The role of the independent admissions counselor is to help the student be admitted to the best possible school for him or her.

Fortunately, with advanced technology, the Internet, Zoom calls, and the ability to share documents via email, all of the coaching for Reams College Consulting is done virtually so a student can be anywhere in the world and receive help.

The counselor and the student will pick times that are mutually agreeable whether they are in the mornings, afternoons or evenings and whether they are on a weekday or a weekend.

Since Reams College Consulting is limited to the number of students we are able to help, the sooner a student applies for help, the better chance he or she will have of being accepted and matched with a counselor.

Usually an initial consultation can be arranged within the first three days after you contact us.

Of course, we usually chat on the phone before we have the initial consultation so you may ask your questions then.

Over 95% of our students are applying to universities in the United States. This, of course, includes our international students who are applying to US schools. Occasionally, we have a student who wishes to take a gap year abroad, and we can help with that. However, more students decide to study abroad their junior year.

The number of hours that your student will need help depends on how many colleges to which the student is applying. The majority of my students who are applying to at least ten schools need at least 25 hours of help. If a student is only applying to five schools, sometimes 12-13 hours will be enough. Since the Common App allows a student to apply to as many as 20 schools, sometimes more than 25 hours are needed. That would be 25 hours of the counselor’s time. However, the student will spend many more hours composing essays, answering questions, researching, visiting, etc.

Absolutely, since we have been in operation for the last 11 years, we will be happy to email you a document listing the schools to which our student have been accepted.

Primarily, the number of hours a student will need is determined by how many schools to which he is applying, but other variables are involved such as how much help he might need with his essays, resume, etc. as well as the ranking of the colleges to which he is applying. For instance, the more elite schools require the student to write more supplemental essays.

All sessions are conducted on Zoom.

We help students select which colleges to add to their list based on which colleges specialize in their area of interest and if a student has a chance of being admitted to a particular school. We help the student find a good balance of reach, match, and safety schools.

I supply each student with an Excel file on which they list all the colleges to which they are applying and the information for each college such as location, phone number for the admissions office and regional representative, 25-75% SAT or ACT scores for acceptance, tuition, acceptance rate, etc. We work together researching this bank of information.

Absolutely, various scholarships are available determined by need or merit and are offered based on various criteria such as local, state of national; individual colleges; majors, etc. Usually, we research these together, and we help students with their application essays. Most of our students who apply receive partial scholarships, often from the colleges to which they apply. And sometimes, like Randy, our students receive a full-tuition, four-year scholarship to the college of their choice.

We have helped many students apply and receive internships as well as acceptances in summer programs.

Yes, indeed. Having served on the Duke University Interview Committee for 30 years, I am compiled a list of questions that the colleges like to ask students. We usually have two prep sessions before the student goes for his interview. I critique him, offering suggestions about content and delivery so he improves dramatically and excels at his interviews.

Yes, we both research admissions statistics so the student will have a good idea about what his chances are of getting accepted at a certain college. For instance, he will know that Duke’s acceptance rate is 8% whereas the University of Kentucky’s acceptance rate is 96%.

No counselor in his right mind can guarantee admission into any particular college. The counselor, however, based on the GPA, test scores, etc., can give the student a reasonable expectation of what his chances might be of being accepted at any particular school.

Yes

A counselor will usually not be working with more than 20 upcoming seniors at a time but usually can accommodate another 20 underclassmen since they will require fewer hours of time.

Some parents choose to be involved in helping with the process, and others leave it up entirely to the counselor. I have had some parents who like to be on the Zoom weekly sessions and some who like to research colleges and scholarships. Obviously, most parents will be involved in arranging visits to the various colleges.

All parents will receive copies of all documents and emails shared between the counselor and the student as well as an Excel timesheet document listing the hours spent so they will be kept abreast of everything, but it will be entirely up to the parent how involved they wish to be in the meetings. The parent should feel free to email the counselor concerning any questions they might have.

95% of our help goes to students applying for undergrad schools although we can help with prep school admissions, and recently we tutored students who were applying for admission as ninth graders into a private school (and they got accepted).

Yes, it seems recently we have been inundated with more requests from students applying to graduate schools so we can offer specific advice, especially for those applying to law school or medical school.