Best College Admissions Consultants Rankings Include the Worst
- By College Zoom
- In Consumer Alerts
Best College Admissions Consultant Rankings Include the Worst
• A Top Ranked College Admissions Consultant Tells All
• Numerous 'Top Ranked' Firms Are Actually Among the Worst Regarded in the College Admissions Industry
• How to Read Company Insider Reviews That Expose Poorly Regarded Firms
• Affiliate Marketing Companies Are Behind Some of the Most Visible 'Top' College Consultant Rankings
• Don't Be Fooled by Business Insider, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, or Inc. Features
• Importance of Truly Independent Customer Reviews and Where to Find them
• How to Quickly Find the Best College Consultants For You
A "Top Ranked" College Admissions Consultant Tells All
As of 2025, College Zoom has been ranked on 10 different publications' ‘top ranked’ lists naming the best college admissions consultants. However, being listed isn’t always the badge of honor it seems. While we obviously appreciate the visibility, some of the most notorious and poorly regarded firms are included on many of these 'top' lists. We've never paid for rankings and have never solicited publications to rank us. So what standards determine who makes the list??
At times, our unpaid inclusion seemed designed to lend credibility to higher-ranked firms who commissioned the list or paid for better placement. In other cases, our unpaid inclusion was followed by invitations to sign affiliate deals in order to remain ranked or move up into a higher ranking. Sometimes, the payment request came upfront in order to appear at all.
What Families Should Know Before Trusting a “Top” List
The truth is that some of the most prominent “top ranked” college admissions consultant lists that have ranked us seem to have no interest in who the top consultants truly are. Rather, they are affiliate marketing, pay-for-placement schemes—dressed up, paid ads. Families who don’t read the ranking’s methodology where the affiliate or sponsor disclosure is located fall victim to it.
Did You Know?
Before 2021, there were virtually no public rankings of independent college admissions consultants. The industry was—and still is—dominated by solo practitioners and small, passionate boutique teams. Today, rankings have exploded—fueled in part by loopholes in platforms like ChatGPT that unintentionally trust and cite pay-to-play “best of” lists that disguise themselves as unbiased and independent recommendations, The rise of venture capital–backed college consulting firms with big marketing budgets has fueled the proliferation of "top lists" that all recycle the same firms. Meanwhile, smaller, independent consultants who provide better: pricing, client experiences, personalized attention, and more consistent admissions outcomes go unnoticed.
Of all the lists we've been included on, only one publisher cared enough to request a vetting interview with us before including us in their list. They later proposed an affiliate partnership. We declined—and they still listed us. In every other case with other publishers we were de-listed. Among all the ranking platforms, AcademicInfluence made the strongest attempt at journalistic integrity and transparency.
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AcademicInfluence is the only publisher to have ever sought an interview prior to ranking us. Every other list skipped that step. Even so, some of the "top" college consultant firms listed alongside us have unscrupulous reputations within the industry and terrible GlassDoor reviews by current and former employees. Read GlassDoor reviews to see past exceptionally compelling, sleek but misleading company websites that even I find to be very convincing as a 16-year industry insider.
Look Beyond a College Admissions Consulting Firm's Website
Some of usual college admissions consulting firms that dominate 'top' rankings have incredibly sleek websites—but troubling reputations internally. Here's what employee reviews (not client reviews) often reveal:
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Undertrained recent grads acting as “college consultants”
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Little or no internal training or quality control, even if former admissions officers are contracted
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High staff turnover mid-season, leaving students unsupported
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Pressure to sell overpriced or unnecessary packages
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Internal quotas pushing counselors to make unrealistic promises
Here’s a real excerpt from an employee at a “top-rated” firm with a self-claimed 98% success rate:
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The Legitimacy of a 98% Top-5 Choice Success Rate:
According to A Firm's Own Consultant.
GlassDoor Review Excerpt"...*Unrealistic Expectations: The second major issue [I have with my employer] is the tendency to overpromise families, suggesting that we can transform mediocre students into Ivy League acceptances. This creates a system of unreasonable expectations, setting up strategists to fail when students inevitably do not get into Ivy League schools.
