Best College
Admissions Consultants
For those seeking college admissions consulting services, it has traditionally been difficult to assess the competency of the firms providing these services. To overcome this issue, our rating system provides a statistical breakdown of the Top 50 firms in the industry, based on scores across seven key areas. Hence, our site offers some context and direction for those looking to take advantage of a college admissions coach. As college admissions consulting is becoming increasingly expensive and competitive, many excellent students are simply left behind, regardless of how gifted they are.
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Harvard University accepts around 4% of its applicants. However, this does not mean that 96% of its applicants were sub-par. In fact, many of those refused applicants have stronger resumes than those accepted. The issue is that many of them likely applied for more highly in-demand majors, or lacked a compelling narrative in their essays. They may have simply listed their accomplishments in their essays, instead of a descriptive tale of diversity, making it against all odds narrative, and a strong vision for the future. Thus, this is where a college admissions consultant or college admissions coach can step in. A college admissions coach can offer their college admissions experience, writing and editing skills, and a unique perspective.
Check out our top college admissions consultants below. You can view the rankings of the top 50 admissions consultants and check out their individual pages.
Best College Admissions Consultants 2022
Or, take a look at the top admissions consultants for 2023.
College Consultants Ranking 1-10
5. College Coach - Score: 3.71
College Coach states that each of its experts has more than ten years of experience in the industry. It states that all of its clients have the opportunity to tap into the unique knowledge base of its consultants with a different familiarity of Ivy League admissions,
religiously affiliated schools, military/service academies, transfer admissions, undergraduate business schools, and much more.
8. Spark Admissions - Score: 3.36
Spark Admissions prides itself on a strategic, data-driven approach. They focus on providing skillset development for high school students to improve their resumes through internships, maximize leadership and communication skills, and explore academic and extracurricular opportunities.
9. CollegeWise - Score: 3.29
CollegeWise primarily offers college admissions consulting, test prep, and tutoring services. It offers tutoring services for the ACT, SAT, PSAT, PLAN, and ISEE/SSAT. CollegeWise allows students to pay as they go on an hourly basis or purchase a bundle of college admissions services.
College Consultants Ranking 11-20
12. Expert Admissions - Score: 2.93
Expert Admissions offers a wide variety of admissions consulting services. It claims that almost every single one of its clients has gained acceptance to their top choice college since they started their company, a unique claim in the highly competitive college admissions process.
19. The College Advisor of NY - Score: 2.57
The College Advisor of NY provides full-service college counseling for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Generally, they work with students and parents for one to two years to help them gain admission to universities that fit them socially, academically, and financially.
College Consultants Ranking 21-30
21. FLEX College Prep - Score: 2.29
Because of Flex College Prep’s large size, it offers a wide range of services to clients. For high schoolers, it offers writing courses through its Writing Center, health science courses, math and computer sciences, business and economics courses, research methodology courses, elective courses, and humanities and pre-law courses.
23. Ivy Coach - Score: 2.14
Though based in New York City, Ivy Coach works completely online with students located around the United States and the globe. They provide admissions consulting services for undergraduate programs, business schools, medical schools, law schools, or any other master or Ph.D. graduate programs.
College Consultants Ranking 31-40
33. College Admission Coach - Score: 1.71
College Admissions Coach offers pre-college planning, college selection, application assistance, help maximizing financial aid and scholarships, and decision-making consulting. They also offer writing help, resume building, and college interview help to their clients.
38. Manhattan Admissions Advisors - Score: 1.57
Manhattan Admissions Advisors has a strong brand focus on international students. All of the core team members listed on the website were born outside of the United States in different geographical regions, showing the company’s desire to recruit international students.
39. IvySelect College Consulting - Score: 1.43
IvySelect generally tries to take advantage of the lucrative market of Los Angeles by catering to the city's class of applicants. They claim that 100% of their applicants will get into their 1st or 2nd top choice school, and 100% of students will attend a Top 25 National University.
40. Selective College Consulting - Score: 1.43
Selective College Consulting offers several packages for students and parents. Its main packages are the Premier Program, Universal Program, and Standard Program, each offering different prices and levels of support for essay assistance, the number of school applications, the number of client-consultant meetings, and other consulting services.
College Consultants Ranking 41-50
41. Quantum Prep - Score: 1.43
Quantum Prep’s strategy is to act as a community of educators, similar to how it takes a village to raise a child. Because of Quantum Prep’s many Boston-area office locations, it offers numerous in-person tutoring opportunities for career-minded high schoolers, particularly in mathematics, chemistry, and physics.
43. Elite Advantage Prep - Score: 1.43
Elite Prep states that 90% of their students are accepted into their top choice, and 95% of students get into their top three choices. Besides its founder, Elite Advantage Prep lists a Storyteller and a Passion Project Mentor and an Academic and Personal Growth Mentor, non-traditional positions in the industry.
45. ForWord Consulting - Score: 1.29
ForWord Consulting is particularly focused on admissions to Virginia’s top public and private universities, managing financial aid, and Northern Virginia test prep. It offers academic services to students, starting from the eighth grade, to prepare them for the college admissions process.
47. College Initiative - Score: 1.29
College Initiative is a college admissions consulting firm located in Celebration, Florida. It was started by Jill Schwitzgebel in 2017, who decided to open the business after helping her own children navigate the college admissions process.
49. Educated Pathways - Score: 1.14
Educated Pathways offers a realistic approach to the college admissions process by balancing three categories of colleges: SAFETY (easy admission), TARGET (above average admissions) or REACH (extremely difficult college to gain acceptance). This maximizes time, resources, money, and expectations.
50. S. Montgomery Admissions - Score: 1.14
S. Montgomery Admissions Consulting helps 9-12th grade and law school students reach their full potential in the application process. It works with 9th and 10th-grade students on career management, academic and extracurricular planning, summer programming, study skills, and time-management skills.