<p>Can you share your experiences with various brand name addmission counselors, like ivywise-Hernandez-ivysuccess-ivycoach-college coach etc as well as on-line less costly opnes like CC-applywise etc?</p>
<p>Or is there already a thread devoted to it?</p>
<p>I used the Stats Evaluation service offered by College Karma (formerly College Confidential) with my older daughter a few years ago. It was well worth the money to get feedback on her college list and essay! With one exception, their predictions were accurate. It’s a good option when students or parents are doing all the research to ensure you are on the right track.</p>
<p>Re the one exception: did the advisor predict you wouldn’t get in and you did, or did the advisor predict you would get in but you didn’t? Just curious on which side the advisors err.</p>
<p>College Coach services were a free perk from H’s employer. Essay assistance was spot on and extremely helpful. They also provided a free conference call in which the coach used
a “tough love” approach which did not really motivate my D. The coach was right on about my daughter’s reach (and top pick) school - daughter did not follow her advice and did not get in.</p>
<p>We also used Dave Berry’s CC stats evaluation -will have to find it and repost. Overall satisfied, and Dave is a great guy.</p>
<p>@londonb : Did College coach provide any guidance about extra curriculars, course selection and preparing for particular schools?</p>
<p>The exception - Stats Eval predicted acceptance, D was waitlisted. It was a very strange situation as D’s stats were well above the 25/75 mark and she had excellent recommendations - we’ll never know what the admissions committee was thinking.</p>
<p>Xpledcs, because it was free, the College Coach services were limited and D had to deal with multiple consultants . If you are a paying customer, it looks like you get to work with one individual throughout the process and the services are comprehensive. </p>
<p>D and I had done all our own research. I agree with fireflyscout that when you’ve done all your own research, the CC Stats Eval is worth it to ensure you’re on the right track. Dave Berry told D that she had an excellent and well balanced list with an almost ideal number of schools (she did end up cutting a few). In D’s case, she was waitlisted at two (one ballpark, one low reach), - he had allowed for the possibility of waitlist in each category. (She is a top student, with rigorous courses, great recs, essays and ECs, but her SATs were not stellar.) The eval costs about $89 (may have gone up by now), but can be credited towards the bigger packages if you like their service. </p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>So many factors go into the process that I don’t think anyone giving firm accept, waitlist, reject predictions can get 100% accuracy when dealing with the highly selective schools. Our son’s school has a long history of dealing with Cornell and have been pretty reliable on their forecasts. A lot of kids get into Cornell from this school. S applied and was given a high chance for his first choice Cornell school, and a low one for his second choice. He was rejected from the first choice school and accepted to the second choice one. His classmate who was given a good chance in getting into the same school was waitlisted with higher grades, comparable courses, more applicable ECs and similar SAT scores. Who would have been able to figure that one?</p>
<p>i had good results with ivyleagueyou. i am sure the big name counseling services are good but very they are pricey and my parents are the taxpayers whose money went to pay for wall street bonuses this year, so we are not exactly able drop $20,000 on an ac. i needed help regarding my deferral and got an awesome analysis of my application and what i needed to do to close the deal— for way less than these others were asking i should add.</p>
<p>I am a female being raised by a single mother in an Islamic country— not an easy situation. I was rejected by my ED school, and started working with IvyLeagueYou because the other services were way out of our ability to pay. The coach analyzed my application, discovered things I felt were not worth mentioning, and turned them into my own unique advantages. Instead of me competing with 20,000 other excellent candidates from the top high schools, they are now competing with me. I cannot say enough about IvyLeagueYou and the confidence it has given me. Not a very sexy website, but that is because the fees are reasonable, and they really get results.</p>
<p>^^^^bump</p>
<p>Does anyone have any story to share about the paid counsellors? Anything for College Coach or iVyLeagueYou etc?</p>
<p>This thread is worth a reach and mentions different counselors:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/635396-dirty-secrets-college-admissions.html?highlight=dirty+secrets[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/635396-dirty-secrets-college-admissions.html?highlight=dirty+secrets</a></p>
<p>Some posters have talked about IvyLeagueYou, but I have recently hard from a friend that this is a very strange service. You almost never get to know the team, and there is almost no information about them. They collect the initial money and then they go away. I want SturdyLon and Humna to share if they have different experience with IvyLeagueYou. I hope this is not a fraud!</p>
<p>XPLEDCS, dont know what you mean by strange unless it means your friend couldnt figure out how to download a pdf, fill it out, and send it back. IVME did a great job for me, went the second mile. but you’ve got to go the first. if you have any questions just ask. you know how to use email, right? they get back to you pretty quick. as far as collecting money, all the coaching services got their hands out and for about 10x more just to get started, and they want to lock you in upfront. ivyleagueyou is pay as you go, which keeps cost down, good quality, good response, take care of you. i’m happy with what i got. will know results pretty soon.</p>