family paid a few k for scholarship and financial counseling. That money could have gone toward tuition. </p>

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<p>I was kinda aiming toward asking for legal action… but you’re right the dissemination of this knowledge is a service for everyone. I will ask the counselor to set up an info session every year from now on, since he doesn’t do that at our school. Thanks for advice!</p>

6

<p>how about yelp? (or a Vietnamese language version)</p>

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<p>I like giving them a bad review on yelp or some other internet ranking sites. </p>

<p>And you could file a complaint with your state attorney general. Pretty easy to do and you can do it online in my experience. Filing a complaint doesn’t mean the company will get in trouble, but they should get investigated, and that might be enough to scare them off.</p>

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<p>It’s sometimes hard to bust these guys. They’re usually smart enough to avoid making any obviously dishonest promises on paper, and even when they get caught they just shut down and resurface later under a new name. Education is the best way to dry up their potential victim pool.</p>