One thing to remember is for the uber-wealthy, this is about saving time, to a great degree. Just like they may get a private jet, the hours in security and waiting for luggage are worth $$$ to them.
I have spent a huge amount of time and effort to learn how to (I hope) play the system well, if I made 20M a year, it would make way more sense for me to hire that out, and also not check in on my kids grades or that they appled to summer internships etc.
It would not happen. He wins mostly by starting with a solid product that requires lots of $$.
I mean it has never been about the smartest kids getting in.
Athletic recruits, legacy, being from a certain state or background all have played into admissions for a very very very long time.
And being good at school is different than being smart.
If one made $20mm/year youāre better off just writing a check for $10 million to the school of choice.
Yup. Why bother with something as pedestrian as a counseling service when you can go straight to the source with your cash.
From the article:
āRim says that over the past five years, 94 percent of Command clients have been accepted to one of their top-three schools, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Stanford, and MIT ā a statistic that appears in bold on the companyās website.ā
Thatās kind of a deceptive quote, and makes it sound like 94% get into one of these elite schools, which would be too good to be true. Some of his clients have to be aiming lower as far as their top three go given the raw material they have to work with.
Yes the piece goes on to note exactly that - they advise on the choices, so of course part of their job is to steer you to an achievable level.
Every time I read one of these articles it just reminds me that āmeritocracyā is a myth.
true, but that would be obvious and gauche
I had classmate, when I was doing undergrad at an ivy, whose name was on the library due to a 3rd great grandfather or such. Everyone knew this, kid knew everyone knew, I donāt think it was easy for them.
would have been better for kid if they secretly bought a lot of admissions advice and counseling
Not really IMO. No $ is going to the schools or their employees as far as we know. Nor is anything literally falsified as far as we know.
Do you equally object to someone charging $175/hour to tutor SAT math, help brainstorm essay ideas, advise on list curation, or do interview prep?
Iām sure you know that old saw, variously attributed, along the lines of āHaving already established what kind of person you are, we are now simply negotiating the cost.ā Not a perfect parallel of course.
But people and their money are easily parted. Including in rarified air.
Oh I know scads of them, including many who started in middle school. Same about ānot talking about itā - thatās definitely a thing. Donāt ask, donāt tell. But typically after the kid has acceptances in hand, your closest friend may come clean. You can usually tell because two years later theyāre recommending someone that āa friend used.ā
It being obvious is really the point. Paying a clown like the guy in the article is equally gauche but far less effective.
You ask that the donation be marked anonymous. My alma materās most recent capital campaign had three 9-figure donations that were anonymous. Obviously development (and admissionsā¦) know exactly who the donors are.
Fair point donation can be anonymous, but can you keep your kid from knowing? maybe, but probably not?
My real answer (not the pat one of āgaucheā) is that I believe that the parents want the kid to think they earned it. In all fairness, I think the kids getting coached probably do put in a lot of work. I think everyone agrees this guy is taking very good candidates and making them excellent (selection bias is only way he makes this work so well).
Being able to get even decent grades at Dalton (or whatever) is no jokeā¦and then you need to put in some effort to get them top. Even mediocre grades there are going to be harder than getting great grades at many (most?) public schools.
And the parents donāt want to tell other parents in their own circle / school because they know they are paying to leapfrog their friendās kids (or kidās friends) not some kid from rural SDā¦
That is all conjecture, obviouslyā¦
Id rather have them coached to death than paying others to take their SATsā¦which I am fairly sure some of my classmates from NYC did in the 90sā¦
AND i still think that amount of money spent is gross
Agreed.
How is it inequitable and unfair? Those who put in the work are getting better results. Sounds quite fair. It is not enough to be smart; you must do the work if you want to achieve the result.
They go to college, if that is what they want. There are colleges with near 100% acceptance rates - no matter your grades or your test scores, theyāll pretty much accept you if youāve managed to graduate. Everyone can find a place. If heās smart, heāll thrive once he develops the maturity and discipline to do so
I agree 100%. Making the donation is close a guarantee (all else being in reasonable order) as opposed to relying on a middleman of sorts. Itās also more direct.
I assume a fair number of people using these consultants can afford that pricetag but not the 20 milion donation.
Well 10 is the going rate for the highest priced schools 
But if you are willing to fork over $500k for a few years of this clown, then you are possessed of many millions (if not also insanity). You could also make it a multi year pledge to the school if you want to smooth out your outflows. Most schools explicitly allow 5 years (but count it as āoneā donation). And at high enough numbers theyāll happily extend that.
I am told it is 20. By someone in a position to know.
I am equally sure itās 10.
Might depend on the school? In any event, the process is so tragically broken. I always encourage applications overseas. More predictable. Less likely to be gamed.