<p>My daughter received the CAA letter, also - with her name misspelled. I got curious about the company, Googled it and found this place. Very interesting conversation. Some comments:</p>
<p>1 - I suspect CAA is legit. If someone’s been helped and they believe they got their money’s worth, then that’s fine. Someone brought up that they believe CAA is an offshoot of College Partners - which they may be. I’m checking my sources to see if there is a connection. </p>
<p>2 - Several people have indicated that all of the information is available for free and there is no need to get help in the college admissions and funding process. To those I ask simply how much funding did they get on their own and what are their results? I have been a college counselor for almost 20 years. I have been employed by private and public schools to provide my services, and have private clients. </p>
<p>It is true that most of the information people need about college admissions is free and available on the internet. I also will point out that all the information needed to perform a heart bypass, build a house, and submit an appeal to the Supreme Court is also free and available online, but I would recommend professional help before proceeding.</p>
<p>Although the information if free and available, the volume of information and the time required to master it is prohibitive. It takes several years to get one’s arms around the information. Some people can navigate it alone, but the vast majority of students and their parents cannot. A straight A student with 700 component SAT scores who doesn’t know how to navigate the system will not get as much funding as a solid B+ student who know how to dot the “i’s” and cross the “t’s.” </p>
<p>Most school counselors don’t know, don’t have time, or don’t care. There is a handful out there, but the majority of them can only give some generic advice to the mass of students he/she needs to help. And, by the way, school counselors are not necessarily “college” counselors. I can give you horror story after horror story where school counselors failed prime, competitive students. This is why I am often sought out to help. </p>
<p>Now, I charge a little bit more than CAA. I do, however, object to their high pressure sales - one time only - bit. There are a lot of scam artists out there and it gives legitimate people like me a bad name. </p>
<p>Also, in my other life, I am the Dean of a College Prep School with 18 satellite schools, and every one of my seniors last year got a scholarship to college. I gave them a lot of help. I’ll put my stats up against any other school. </p>
<p>So, what’s the reality? </p>
<p>1 - Some people can navigate the admissions maze on their own - a very small minority. </p>
<p>2 - The rest on us mere mortals could use some professional help. </p>
<p>3 - There are a lot of scam artists out there who prey upon people’s ignorance and fear.</p>
<p>By the way, I went to college 22 years; I have 2 doctorates, and only paid for ONE semester, so I know how to do this. I was a college professor for 16 years.</p>
<p>I just returned from Boston where I helped my wife transfer (yes, transfer) into Harvard (yes, THAT Harvard) to finish her last two years of her bachelors - on scholarship!</p>
<p>You know, give me a community college student and give me a 3.5 or higher, and join PTK, I can just about guarantee I can do the same for you.</p>
<p>Now, the information on how to do that is free and available on line. How many of you “experts” on this board knew that this is possible and how many of you know how to do this? </p>
<p>That’s why people need legit college consulting.</p>
<p>Dr. B.</p>