Parents are hiring pricey consultants to help kids get into college
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 มี.ค. 2024
- Many high school students are starting to get their acceptance or rejection letters from colleges. While it can be a stressful time for families, it's fueling a $3 billion industry of independent educational consultants with some parents spending $120,000 on services. NBC’s Morgan Radford reports for TODAY.
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#college #highschool #students
Rigged. This isn't about meritocracy. It is about who can afford to buy their kid a spot at an elite school. If you can donate a lot of money to a school, and you are friends with the chancellor, your kid gets in.
🎯🎯
Hasn’t it always been like that?
@@seadragon1456 Now, they've thrown in "identity politics". Enjoy the flight! Good luck with the surgery.
@@user-lvqk2wdp8sjn The former is still happening alive and well.
This in part is actually sanctioned admissions policy. It's called "legacy admissions".
It's nothing but systematic privilege streamlined.
Here's the thing.... people are putting a massive interest on "getting there" but no one seems to care if the kid is going to succeed once they get there
This. Some of these schools are intentionally brutal and academically rigorous, and some of the students are so Type A and competitive it actually hurts their health. Parents just want that shiny “elitist” glow that comes with an Ivy League degree.
I really shouldn’t have wasted my time and my parents money on college 22 years ago
@@catherga nahhh. that might have been the case 30 years ago. Now there's rampant grade inflation. It's about paying tuition and turning in assignments. Anyone can do that.
Elites and Oligarchs thriving.
Yup! When will we learn.
We need to stop giving schools power based on their exclusivity. A kid who is brilliant and hard working will do great regardless of what school they attend. Giving Harvard credit for making already successful students into successful professionals is bonkers.
How sad and desperate and pathetic
So he’s…………. just a high priced scammer????????🤔🤔
Exactly
Right!? How you don’t know my child had a chemistry exam? Shouldn’t you be tracking all classes, assignments, and extra-curricular activities?
$120k a year services. So...targeting rich families?
pretgy much right, not even upper middle class but SUPER WEALTHY
The issue with this article is it feeds the frenzy in college admission. It again focuses on the most highly rejective (selective) institutions in this country and ignores the fact that over 70% of colleges and universities admit the majority of students who apply. There is no shortage of space at most of the colleges and universities in the United States. There are fabulous options beyond those that only admit 3.5% of the students that apply.
Yeah but do those 70% of colleges guarantee lucrative careers for their students after they graduate? Or do those students graduate from these "colleges" and go right into flipping burgers?
Absolutely! Every 12th grader I know is getting into more than one college that they like AND can afford. Even private colleges have scholarships above what the federal government gives. This “problem” only effects people preoccupied with getting their kids into an elite brand named college.
If parents have that kind of money to try to get their child into a school, it’s not going to make a difference whether or not they go to a school with a 100% acceptance rate or a 3% acceptance rate.
More proof we need to tax the super rich.
More proof these kids do not need to go to college. They can't pay their loans but they pay to get into college???
Until then, services like this ARE their tax.
@@ronswanson1204 If your net worth is higher than mine will you pay me the balance?
The rich already pay most of the taxes!!!
As a college graduate, I gotta say, it's not that serious. A degree's a degree no matter where it comes from whether it's Harvard, Stanford, University of Massachusetts, University of Michigan, or wherever.
I’d love to do your hair and makeup!
Its not about the degree, its about the connections
@@diplomatamaravilhosa2813 Bingo! While you're trying to raise Capital by Speaking to a Zillion Middle Managers... people @ this level pick up the Phone on a 3 way call... with the CEO of the Company & The Head of the Hedge Fund! The Real Glass Ceiling right there!
As a college graduate, myself, I disagree.
If you're going for a highly competitive job, I can GUARANTEE you that, all things being equal, prospective employers will take a person who earned a 4.0 at Harvard over someone who earned a 4.0 at the University of Idaho. Note: I'm not knocking the UI or criticizing anyone who attended that school. I'm just using it as an example. NAME MATTERS.
It does matter. Elite schools have stronger and larger alumni networks. Those network connections are the keys that they were able to secure the well paid jobs in a highly competitive job market.
The better answer is apprentice trade jobs. There you will earn while you work. Plus, you will get a two-year degree. There is no guarantee that you will have a job when you graduate.
That is really true for a lot of people. So many kids go to college to fulfill someone else's expectations and realize too late that it's not for them; by that point they're often tens of thousands in debt. Apprenticeships need to be more visible options in HS guidance counselors' offices, etc.
@@nychellebrewer literally me right now and that “someone” is not even walking the face of this earth anymore. Dear God help us all.
If someone wanted to become a doctor, a nurse, a dentist, an engineer, they can't go to trade school....
@@user-sg8kq7ii3y The average medical school debt is over $200,000, a hefty amount of debt to carry at the start of your career. The expected payoff schedule is over 20 years, and during that time, you'll be paying the equivalent of an extra mortgage payment to make progress on the loan. Plus, no doctor wants to practice in rural areas. By the time you finish paying off student loan. The apprentice will have no debt and a 2-year degree. Colleges don't want to hear about you. Taking trade school.
