Wednesday, March 19, 2014

What Makes a Great Admissions Counselor

College and professional school application counseling can be a huge difference-maker for millions of students. Though many are skeptical of the help that admissions counselors can provide to an applicant, there is demonstrable value added by those who are some of the best in the business.

One of the most effective models for admissions counseling is having a counseling team that gives you access to a graduate coach, who has successfully navigated the process himself/herself at the highest level, and a former admissions officer, who has made admit/deny decisions about candidates like you in the very recent past. inGenius Prep, a relatively new player in the admissions counseling business, utilizes this unique business model that very few others do and boasts an unrivaled team. The strategic perspective and insider knowledge about the admissions process that the former admissions officers provide is undoubtedly valuable.

Moreover, the student coaches (at inGenius Prep, these are all students from top schools) have significant counseling experience and are some of the best writers and editors in the world. With the student coach doing more of the day-to-day revision, commentary, and feedback and the former admissions officer overseeing the overall strategy, the system tends to work extremely well. Another benefit is that if students do not want or need such comprehensive application counseling, they can get more affordable services that are performed solely by the student coaches. These services underprice any similar service in the market and applicants to work with some of the most successful and qualified professional school students in the world.

According to David Mainiero, the head of the BA & JD Divisions at inGenius Prep, “student coaches are carefully vetted and submit academic writing samples, application writing samples, resumes, grades, and perform mock-counseling sessions with inGenius Prep’s leadership team before they are be hired. They then read hundreds of pages of our curriculum materials and go through hours upon hours of extensive training.”

Another important quality that inGenius Prep seeks, according to Mainiero, is that a graduate coach (or former admissions officer) genuinely enjoys helping students unlock their potential. For instance, one of inGenius Prep’s former admissions officers, Jana, said “I love helping applicants express their authentic personality through the application process.” It is this type of attitude that is a key indicator of a great counselor. Carolina, the Former Director of Recruitment at Yale Law School said, “I love making the admissions process more open and accessible by helping students with their applications . . .”

InGenius’s generous financial aid program for qualified students and its non-profit division (partnerships with Teach For America and the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance) will all help thousands of students achieve their goals.

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