College Admissions Guru

Pricing/Services

Yearly Comprehensive Package $6000

The $7,500 Yearly Package starts January 1 of your junior year and lasts through the application cycle. It includes everything from exploring and choosing your schools to deciding on your personal "college narrative" to brainstorming, editing and revising your essays to strategizing extraccuriculars and projects to answering any ad hoc questions. Younger students start any time!
Hourly Service [5/hr min] $200

The $250/hr Hourly Service is entirely bespoke. Not sure you're going to need a full year of services or--God forbid--you're starting the process very, very late? You can choose to work with me on an hourly basis. Let me know what area you want me to focus on or what specific questions you have, and I can present a plan for moving forward.
The "One-Month Sprint" Package 2000

This $2,500 package gets you one month of comprehsive service. Getting down to the wire? Just want to to get focused and get done? This is the package for you. Let's get this application out of the way so you can enjoy senior year!
Grads Students/You Tell Me

If you're a grad student, pricing depends on what you're applying for and how many schools. Let's talk! Also, if you're a college applicant but have something else in mind, feel free to reach out and set up a meeting to discuss!

I Believe in 100% Transparency

Let me start by not hiding the ball. I offer a comprehensive package that takes you from the moment you sign up junior year until your final acceptance is in hand. No hourly limits. No black-out dates. We just work till the job is done and done right. (See above for service options.)

Admittedly, $6,000 is a lot of money. So I don’t take charging this much lightly. But I have two main reasons I believe I am well worth the price.

As you’ll see, in college consulting, $5,000 is actually kind of a steal
What you get from me vs. what you get from “the other guys”

The “Other Guys”

Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of good college consultants out there–I know “the other guys.” I like “the other guys. I’ve worked for “the other guys.” But they charge A LOT and they do things differently than I do. I’ve seen their processes from the inside and I’ve done the research–and research you must because most of these companies will not list their prices online so as not to immediately scare you off.

From Menlo’s website:

For our comprehensive service, you can expect to pay a sum in the low five figures. Working with us is a significant investment in your future. [I mean, I guess it’s good it’s not the high five figures…]

According to the same Vox.com article above:

“Top Tier Admissions, a Massachusetts–based college consulting firm, charges [Mother of God…] $18,000 for its four-day college application boot camp.”

From Best College Admissions Consultants:

Ivy Coach’s services are undeniably on the higher end of the spectrum… Their “Unlimited Package” … is priced at [hold on to your hats…] over $100,000.

What Do You Get for All This?

Beyond sticker-shock? Well, I can’t speak to ALL other companies, but I have worked for several of them… and here’s what I’ve seen:

The CEO/bigwig of the company meets the student, gives her a questionnaire, makes the sale… then passes her off to a recent college grad with 0-1 year of experience…
Some companies “guarantee” results. How do they do this in an increasingly complex admissions environment? They let you apply to several top-tier schools they don’t believe you’re a fit for, then pressure/cajole you into applying to a lesser school you have no intention of attending, which they (probably) can guarantee.
To maximize profit, most companies take on AS MANY STUDENTS as they can get through the door–regardless of their capacity to do a complete and thorough individualized job for each new student. In short, students = $$$.

The “CAG Difference”?

I like games as much as the next person. (Have you played Civilization 6? It’s amazing), but when it comes to business relationships and pricing strategies: I don’t play games or bait & switch.

When you sign up with CollegeAdmissionsGuru.com you’re signing up with me–a deeply experienced MFA graduate and college admissions expert with 10+ years’ experience and a proven track record, not a 23-year-old fresh out of college. I keep my operation small by design, so I can provide the most useful, personalized college admissions guidance.

“The other guys” use the conveyor belt system; College Admissions Guru is “artisanal. Set up a FREE consultation now.

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