Trades are rubbish nowadays lots of unemployment and u have to be good to keep ur job u can’t be a shetty worker u gotta enjoy it.
It’s unethical business like this that give good college counselors a bad name. @today show should do better journalism and interview someone from IECA or HECA, which requires ethical standards of its professionals.
So working hard, studying and discipline are enough anymore?
Why are we acting as if they’re only starting this now?
What ever happened to trade school
Not everyone wants to be a plumber, a welder, or work on an oil rig.
@@paris6785 those aren't the only trades. Sonographers, radiographers, HVAC, even dental hygienists are considered trades
@@paris6785Exactly. Everyone wants to work in an office, store or with computers. Open the borders.
Community college
Varsity Blue still going on…
Nothing new…
Boy! I am glad I live in Canada
You must be a college administrator, professor or landlord.
@@user-lvqk2wdp8sjn Or a non-person of color.
Your taxes are insane 15 % when you buy anything . Your schools are not very good with very very few exceptions
If you need to pay 6 figures or multiple 6 figures to get your child accepted to college, your child is going to spend 4 years partying on $80k/year and too hungover to learn anything or valuably network with anyone. Plain and simple.
You only need college if you are becoming a lawyer, teacher, doctor (Medical field), engineering and Accountant. Everything else is a high risk- low reward
Exactly. Go to trade school, like plumber, electrician, welding, HVAC, etc. Skip college.
Investment banking, project manager, equity research, health care consultant, any job at the CDC, chemist, physicist, astrophysicist, astronomer, etc
Plenty of jobs outside of those fields require a degree. People that have this kind of money to spend on the application process aren't sending their kids to public state universities. Any job that requires you to research, write, and manage a department requires a degree, which you can get from a state university.
Delusional.
This is how the wealth gap grows.
And what's wrong with that? In a democracy and in a free-market economy, some will succeed and get rich, while others will not succeed and fail. Would you rather live under communism/socialism, where there is more equality, but where government controls more things?
@@user-sg8kq7ii3y i support free markets but do not dismiss the wealth gap. the bigger the wealth gap grows, the higher the risk of civil war and revolution. also free markets are great if the justice system is fair, the problem sometimes is that free market oligarchs are created not because of merit or because they produce better value but because of uncompetitive practices and unfair advantages. not applicable in this video since they are not doing anything illegal but in general a large wealth gap stemming not from free markets but from an unjust society is the concern.
@@user-sg8kq7ii3y Yes. Socialism would be 100x better than this. Free healthcare, free college education, more taxes being paid for everyone's well-being instead of making more nukes that can literally blow up the solar system 10 times. Your imaginary idea of a democracy doesn't exist because there will always be corrupt people who will make the rich richer and the poor poorer because of "freedom".
@@user-sg8kq7ii3y you do know that social security is a socialist program right? Like every other country with an advanced economy, the U.S. is partly socialist. And the government is already involved in just about every aspect of our lives. Don't continue to be as ignorant as you are.
@@user-sg8kq7ii3yin 10 years we won’t have any laws so it won’t matter anyways.
College is no longer as important as before, a degree is no longer needed for a great job! Most employers are replacing degrees for experience.
Yup, you don't need a degree to be a doctor anymore. You just have to do your own research and you're good to go! 😅
@@RudieObias Today's generation has realized that getting into soo much student loan debt no longer ensures the best outcome! Getting into 400k worth of debt just for the POSSIBILITY of becoming a doctor or lawyer is not worth it for most students today! You can make six figures learning a TRADE without all the student debt, you can start your own business without drowning in student debt! If you think students still have the same thought process as 20 years ago you need a REALITY CHECK bud!
Don’t forget plenty of exploitation to go around as well!
Harvard degree almost garanteed professional success
Yeah that's not really true (at least in the U.S.). Or at least, it really depends on the job. You can make a good living as an electrician or a real estate agent or something, and there's no need for a college degree to do that. But employers in other fields (medicine, law, financial services, academia) are definitely still looking for a degree or degrees.
What?! I thought the new narrative was that college is now not worth it?
I guess people think that they’re being lied too so that others could get ahead?🤷♀️
If you get a useless degree, yes college isn’t worth it. There are many degrees that are useful.
Who in their right mind would want to go to Harvard
A lot of kids who have been marketed to believe that that one college is the one stop shop to success.
College is a big part in one’s success generally speaking. That’s not even a debate. You can be successful without going an elite college, but less likely.
@@phoenixmorphixsnd yes it is, an employer with two identical resumes in front of them will surely hire the Harvard grad!!!!
Who wouldn’t?
I would!
So my question is, how do these kids survive once they get to college and don't have a tutor at their fingertips at midnight the night before an exam? My son is a freshman at a very good college with an acceptance rate under 15%. I knew that he would get into a school that was right for him and compatible with his abilities without us getting involved and upping his odds. He knows that he got in on his own merit, which we remind him of when stress at school seems overwhelming. It's a confidence booster for him.
