Admissions Consultants - to use or not to use?

Question

Are admissions consultants worth the $$$?

What has everyone heard about the various admissions consultants?

Cheers.

NickFromBaltimore · Answer

Good question. There was actually an article in Business Week several weeks ago addressing this issue.

The article stated that good admission officers can sniff out students that use admission consultants.

Hjort · Answer

I would love to hear more comments on the use of admissions consultants.

saturnring11 · Answer

The first concern I have about using an admissions consultant is whether or not to trust my future in the hands of a stranger who spends only a few hours with me. You have to remember that an admissions consultant can handle several clients at the same time and it is unclear if you are his/her priority. For me, it is hard to expect a paid essay editor to put in more effort into my essay than the stakeholder (the applicant) can. 

On the other hand, having a specialist look over your essays can be useful. However, I don't think it can be a substitute for hard work on the applicant's part. For this very reason, I've enrolled in an essay writing class at the university that is my first choice.

Hjort · Answer

In my view consultants have two main strengths:

1) Helping the candidate select schools 
and 
2) Acting as an objective reviewer of essays. 

Saturnring is absolutely right that a review by a consultant is not a substitute for hard work by the applicant.

Ozmba · Answer

Hey

Please have a look at the below article 

Every school has its own view on admission consultants ...

As saturnring11 pointed out ..Ultimatelt its is "YOU" who can make or break a application 

But for some one who is not having access to any MBA alumni/students ..consultants r the only way to assess his/her chances at a top school /to know more about a bschool and edit essays( atleast for grammar sake ) etc

I have used two consultants last year for a very competitive school and got dinged....But it was due to my lack of experience about bschool admission process and being my first essays weren't really upto the mark
( i have got some good feedback from the consultants i used but at the end of the day ---I NEED TO BE CLEAR ABT MY GOALS(short/long ), WHY MBA and WHY X-school and How i am FIT to the school and also how the X -Bschool will help me achieve that

if one can be aware and can clearly state those essays clearly, no matter which POOL you are in..you will definitely have a shot any school ( provided GMAT/GPA are close to the mid 80% )

cheers

Hjort · Answer

I agree that it is very important to have a clear articulation of one's fit with each school. I've read some amazingly weak essays from candidates so it is certainly worthwhile to have your essays reviewed by an objective reader. 

The part of consulting that makes me nervous is when things sound too good to be true combined with a very large fee.

Ozmba · Answer

You are right Hjort...

I have nothing against the big companies who have adcom members as directors but the TOP SHOTS won't be editing your essay but their BLOGS are valubale..so folks use their BLOGS to get a Free advice with out paying a penny

Applicants should be aware that essays improve over time with multuple iterations and should be ready to put in the hardwork..

cheers
ozie

Hjort · Answer

Sorry- I was not referring to the specific consultants mentioned above. Besides being free, I feel that best way to charge for these services is the honor system- the candidate is presented with a bill at the end and pays what she feels the advice was worth. If somone is disappointed by the help she received, I cannot in good conscience compel that person to pay.

Ozmba · Answer

Sorry mate..I edited my POSTS and taken out the reference to the specifics...

Wish world is as good and have such a honor system for every service

cheers

saturnring11 · Answer

This is an interesting discussion. The use of the honor system could go either way. Let's face it -- a majority of the people want to get something for nothing. 

Also, I think most people use admissions consultants because they are weak in atleast one of the measures that B-schools look at. My strategy is simple -- do solid research on the admission process and schools, read books on and take classes on essay writing and then apply smartly. There is plenty of information available on the web. Also, if you know B-school students or possibly an English professor or two, you may not have to pay someone to provide objective analysis on an essay. Just my $0.02.

As someone put it on BusinessWeek forums -- a perfumed pig is still a pig. There is only so much someone else can do for you. In the end, it comes down to you taking control of your destiny. 

On the other hand, if you have no business school contacts or friends in academia, an admission consultant may not be a bad idea. Just keep in mind the limitations of using one.

jjaacc · Answer

Great discussion.

I'm not so sure of use of admission consultants on schools selection because surely they have an incentive to recommend schools they think you can definitely get into vs schools that might be a reach for you, but so worth it if you do get in.

But I totally agree on the point that admissions consultants might come in handy for essays, especially if u dont have someone to proofread them for you.

My next question would be - so then, which admissions consultants? All their webpages look about the same really.

Hjort · Answer

I almost always start with portfolio selection. One of the reasons that I am always a bit nervous when I read about hit rates from adissions consultants (95% of our applicants get in to MIT!) is the danger of cherry-picking candidates. I view my role to encourage applicants to develop sound criteria for portfolio selection, to help them apply those criteria consistently, to bring schools that they have not considered to their attention, and, ultimately, to maximize their chance of admission to that portfolio. Thus, I view portfolio selection as an integral part of this process.

banerjeea_98 · Answer

I think even if u feel that u need a consultant, perhaps it would make sense to hire someone for 1 app only. Most of the questions across different schools r same in terms of context. So if u do hire someone pick an app which is most exhaustive e.g. HBS's app. This way you can easily extrapolate your reviewed essays on ur own for other schools. I agree that if one doesn't have friends etc in bschool, consultants can sometime be helpful.

haddy74 · Answer

a very good point indeed by banerjeea.....I was thinking along the same lines the other day..... though,i would like to point out that almost all consultants charge higher for the harvard package but it is still economical as opposed to hiring consultants for 3 or 4 schools.....

One thing which i would like to point out that in my experience almost all admission consultants would discourage you in the beginning. In my opinion, their (consultants) ultimate intent is to make you feel that without their help you wont be able to make into your dream school. And i say why not.....These admission consultants are there to make money...if these consultants tell you that your profile is really good enough for your dream school, most likely, you will not pay them 3000 dollars to edit your essays. 

All i am saying that please do not take these consultants' initial advice too seriously....i guess that is where, people like hjort are so invaluable and i really mean it. Hjort has been helping the future mba aspirants without any financial incentive and that particular aspect allows him to comment on a canidate's ultimate potential in regards to his admission prospects in his dream school with utmost sinceirty. Thank you hjort for doing all this.

jjaacc · Answer

Yeah I've heard of admission consultants that discourage the application to certain schools so that they get a higher success rate.

I'm also not sure if I'd use them for just one school only if I had a choice, because different schools look out for different things in essays right?

jjaacc · Answer

Anyone have comments on the following admission consultants? https://www.stacyblackman.com/ https://www.mbaexchange.com

Admissions Consultants - to use or not to use?

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