I came here to ask for some input if possible. I would like to possibly start my own online/freelance college admission coaching business.
I’m 27 and just finished grad school a year ago. I never went to an ivy league school but the one thing I was able to do in both undergrad and grad school was attend both at no cost or nearly no cost because I chose schools that were looking for people like me. My grades were good but nothing special. Not that this matters too much but just wanted to drop some background info.
As a parent, how much would you be willing to pay for a professional admissions coach to hold your hand through the process of admissions, financial aid, the college essays, test prep, etc? I am very familiar with all of this and have excelled at finding money from schools in order for me to attend, which would be my selling point in greater detail.
I know there are the big companies that do this, but I was thinking about doing it on the side via the internet. Any other input or advice? I sincerely appreciate your time and hope your summers are off to a good start!
This thread will probably get locked. My opinion is to have credibility as an expert in admissions you need experience as a former adcom. If you’re just doing basic test prep, expect to get paid whatever the going rate for tutors is in you area.
Thanks. I’m not looking to advertise on here or anything. But moreso wanted to just see the thoughts of parents whose kids might be going off to college soon. I know from my personal experience that I was clueless and so was my mom, so I had to look for alternative/creative ways to find grants and scholarships which really paid off. I feel as though I could help people but just putting feelers out there as where to start. I don’t plan on being a tutor, although I easily could, it just doesn’t interest me. Thank you!
I am presently at a conference for higher education consultants. Most of us are not former admissions officers, though that is a common way to get into the business. Many of us are former high school counselors. For others, this is a second career following years as a lawyer, executive, or therapist. There are various ways for aspiring consultants to get training and certification and to develop as a professional.
Thanks so much for the input, Hanna! Is there any particular certification I should research and look into? This is a very long term goal for me and is by no means a get rich quick scam or anything. I sincerely want to look into it.
You should probably gain some experience working in the admissions office of your own college, if possible, or another one just to see how the process works.
Or you need to get a few clients who can give you recommendations. I wouldn’t pay an internet company/person who was just starting out but I would consider someone local who had experience with the flagship or a few schools my kids were interested in.
Find 10 students from your local area and charge them next to nothing with the understanding that you can use their stats (‘accepted to 5 colleges’ and ‘received $20k per year in grants and scholarships’). You need to be clear what services you are going to provide, and how they’ll be better off with you than without. Are you going to help them with testing, with financial aid appeals, with finding outside scholarships? Are you going to make sure things are filed on time so the parents don’t have to? Are you going to work with the high schools to get transcripts sent?
Whit is your niche? Finding scholarships for students? Get high income students into schools with donations? How to best market or advise a student (summer program, course selection, ECs, test scores)?
Are you going to do everything yourself (test prep, essay writing, ECs) or are you willing (have the resource) to hire some of those experts.
BTW- it takes a while before you can figure out what the adcoms are looking for, unless you are willing to pay for some of those top adcoms on retainer.
It also depends on your business model: is it time & material, fixed price, or bonus with certain bench mark.
In my opinion, people who would hire you to get scholarships to make college affordable probably wouldn’t be willing to pay a lot of fees for it to worth your while. You would need to do a lot of work and have a lot of clients in order to make a living, not to say it wouldn’t be a worthwhile cause.
Hanna has worked hard to gain the depth and breadth of knowledge she has. There’s a difference beywen knowing “something” and being able to work successfully with a broad range of clients, do them justice.
Agree about getting involved with the schools you attended. There are various ways. How do you really expect to walk kids through this, including app strategies, when all you’ve experienced is your own admission and hunt for aid? What do you know about a range of colleges and strategies? Think about apprenticing.
I have a friend who does this and makes quite a bit of money working with wealthy clients. How many of us can afford to hire someone? I think a lot of us enjoy posting (or PM’ing) here to help people who often don’t have that kind of money, or resources (as we were once helped, in many cases). Why not stick around CC and offer your wisdom for free (and work for money at something else)?
Honestly - I was more annoyed by having to help my kids figure out what was affordable, what scholarship criteria was for schools (and ultimately net cost) based on their stats. It is one thing to be admitted, it is another to be able to pay. I think this can be overlooked sometimes.
Although a good professional path, remember that you don’t know what you don’t know.
As such, to gain enough credibility to make both a decent living and a decent impact,
you’ll need more in-depth knowledge than simply having successfully navigated your own education and finances.
There are certification programs hosted by the ‘extension’ arm of some very reputable universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Many will have on-site, while others will have online programs in College and Career Counseling.
The classes will guide you through some of the less obvious aspects of the profession, including; counseling, business regulations, insurance and marketing.
You may want to align yourself with the NACAC, as well as one of the many regional arms of the Admission and Career Counseling world, such as WACAC and PNACAC.
You might start by attending an IECA or HECA conference. Consider the expense an investment. They offer pre-conference events and programming for aspiring IECs who want to get into the business. Different sessions will cover both substantive advising matters (like how do the University of California schools review applicants) and business matters (like how to create a marketing strategy). You will meet other IECs at different levels of experience who can help you understand the challenges.