Value of College Admissions Consultants

Are college admissions counselors/consultants surcharges as Crimson Education worth it for admission to competive or Ivy League schools? What services do they provide that would justify the price tag? Can the the success of these companies in getting students admitted be attributed by just the fact that the people who buy them are people who would be competive for these schools anyway (correlation not causation)? Are there any ways to get similar services through cheaper alternatives? Thanks in advance.

None of these services can guarantee that your kid will get accepted to elite or Ivy League schools.

Is that what you are expecting?

I was just wondering if these programs are helpful or not.

I have a college counselor (who is not that expensive). I find that she has been helpful in narrowing down the schools I should apply to, editing the grammar of my essays, and will soon be helping me prep for interviews. If you are applying to ivy level schools, needing a huge amount of assistance seems odd to me. People of “that level” should be pretty qualified already and really should not need that much help. Trust the process and trust yourself. If you need to pour thousands of dollars in “admissions consultants” you may struggle if you get into the school.

I know of friends that have used college counselors for a specialty: dance, music, theatre. The arts college process is a different animal.