<p>Okay, he won't literally help him get in because he's not the Dean or anything nor does he have inside connections. But a current Harvard student (he's 21) came to me and offered to help "revise heavily" my son's admissions essay, help him apply to 14 colleges he's picked, and tell him all about how he made it in (he's been to 2 ivy league schools after transferring).</p>
<p>He says he will do it for a total of $500 for the entire process all the way from now (July) all the way through January 1st, 2010. And it will be a total of $800 if my son gets into Harvard, Princeton, or Yale, but $500 if he doesn't get into any of them.</p>
<p>I've never had experience with any of these people before....is it worth it? Should I do it? I saw a sample of his Harvard admissions essay and it is really good, nonetheless. He writes for the Harvard Crimson, but compared to a lot of the admissions consultants out there, he doesn't even have a bachelor's degree yet!</p>
<p>I doubt the AdComs can, as much as people like to say they can, look at one’s essay and automatically think, “OMG this kid had help!” when the kid probably has 700+ SAT scores in each section and outstanding grades.</p>
<p>IMO, this kid sounds better than all those other admissions counseling companies.</p>
<p>Frankly the “heavy revision” thing stinks. Is this the kind of lesson you want your son to endure? Sorry to be so preachy but let him stand on his own two feet.</p>
<p>This kid got in to Harvard very recently. A lot of the big name admissions consultants out there will charge 10 times as much, and got in to lesser schools decades ago. He’ll probably be extremely helpful. Ask him not to write your son’s essays but to help him. </p>
<p>I don’t see a reason to turn it down on an ethical basis. There are black/hispanic/legacy kids getting huge boosts and parents paying million dollar bribes. If this is the only break you can give your son, then this is what you give him.</p>
<p>But he should be offering this service for a flat rate. It should NOT cost more if your son gets in. That’s not how admissions consulting works. And you should have some references to verify that he is who he purports to be.</p>
<p>There are many good admissions consultants who know many tricks of the trade and are worth their price. Most have worked in admissions and/or studied counseling. Getting in to a school has little to do with understanding effective psoitioning in general in most cases.</p>
<p>How do you know which kid the OP is talking about? Do you three know each other?</p>
<p>My opinion of the service is that there is nothing this can kid can offer that you can’t learn yourself for free by reading CC. Save your money.</p>
<p>^ he got in recently because he’s 21. my position is that even if he just does essays, and doesn’t help with the other aspects of admission, it might be worth the 500.</p>
<p>Sounds pretty sketchy to me. Advice is one thing; “heavy revision” another.</p>
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<p>Two wrongs make a right?</p>
<p>If the kid doesn’t deserve to get in, he doesn’t deserve to get in. How could you feel good about sending your kid to Harvard knowing he used morally questionable means to get accepted and didn’t really deserve to be there?</p>
<p>Don’t do it. He’s not trying to flat-out scam you but he is, like other people said, trying to exploit his position, which sorry, isn’t really that high up. If he isn’t a licensed educational consultant, then he isn’t even worth $50.</p>
<p>Browse CC for a few hours and it will be free and you’ll probably get much better info. I got into Stanford and Penn three months ago and I’d be happy to look at your kid’s essays for free.</p>
<p>IMHO-- Advice from a smart current student who writes for the Crimson would be beneficial. And when compared to what private admissions advisors charge it seems like a bargain to me. I saw that one was charging $14,000 (yes thousand) for a 4 day “boot camp” in Boston. As for heavy revision, just tell him you do not want that. But believe me most kids applying are having their essays heavily revised whether it be by their English teachers or parents or paid consultants. OP, as a parent you should be able to sniff out a fraud. Go with your gut on the kid and make your decision. At least he is not pretending he has an in with the admissions office. As for spending a few hours on here, yes you certainly could browse through these threads and try to weed out the truth versus the ■■■■■■, but at least you will see this person face to face. And the other benefit is having someone your child can relate to guide him through process. It may just eliminate many battles.</p>
<p>There’s an age old tale of a consultant who fashioned himself having a very influential connection at Brown. He’d exploit this connection, give your admissions packet a once over, edit essays, etc in order for your son or daughter to have a better than average chance at getting to Providence.</p>
<p>He reserved the right to hand pick his clients. There was a grueling interview process, full disclosure of test scores and all details tangible and otherwise. His fee? Thousands. His guarantee? You don’t get in, you get 100% of your money back.</p>
<p>His was a scam, too. He’d hand pick only the students he thought had a chance getting in. The connect? Bogus. So, he’d take on twenty-five students a year, eight or nine would get in, and he’d have a comfortable salary.</p>
<p>I can’t believe you are even asking this. Frankly, it’s disgusting. Your son is the one applying to college. He is the one who will have to do the work should he be accepted and HE is the one who will reap the benefits of the education. There are tens of thousands of kids across the country working themselves into a frenzy for a shot at getting into these schools, and they don’t deserve to lose a spot in the freshmen class to someone who didn’t even write their own essays.</p>
<p>How would your son feel if he was admitted after his essay was heavily edited? Like he didn’t deserve to be there? </p>
<p>Read these forums and you’ll get all the advice an outsider can give you and it’s free. What you can’t do, and what a 21 year old at Harvard can’t do, is change your son’s history or scores. Do you believe that someone can be admitted to Harvard because of their essay alone? If your son has all the other pieces of a competitive application (scores, grades, recommendations, ECs) he can work hard on his essay himself.</p>