Why I Do This

I was recently asked about the prices I charge for my college admissions guidance services and whether families should assume a direct relationship between cost and quality of work. Essentially, the more you charge the better the work.  

This assumption is certainly understandable and led me to examine why I decided to start my own business in the first place. 

Like most folks who decide to hang their proverbial shingle, my reason to do so is rooted in personal experience. Now before you think this tale is turning into a B-Side from Born to Run, I should let you know that I was a middle-class kid through and through; my mom was an elementary school teacher and my dad worked as a state employee. I attended a small public high school north of Austin, Texas that had a solid reputation both academically and athletically (my senior year, our school was even awarded the Lone Star Cup for 2A high schools, an honor given to the Texas school  with the most points scored in sanctioned sports, academic, and performing arts competitions). 

With all this seeming success, our school only had one counselor and I only saw her rarely. Even for a graduating class of about 85, she could only do so much, a reality I acknowledge more and more as time goes by. 

I can’t remember college reps visiting during the school day; in fact we had more visits from military recruiters  than colleges. I attended a college fair in the cavernous Frank Erwin Center (former home to Texas Longhorns basketball) and remember grabbing materials from mostly in-state schools (public and private) as well as a few SEC universities. I ended up attending a small liberal arts college in Arkansas that offered a full-tuition scholarship and while the experience on the whole was fine I kept asking myself if I made the right decision, regardless of the financial aid package. 

Fast-forward several years to when I was hired to work for Franklin & Marshall College, a highly selective liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. Now when I began visiting high schools, I saw the stark differences among independent, high-resourced public schools, community-based organizations (CBOs), and public schools in middle and lower-middle class areas. Enrollment management leaders often talk about the “barbell effect” in admissions, where colleges and universities, either through their recruitment strategies or financial aid structures, struggle to cater both ends of the spectrum while everyone else in the middle gets squeezed out. 

So, now as an independent consultant, why exactly do I charge so little, relatively speaking? As one of the only consultants working today who has both relevant and recent experience in highly selective college admissions from the college side, I could  charge a whole lot more.  

I choose not to because there are thousands of high schools not dissimilar to the one I attended that have bright and passionate students but with staff members who have little to no formal, professional experience in the college search process. School counselors are already expected to keep multiple plates spinning while dealing with student behavioral/social issues as well as overbearing administrators and overzealous state, local, and federal governmental officials. 

Quality college admissions advice offered by someone who has actually reviewed applications and sat on review committees recently should not be a luxury good. Furthermore, it shouldn’t also be peddled for free by reckless influencers or parents whose kids got into the “right colleges.” 

That’s why my approach offers a balance of solid information designed for widespread affordability and accessibility coupled with more personalized guidance.