For most families, no. I sell this service and I will still tell you that. Hiring an outside adult does not change a transcript, and I know of no credible study showing that paid private admissions consulting raises a student's odds of being admitted anywhere. What a consultant can honestly offer is sequencing, cost clarity, and a second set of eyes on a list. Whether that is worth paying for comes down to three things: your list, your high school, and how much money actually separates your realistic options.
The rule I would give a neighbor: if the schools on your list admit most of the people who apply, if your high school has a counselor you can get real time with, and if the after-aid cost gap between your likely choices is small, you do not need to hire anyone, including me. When two or three of those are false, paying starts to make sense.
The strongest randomized test of individual college counseling I am aware of is Christopher Avery's NBER working paper from 2010. Researchers tracked 107 high-achieving, low-income seniors in 2006-07 and randomly offered 52 of them ten hours of individualized advising. The counseling had, in the paper's own words, "little or no effect on college application quality." Students offered counseling were 7.9 percentage points more likely to enroll at a Barron's "Most Competitive" college, and that difference was not statistically significant. More than a third of the students who accepted the counseling did not follow all of the advice.
That last line is the one I think about. Advice nobody acts on is worth nothing at any price. Students, that half of the work is yours, and no adult you hire can do it for you.
The other side of the research is encouraging for families who never hire anyone. Hoxby and Turner's randomized information experiment cost about $6 per student, reached 39,677 students, and produced 48% more applications submitted, students 56% more likely to apply to a peer institution, 78% more likely to be admitted to one, and 46% more likely to enroll in one. Six dollars of well-targeted information moved real outcomes.
Both of those studies looked at high-achieving students from low-income households, so neither one describes every family. What I take from them is narrow and it still holds: accurate information and follow-through are what moved the numbers, and both are available to you cheaply.
So when a consultant tells you their clients are admitted at higher rates, ask which study. I do not have one either.
The industry's standard argument is caseload, and it is partly fair. The American School Counselor Association reports a national ratio of 372 students per counselor in 2024-25 against its own recommendation of 250 to 1. NACAC's caseload research adds that public school counseling departments spend about 22% of their time on postsecondary counseling while private school departments spend 51%, with public school counselors averaging 405 students each in 2021-22.
Here is the part that costs me business. In 2024-25, Colorado was one of only four states meeting the 250 to 1 standard, at 247 students per counselor, alongside Vermont, New Hampshire and Hawaii. I work in Denver. If you are here, the first move is booking time with the counselor your taxes already pay for, and then booking it again. Come back to this page only if that does not get you what you need.
You will see a figure quoted for how many minutes of college advising the average public school student gets each year. I could not trace it to a primary source I can verify, so I will not repeat it here. You will also see that 26% of high achievers use an independent consultant. That comes from a Lipman Hearne survey of 1,264 students scoring 1150 or higher on the SAT or 25 or higher on the ACT, released in October 2009, and it is still passed around as though it were current. When a page hands you either figure with no date attached, ask where it came from before you let it scare you.
In every one of those, you are buying sequencing and cost clarity. You are not buying an outcome, and nobody can sell you one.
Do those six things, and if you feel settled, you are done. Do not call me.
The Independent Educational Consultants Association says most consultants charge, for a multi-year package, about one-ninth of premium fees, "with many charging just under $140/hour, about the same as a family therapist," and that the number of consultants in the world charging premium rates "can be counted on one hand." If you see a price range quoted somewhere else, check whether it names a source you can open.
Students write every word of their own essays and applications. I make no guarantee of admission or of financial aid. IECA tells families not to trust any offer of guarantees, and I agree with them.
My volunteer work with West Point Admissions is unpaid and entirely separate from this business. It gives me no access to or influence over any admissions decision anywhere, and it is not part of what I sell.
My documented mentoring track record is in graduate business school admissions, including Harvard Business School, the Harvard MS/MBA and Chicago Booth. I have no undergraduate client outcomes yet. A family that wants a long list of undergraduate results should hire someone else, and I will say the same thing on a call.
Ask five questions: are all fees in writing before I pay, do you accept money from colleges or programs, do you ever write or rewrite student essays, what happens if we are disappointed, and what are your undergraduate results and how do you know them. IECA is direct that ethical consultants never promise admission, never write student materials, and have no connections that get a student in.
The List Check is $295 one time: up to eight schools already on your list, program-level admit rates, real cost after aid, a reach, target and likely call, and a 20-minute debrief, credited in full toward any package within 60 days. The Roadmap is $1,495 one time and starts with a free 15-minute intro call. The Living Roadmap is $2,995 the first year, then $1,495 a year until graduation. That intro call is a fine place to hear that you do not need any of this. Denver-area families I meet in person, everyone else works with me virtually, by appointment.
I have not seen credible evidence that they do. The strongest randomized test I know of, Christopher Avery's 2010 NBER working paper, offered ten hours of individualized advising to 52 of 107 high-achieving, low-income seniors in 2006-07 and found little or no effect on college application quality. A 7.9 percentage point difference in enrolling at a Barron's Most Competitive college was not statistically significant, and more than a third of the students who accepted the counseling did not follow all of the advice. Any consultant claiming an admit-rate lift should be asked which study supports it. I do not have one.
Skip it if your list is mostly in-state publics and moderately selective schools, if your high school has a counselor with real availability, if you would need to borrow to pay the fee, or if the student will not do work between meetings. Pew Research Center found that of 1,364 four-year colleges analyzed, only 17 admitted under 10% of applicants in 2017, and 53.3% admitted two-thirds or more, so the selectivity panic that sells consulting does not describe most applications.
The Independent Educational Consultants Association says most consultants charge, for a multi-year package, about one-ninth of premium fees, with many just under $140 an hour, about the same as a family therapist, and that the consultants worldwide charging premium rates can be counted on one hand. Waypoint Admissions publishes flat prices: The List Check at $295 one time, The Roadmap at $1,495 one time, and The Living Roadmap at $2,995 the first year, then $1,495 a year until graduation.
Yes, and most families should. Run each school's net price calculator, which every institution taking federal student aid has been required to post since October 29, 2011. Pull program-level earnings and debt from College Scorecard and read its notes on which students are counted, read section C of each school's own Common Data Set for admit rates rather than trusting aggregators, file the FAFSA free at studentaid.gov, and book time with the school counselor with written questions in hand.
Usually not. Grades in college-prep courses were the top-rated factor in NACAC's survey of colleges, called of considerable importance by 79.2% of them, and no consultant changes a transcript. The money at stake is smaller too. College Board puts 2025-26 average total cost of attendance at $29,910 in-state at a public four-year against $62,570 at a private nonprofit four-year. Less money separating your options means less analysis worth buying.
Caseload and focus. The American School Counselor Association reports a national ratio of 372 students per counselor in 2024-25 against its recommended 250 to 1, and NACAC finds public school counseling departments spend about 22% of their time on postsecondary counseling versus 51% at private schools. I carry far fewer families than a school counselor does, so each one gets more hours. In Colorado, which met the recommended ratio in 2024-25 at 247 to 1, that gap is smaller than the national figures suggest.