Gilding the college-bound

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WillJoy

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Does anyone have recommendation on college planning consulting services?

I'm talking about the top-of-the-line gilding package, not SAT preps.  I'm like to know how much it may cost and what they offer.  Thanks.
 
WillJoy said:
Does anyone have recommendation on college planning consulting services?

I'm talking about the top-of-the-line gilding package, not SAT preps.  I'm like to know how much it may cost and what they offer.  Thanks.
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Interesting, it sounded like you know everything when I read the harvard thread.

 
WillJoy said:
Does anyone have recommendation on college planning consulting services?

I'm talking about the top-of-the-line gilding package, not SAT preps.  I'm like to know how much it may cost and what they offer.  Thanks.
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Though my kids are 6th and 4th grade now, I joined a lot of seminars already.

The typical price range for consulting service is about 20K ~ 25K if starting from 8th grade summer, around 12K if starting from 10th grade summer. Yes, it is very expensive.
 
eyephone said:
WillJoy said:
Does anyone have recommendation on college planning consulting services?

I'm talking about the top-of-the-line gilding package, not SAT preps.  I'm like to know how much it may cost and what they offer.  Thanks.
Click to expand...

Interesting, it sounded like you know everything when I read the harvard thread.
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Hardly. I was just google-translating what I got from wechat.
 
kiki said:
WillJoy said:
Does anyone have recommendation on college planning consulting services?

I'm talking about the top-of-the-line gilding package, not SAT preps.  I'm like to know how much it may cost and what they offer.  Thanks.
Click to expand...

Though my kids are 6th and 4th grade now, I joined a lot of seminars already.

The typical price range for consulting service is about 20K ~ 25K if starting from 8th grade summer, around 12K if starting from 10th grade summer. Yes, it is very expensive.
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Thanks but just so you know, your generous info has just hurt me twice in the same spot: I am late in the game, and moonlighting for Uber is obviously not a viable solution.
 
I remember someone posted a while back about some guy that had a sliding scale depending on the results.  Do these outfits give any sort of minimum guarantees?  Hopefully, not to IVCC.  :p


kiki said:
Though my kids are 6th and 4th grade now, I joined a lot of seminars already.

The typical price range for consulting service is about 20K ~ 25K if starting from 8th grade summer, around 12K if starting from 10th grade summer. Yes, it is very expensive.
Click to expand...
 
Specifically, I'd like to know (as I'm too lazy and reluctant to find out myself) whether this type of service would direct you at certain activities or even provide activities that would boost you point on extra curricular activities.

I worry that I would sign up only to discover that I have to do most of the leg work and none of the recommended list of activities would stand out, such as packing pumpkins at Albertson's for charity.

I heard that some company would organize trips overseas for students. How is going on a fancy trip going to help the college application? What if we can't afford such extravagance?
 
WillJoy said:
Specifically, I'd like to know (as I'm too lazy and reluctant to find out myself) whether this type of service would direct you at certain activities or even provide activities that would boost you point on extra curricular activities.
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Yes, they will organize everything for you. So  parents can start anytime even as early as 6th grade. But some activities will charge extra.
20 years ago my (white) classmate told me he spent 4.5K for this kind of service. It is real inflation.
 
Yes, please do share. I promise my kid won't be competing against yours as I can't afford the service anyway. I just want to know what a $17-mil mansion looks like. Thanks.
 
Is this the type of stuff you've learned in the seminars/consulting services?  I hope you're not spending 5 figures for it...

kiki said:
That matches what I heard. Take Spanish as second language. Take sports outside golf, tennis ans swimming. Choose music instruments for marching band (probably too many kids already). Do not emphasize on careers as doctors or engineers.
 
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I wonder how effective this 'packaging' can be in real life. I'd expect the admission offices to distinguish the type of credentials money can buy from those a kid will have to earn through his/her own ingenuity and weigh these differently.

I also wonder how admission offices interpret the meaning of 'leadership'. Do I have to be the president of a club what 'leads' a crowd, or can I just focus on an interest by directing/leading myself? Sadly, sometimes (as my wife would often complain about how I don't pay attention to this topic) the college application process seems to have evolved into a self-promoting/bragging contest. Maybe one day it will take into account of the number of your FB likes and twitter followers. Or maybe they do that already?







 
bones said:
Is this the type of stuff you've learned in the seminars/consulting services?  I hope you're not spending 5 figures for it...

kiki said:
That matches what I heard. Take Spanish as second language. Take sports outside golf, tennis ans swimming. Choose music instruments for marching band (probably too many kids already). Do not emphasize on careers as doctors or engineers.
 
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Those are gossip between orchestra parents after seeing so many star students in Irvine.
Consultants will not get paid by gossip. They make money by "decorating" kids.
 
WillJoy said:
I wonder how effective this 'packaging' can be in real life. I'd expect the admission offices to distinguish the type of credentials money can buy from those a kid will have to earn through his/her own ingenuity and weigh these differently.