*Target Demographic: We attract and pursue a very specific type of family, recent immigrants to the US from Asian countries and most of our families crave prestige and want to show off their children’s Ivy League acceptances to family members, friends, and co-workers. Unfortunately, many of our students are not suited for universities in the top 20, and we are aware of this. However, the marketing and sales teams often make it sound like we can perform miracles."
— Employee of a 'Top Ranked' Venture-Backed Firm
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As an independent platform where former employees review companies anonymously, Glassdoor is often more revealing than client-facing websites.
Transparency note: We have no financial or professional relationship with Glassdoor.
How to Vet a College Admissions Firm's Internal Dynamics Properly
🔍 Use Glassdoor Wisely
I recommend you:
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Visit Glassdoor.com
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Search the college admissions consulting firm’s name
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Look for patterns—not isolated rants
Ask yourself:
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Do employees feel ethically aligned with leadership?
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Is there high counselor turnover mid-application season?
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Are consultants full-time, trained professionals—or side-gig tutors?
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Yelp vs TrustPilot Reviews for College Admissions Consulting
Which Site Is Better for Honest, Client Feedback?
Yelp filters reviews more aggressively. In efforts to suppress potentially inauthentic reviews, a good amount of genuine, real feedback gets buried on Yelp. It’s a trade-off between quality and quantity.
Platform Review Filtering Level Solicited Reviews Allowed? Risk to Review Authenticity Yelp High (very aggressive) No High risk of real reviews being filtered out Trustpilot Low–Moderate Yes Lower filtering, but easier for biased reviews to appear Note: Trustpilot is more widely used by international audiences outside of the U.S., while Yelp remains more popular among U.S.-based customers. College admissions consulting firms emphasizing Trustpilot reviews often cater to international families and sometimes price their services shockingly higher than fair market value (charging what amounts to tourist pricing). While this is not universal, firms positioned for international clients often have higher pricing and worse success rates than those primarily serving local, U.S.-based families.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Use Yelp with the Right Filters
While most ranking sites lack transparency, Yelp often reflects the raw voices of families themselves. But you have to filter correctly:
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Visit Yelp.com
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Search for “college counseling” or “college consulting”
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Apply filters: “Highest Rated” or “Most Reviewed”
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Scroll past the ads to the organic results
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Expand your search to large cities (most firms work remotely now)
Note: Yelp’s internal “Recommended” algorithm isn’t a true ranking—it’s based on proprietary filters. The “Highest Rated” filter gives a better sense of public sentiment.
Transparency note: College Zoom ranks highly organically in Los Angeles but encourages families to find the best local or remote fit. We also have no paid or sponsored affiliation with Yelp.
College Consultant Red Flags to Watch For
Be cautious if a college admissions consulting firm:
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Highlights international scale or a large team of consultants—which, for larger firms, often signals diminished personalized attention, lack of consistent oversight, and low consultant accountability.
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Won’t explain its success rate methodology. Some firms restrict which colleges students can apply to—to boost their own published success rate. This is rarely disclosed upfront.
- Makes the primary consultant someone who is juggling another demanding career
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Has lawsuits or legal disputes you can search online
What the College Admissions Consulting Industry Looks Like Behind the Curtain
According to the 2023 CollegePlannerPro Independent Educational Consultant Survey:
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75% of college consultants are solo practitioners
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20% have teams of 2–5 consultants
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Only 5% have 6 or more consultants
The “top lists” that favor larger companies often ignore this reality. It’s like ranking therapists based on the number of offices they run rather than how well they help patients.
In Summary: Be Thoughtful, Not Impressed
Choosing a college consultant is not about being dazzled by brand names or search rankings—both are manufactured attempts to overinflate their reputation. It’s about finding someone who understands your child, builds their confidence, and knows how to help them shine.
We’re proud of our track record—but we’d rather you find the right fit, not just the loudest name.
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