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Big Firms' Marketing May Get More Attention Than their Actual Clients

While Americans are often quick to judge international families for mistaking high prices as a sign of quality, American families themselves frequently fall into a different trap—confusing size with quality.

The belief that bigger firms are better often holds true in industries where scale brings clear advantages. Sectors such as insurance, automobile manufacturing, airlines, telecommunications, and utilities benefit from the ability of large companies to spread substantial fixed costs—like research, development, and infrastructure—across millions of customers. In these fields, size typically translates into greater efficiency, competitiveness, and resilience.

These industries are also highly regulated by government authorities to ensure safety, reliability, and consumer protection. Yet, there are always exceptions; for example, Spirit Airlines is a large player in the airline industry but is frequently criticized for poor service despite its size.

In contrast, college admissions consulting operates in a completely unregulated environment. Here, the advantages of scale do not apply in the same way. The quality of a result-oriented college consulting service depends far more on personalized, one-on-one attention, rapport building, expertise, and the ability to tailor guidance to each individual client—who are teenagers navigating formative years with under-developed pre-frontal cortexes. That’s why college admissions consulting, much like therapy, remains a largely “village industry” of skilled craftspeople—solo or small group practitioners dominate the field.

According to a 2023 CollegePlannerPro survey of Independent Educational Consultants:

- 75% are solo practitioners

- 20% have teams of 2–5 consultants

- Only 5% have 6 or more consultants

The largest 1% of college admissions consulting firms are unusual. They have been backed by tens of millions of dollars in venture capital in order to grow—aggressively. Unlike the giants of other regulated industries, these firms don’t have millions of pre-existing customers. Instead, they often charge high premiums—sometimes well above fair market value—and face pressure to deliver rapid profitability for investors. This growth-at-all-costs model can dilute quality and consistency.

For example, one company's press releases have celebrated its multi-million dollar funding round, highlighting claims of innovation and success, such as a proprietary client-consultant matching platform. However, some public employee reviews on Glassdoor allege that the platform is a bidding system that distributes student work—sold to families at a premium—to the lowest bidders, and that some of those providing services are graduates of top colleges now living in countries with lower labor costs, like India. Other reviews have cited internal disorganization, ambitious marketing that sets unrealistic expectations, and challenges in maintaining consistent service quality under aggressive growth targets.

Venture-backed college admissions consulting firms face a fundamental tension: achieving the scale and profitability demanded by investors requires standardized processes, yet effective college consulting is inherently bespoke. This is not a Software as a Service industry, college admissions consulting is driven by reputation and trust. The greatest risk these firms face is their inability to demonstrate convincingly higher acceptance rates relative to the amount each client spends. Thus, they face stiff competition from regional and boutique firms who deliver better local reputations, consistency, and results—for a lower cost.