How to choose a college counselor
By Leo Cao, CEO of Aristo Scholars · Updated
Choose a college counselor by checking four things before you pay: who exactly will work with your student, what their verified credential is, what the written scope and price are, and what they refuse to do.
A good counselor never guarantees admission, never writes any part of the application, and can tell you on a free first call where they would start with your student.
Book a free call with the counselor you choose
Who you would work with
17 counselors on the roster, each with a university credential verified against documents before their page went live.
- Advait Sharma: Data Science & Economics Student, UC Berkeley
- Ella Verde: Business Student, UC Berkeley
- Elsa Wendt: Business Administration Student, UC Berkeley
- Fatima Faisal: Integrative Biology and Political Science Student, UC Berkeley
- Hendry Xu: Computer Science + Math Student, Cornell
- Isabel Hosein: Human Biology Student, Stanford
- Maddie Alvendia Johnson: M.A., Education, Harvard
- Mason Kim: Political Science & Data Science Student, UC Berkeley
- Megana Madhurakavi: Economics and CS Student, Harvard
- Nick Cappelletti: Economics Student, UC Berkeley
- Ryan Cannon: Mechanical Engineering Student, UPenn
- Sabrina Huang: Math and Computer Science Student, Yale
- Samaira Gaind: Economics & Data Science Student, UC Berkeley
- Sebastien Annous: Business Administration Student, UC Berkeley
- Tanisha Patil: Computer Science Student, UC Berkeley
- Tushar Mehta: Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Student, UC Berkeley
- YAN YU: Master of Public Health (2028) Student, Brown
Seven questions to ask any college counselor
Ask these on the first call. A counselor worth hiring answers each one plainly.
- Who will my student actually work with, by name, and can we meet them first?
- What is your credential, and how was it verified?
- How many students do you take this cycle?
- What does the package cover, in writing: how many applications, how many essay reviews, how fast you reply?
- What is the price, and does it change depending on who we choose?
- Will you write or rewrite any part of the application? (The right answer is no.)
- Do you guarantee admission? (The right answer is also no.)
Red flags
Be wary of any counselor who promises admission, offers to write essays or claims an inside relationship with an admissions office. The Common Application treats submitting someone else's substantive work as your own as application fraud, and the Independent Educational Consultants Association's Principles of Good Practice forbid a consultant from writing or heavily editing a student's essays.
How Aristo Scholars answers those questions
At Aristo Scholars a family picks one counselor by name from the roster, and that counselor takes the free first video call. Every counselor is a current student or recent graduate of a selective university, confirmed against an offer letter or registrar's letter before their page goes live, and each states a cap on students per cycle. The scope and price are in the agreement before anyone pays, every counselor costs the same, and families have three business days to cancel in writing.
Questions families ask
- What credentials should a college counselor have?
- Look for a credential you can verify: a degree or current enrollment at a selective university, admissions-related experience, or professional training. Ask how the firm checked it. Aristo Scholars confirms each counselor's university against documents before their page goes live.
- Should a college counselor guarantee admission?
- No. Nobody can honestly guarantee admission to a selective college. Treat a guarantee as a reason to keep looking.
- Can I talk to a college counselor before paying?
- You should. At Aristo Scholars the first call is a free one-on-one video call with the counselor you choose, and nothing is decided on it.
Talk it through for free
The first call is a free one-on-one video call with the counselor you choose. You leave knowing what the work covers, what it does not and the price. How it works.
Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with any college named on this page and does not guarantee admission.