If you have the means to hire one, an independent admission consultant can be a major gamechanger for your college search and applications. However, choosing a college admission consultant isn’t easy—there’s a lot on the line, and the options can be overwhelming. That’s why we’re here to offer you some recommendations! We’ve used a set of objective criteria to highlight five impressive college admission consulting firms in the United States. These rankings can help you think critically about what each firm offers to find one that fits your needs and actually delivers.
Evaluation criteria for consulting firms
First, let’s break down our ranking criteria. We evaluated college admission consulting firms using five key categories:
Web presence
A strong web presence shows an admission consulting firm's credibility and the quality of resources they provide. We used five different search terms to determine each firm’s web presence:
- College admissions consultants
- College admissions consulting
- College admissions counselors
- Best college admissions consultants
- Top college admissions consultants
We then averaged where each firm showed up in the search results for all five terms and scored them as follows:
- Within the top 10 results (the first page of Google): 5 points
- Between 10–25: 4 points
- Between 25–40: 3 points
- Between 40–60: 2 points
- Over 60: 1 point
Client feedback
The top college admission consultants produce great results, and client reviews tell the real story. Checking only third-party review sites like Trustpilot, Yelp, Google, and more, we looked at both the number and quality of reviews to get a feel for overall client satisfaction. The number of reviews scores as follows:
- 200+ reviews = 5 points
- 100–200 reviews = 4 points
- 41–100 reviews = 3 points
- 10–40 reviews = 2 points
- Less than 10 reviews = 1 point
We then averaged the number of points received with the average review score out of 5 and rounded the score to the nearest whole number. So if a firm scored a 3 for the number of reviews but scored a perfect 5 on the review platform, their overall feedback score would be 4.
Related: Top 6 Things to Know Before Hiring a College Consultant for Your Student
Transparent outcomes
Transparency in client results is key. We prioritized firms that openly share their track records and success stories, showing they can truly deliver on college acceptance. The scores below are based on how many times (x) better a firm's acceptance rate is compared to the national average. A bonus point is then awarded for any third-party oversight or verification of these results.
-
More than 10x = 5 points
-
5–9x = 4 points
-
3–4x = 3 points
-
1–3x = 2 points
-
No published results = 1 point
-
Independent verification of results = +1 bonus point
Size and experience of team
The expertise of any team is crucial. We reviewed the size of the consulting firm's team and whether they have real admission experience at colleges or just basic knowledge. Due to the value of real-world experience, firms with many former admission officers received a higher ranking, as it stands to reason that the best college admission consultants would be former admission officers. Averaging scores for team size and experience gives us the total team score.
Size of team:
-
51+ consultants = 5 points
-
11–50 consultants = 4 points
-
6–10 consultants = 3 points
-
3–5 consultants = 2 points
-
1–2 consultants = 1 points
Experience of team:
-
20+ former admission officers (FAOs) = 5 points
-
11–19 FAOs = 4 points
-
5–10 FAOs = 3 points
-
3–4 FAOs= 2 points
-
1–2 FAOs = 1 point
-
0 FAOs = 0 points
Knowledge sharing
Firms that share knowledge freely through blogs, videos, or webinars show a commitment to staying up to date and helping others, not just making money. We looked for the presence of blogs and YouTube channels, scoring the firms based on posting frequency and audience size. Averaging the blogging and YouTube scores gives us the total knowledge-sharing score.
Blogging score (based on cadence/regularity of posts):
-
Weekly posts = 5 points
-
Posts every two weeks to a month = 4 points
-
Posts every month to six months = 3 points
-
Posts less frequently than every six months = 2 points
-
No blog = 1 point
YouTube score (based on number of subscribers):
-
More than 10,000 subscribers = 5 points
-
1,000–9,999 subscribers = 4 points
-
250–999 subscribers = 3 points
-
1–249 subscribers = 2 points
-
No YouTube channel = 1 point
Related: A Look at College Admission From a Top Official
5 impressive college admission consulting firms
With these factors in mind, let’s dive into the rankings and share some of the best consulting firms to help you along your college admission journey.