I also wonder how admission offices interpret the meaning of 'leadership'. Do I have to be the president of a club what 'leads' a crowd, or can I just focus on an interest by directing/leading myself? Sadly, sometimes (as my wife would often complain about how I don't pay attention to this topic) the college application process seems to have evolved into a self-promoting/bragging contest. Maybe one day it will take into account of the number of your FB likes and twitter followers. Or maybe they do that already?
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When I do college interviews, nothing screams more inauthentic than the fancy "volunteer" trip to some third world country so the kid can say they experienced poverty first hand and write their college essay on it. And ummm, most if not all college admissions people can see right through "decorating". But hey, if spending five figures to decorate your kid makes you sleep better at night, by all means :)
 
Why did you go to Africa and work with the poor?
So I can get in your school or somewhere equivalent.
So you didn't do it because you wanted the world to be a better place or some form of inner altruism?
No, the only reason I did it was to get in your school, but something happened to me while I was over there.  I realized how poor the world can be and it opened my eyes to my own selfishness and taught me what is most important in life.
And what is that?
MONEY!~~~~HELL YEAH!!!!..<<dance around the interviewer>>
 
zubs said:
Why did you go to Africa and work with the poor?
So I can get in your school or somewhere equivalent.
So you didn't do it because you wanted the world to be a better place or some form of inner altruism?
No, the only reason I did it was to get in your school, but something happened to me while I was over there.  I realized how poor the world can be and it opened my eyes to my own selfishness and taught me what is most important in life.
And what is that?
MONEY!~~~~HELL YEAH!!!!..<<dance around the interviewer>>
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Interviewer: Come right in!
 
bones said:
WillJoy said:
I wonder how effective this 'packaging' can be in real life. I'd expect the admission offices to distinguish the type of credentials money can buy from those a kid will have to earn through his/her own ingenuity and weigh these differently.

I also wonder how admission offices interpret the meaning of 'leadership'. Do I have to be the president of a club what 'leads' a crowd, or can I just focus on an interest by directing/leading myself? Sadly, sometimes (as my wife would often complain about how I don't pay attention to this topic) the college application process seems to have evolved into a self-promoting/bragging contest. Maybe one day it will take into account of the number of your FB likes and twitter followers. Or maybe they do that already?
Click to expand...

When I do college interviews, nothing screams more inauthentic than the fancy "volunteer" trip to some third world country so the kid can say they experienced poverty first hand and write their college essay on it. And ummm, most if not all college admissions people can see right through "decorating". But hey, if spending five figures to decorate your kid makes you sleep better at night, by all means :)
Click to expand...

So your telling me, that you discredit people who volunteer and help people in third world countries?

To me volunteering to build a school or volunteering to dig a well for water is greater experience than someone volunteering to pick up trash at Santa Monica beach.
 
In Shanghai and Beijing there are many College consultants, They are Americans with ties and history with the top ranking schools. They have been very successful in creating convincing personas for their clients to convince admission officers. The cost to target the top 50 ranked colleges is $120k US with no guarantee results. A bonus of another $150k will guarantee one acceptance to one of the top 50 colleges on the Forbes list. Locally, kids at their freshmen years college consultants start creating staged internet trails and Facebook accolades with purchased "likes" for the kids resume. Annually 8,000 Chinese foreign students are expelled from US universities for cheating and failing grades.
 
eyephone said:
bones said:
WillJoy said:
I wonder how effective this 'packaging' can be in real life. I'd expect the admission offices to distinguish the type of credentials money can buy from those a kid will have to earn through his/her own ingenuity and weigh these differently.

I also wonder how admission offices interpret the meaning of 'leadership'. Do I have to be the president of a club what 'leads' a crowd, or can I just focus on an interest by directing/leading myself? Sadly, sometimes (as my wife would often complain about how I don't pay attention to this topic) the college application process seems to have evolved into a self-promoting/bragging contest. Maybe one day it will take into account of the number of your FB likes and twitter followers. Or maybe they do that already?
Click to expand...

When I do college interviews, nothing screams more inauthentic than the fancy "volunteer" trip to some third world country so the kid can say they experienced poverty first hand and write their college essay on it. And ummm, most if not all college admissions people can see right through "decorating". But hey, if spending five figures to decorate your kid makes you sleep better at night, by all means :)
Click to expand...

So your telling me, that you discredit people who volunteer and help people in third world countries?

To me volunteering to build a school or volunteering to dig a well for water is greater experience than someone volunteering to pick up trash at Santa Monica beach.
Click to expand...

That is why this poor Uni High student stood NO chance of getting into Harvard.http://m.ocregister.com/articles/song-664550-school-high.html

Everything was working against her:

1) Going to Uni ... Check
2) Asian ... Check
3) Plays Cello ... Check
4) Volunteered in Africa--Guaranteed rejection by Bones ... Check

 
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