1. Solomon Admissions Consulting
Solomon Admissions Consulting is based in New York but works with applicants at schools nationwide. They specialize in high-stakes consulting and excel at assisting students with applications to Ivy League and other highly competitive schools. They received a final score of 4.9.
- Web presence (5): One of only two firms with a top 20 ranking for all our search terms, with an average ranking of 8.8 (first page of search results)
- Client reviews (5): More than 230 Trustpilot reviews and an excellent average star rating of 4.9 out of 5
- Outcomes (5): 5.3x improved acceptance rate, plus a bonus point for having an independent accounting firm verifying these results
- Team (5): Very large team of admission consultants (5), with most or all consultants having former admission office experience at top schools (5)
- Knowledge sharing (4.5): Blog posts made approximately once a week (5) and over 30 YouTube videos and 6,600+ subscribers (4)
2. Empowerly
Empowerly is headquartered in California but provides services to students across the country. They offer personalized guidance and have a strong admission consulting track record, leading to an overall score of 4.4.
- Web presence (5): The second of only two firms with a top 20 ranking for all our search terms, with an average ranking of 5.4 (first page of search results)
- Client reviews (5): 219 Trustpilot reviews and an excellent average star rating of 4.9 out of 5
- Outcomes (5): 11x success rate increase for clients, placing them among the top firms on our list for this metric; no third-party verification
- Team score (3): Reasonably large team of admission consultants (4), but only a small amount of former admission office experience at top schools (2)
- Knowledge sharing (4): Very active blog with multiple posts per week (5) and a YouTube account with more than 30 videos and 600+ subscribers (3)
Related: Video: College Essay Q&A With Expert Kim Lifton
3. IvyWise
IvyWise is located in New York and provides comprehensive college admission consulting services to students across the US and worldwide. They recognize that a strong application requires a holistic approach and received an overall score of 3.96.
- Web presence (4): Pretty good average ranking of 21.2 in Google search results
- Client reviews (3.3): 18 Trustpilot reviews and an average star rating of 4.5 out of 5
- Outcomes (4): 5x acceptance rate increase among clients
- Team (4.5): Reasonably large team of admission consultants (4), with all consultants having former admission experience at top schools (5)
- Knowledge sharing (4): Very active blog that posts two or three times a week (5) and a YouTube account with around 270 videos and 730+ subscribers (3)
4. Quad Education Group
Quad Education Group is based in New York. Their website advertises that they can “help you write stellar essays, ace interviews, and win scholarships,” and they earned an overall score of 3.9.
- Web presence (1): Average ranking of 94 in Google search results
- Client reviews (5): 449 RaveCapture reviews and an excellent average star rating of 5/5
- Outcomes (5): 11x success rate increase for clients, placing them among the top firms on our list for this metric; no third-party verification
- Team (4.5): A reasonably large team of admission consultants (4), with most or all consultants having former admission office experience at top schools (5)
- Knowledge sharing (4): Typically posts weekly blogs (4) with a YouTube channel featuring over 330 videos and 1,100+ subscribers (4)
5. The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review offers a wide range of services, including college admission consulting. They specialize in test preparation and personalized advising to help students gain entry to top colleges and universities, giving them a score of 3.64.
- Web presence (4): Pretty good average ranking of 21.2 in Google search results
- Client reviews (4.7): 2,029 Trustpilot reviews and an average star rating of 4.3 out of 5
- Outcomes (3): 4x improved acceptance rates among clients
- Team (2.5): Very large team of admission consultants (5), but no evidence of former admission office experience at top schools (0)
- Knowledge sharing (4): Many blog posts but no publishing dates to determine frequency (3) and a YouTube channel with nearly 600 videos and an impressive 42,000+ subscribers (5)
Related: What’s Your Best Advice for Filling Out My College Applications?
We hope this information gives you what you need to find the best college admission consulting firm for your needs and goals. It can also be used to evaluate other firms and consultants that you find during your college search. Whichever path you choose, we wish you the best of luck with your applications!
If you can’t afford professional consulting services, that’s okay! There are a lot of free resources available to help you get through admission, like Our Best Advice for Tackling Your College Applications.