Remember all of the college admissions scandals at many different California universities and colleges? It’s shameful; yet, US News will keep give California Universities a favor rating. Is it because they need to sell magazines? After all, California has the largest population in the entire USA so that's good revenue for us news report
There are free programs 😂 that have always existed like Gear up and Trio just as effective and free
TRIO is a great program! I work with the TRIO Upward Bound program mostly during the summers. Definitely worth looking into TRIO Upward Bound programs for your high school students if you have a low-income family or a child to be a first generation college student.
Right!
But who can afford to pay 120k a year? Not a low income or middle class family. Obviously, it’s not equitable
Middle-class families bare the brunt financially and in admissions because they aren’t poor enough to get certain financial aid, yet they are not wealthy enough to afford tuition and access a certain caliber of resources to help their children compete in admissions and for merit-based scholarships. Even public universities for local students are getting expensive, let alone out-of-state students. Princeton and maybe Harvard offer free tuition, but it is for the poorest students.
There was one student I knew who had a wealthy stepfather, but his mother didn’t have access to any of his finances to help her son pay for college. However, because of his stepdad, he has resources to compete in admissions and got into MIT. MIT, as a private institution, covered 85% of his expenses. The average poor student doesn’t have his competitive advantage.
@@LMLification Exactly. I'm middle class. I paid a $40 copay for a medication that I needed. This is a significant amount of money for me. I knew a low-income person, who took the same medication as I did, and he paid $0 copay because he had a state-sponsored free medical insurance for lower-income families.
As you've said, as middle class people don't make enough be truly comfortable. Yet they make a little bit too much money to qualify for state/federal benefits that lower-income individuals enjoy - such as free medical insurance, and housing/food benefits. Yet middle-income people still must pay the taxes to support these programs that lower income people have access to.
Middle class people TRULY take the brunt of the burden in this country.
Good informative subject for bringing
We are going to pray and ask God to help - his help is free
TITHES AND OFFERINGS😊
I thought University and other College admission applications were down since the Pandemic? This is especially at University of California and Cal States, am I wrong on this? 🤷
I would have thought the business of college would be going down as we see more and more that college does not guarantee success. I went to college and have my Master's and I'm proud of it, but I also will be one of the first to say that college is not necessary for most jobs.
I have a masters also, and fully agree with you.
Better to have a centralised and objective process for academics for university admission
This is absolutely gross; however, the guy is probably correct in saying that they're not taking college spots away from lower and middle-income applicants. Most top universities in the U.S. are competing for high achieving, first-generation, Pell-Grant-eligible students, and offering "full need" admissions, which means that they commit to paying everything the family can't. Of course that doesn't help those applying to state schools, etc. I'm not sure what the policies are there, but they are perpetually underfunded.
What is his success rate?
Everything is for sale in America 😉
Including the entire Biden Crime Family
Education is very important! 1M$ is nothing when it comes to ensuring your kids secure a spot to go to college.
Applicants can apply a few hundred applications at once by clicking online.
This makes regular Americans hate the Ivy League more, I don’t know what advantage they had to get in. Race, gender, consults, etc
This isn’t new….but this minority kid picked himself up from his bootstraps and became a doctor! So, 🤷🏻♂️. From the hood to the suburbs.
Yeah, and that same kid likely had to do it without the access to a high caliber of secondary education, elite extracurricular, competitive and community service activities, possibly on an international level, private tutoring for exams and help with their applications to college and a strong network for recommendation letters and close career guidance. That kid had to get into and complete in university STEM courses against their peers who had access to all of the aforementioned. The U.S. has so much socioeconomic stratification and makes college such a financial burden for many.
@user-sg8kq7ii3y Those funding opportunities are becoming increasingly competitive year after year, and most top private universities/colleges are better at helping the lowest income students. Public universities, on the other hand, don’t always have the funding to provide enough. Tuition is becoming increasingly expensive. Being a minority is not some utopia that provides access to money for college. There are minority opportunities, but not as many as people think. If there were, there would be far more without loan debt and going to private or our of state schools than those who do. According to NPR, Caucasians are receiving the majority of scholarships. Even with scholarships, there is still the ultimate pressure of performing well enough to maintain any renewable offers. Not easy to do in STEM if you’re competition to pass is wealthier and overseas students who received better secondary preparation.
@@LMLificationThis.
@@LMLification Actually kids from lower-income families and minority ethnic groups often have MUCH MORE opportunities compared to other students. There are more scholarships and financial aid available to lower-income households if the student works hard and earns good grades.
@@user-sg8kq7ii3y Those funding opportunities are becoming increasingly competitive year after year, and most top private universities/colleges are better at helping the lowest income students. Public universities, on the other hand, don’t always have the funding to provide enough. Tuition is becoming increasingly expensive. Being a minority is not some utopia that provides access to money for college. There are minority opportunities, but not as many as people think. If there were, there would be far more without loan debt and going to private or our of state schools than those who do. According to NPR, Caucasians are receiving the majority of scholarships. Even with scholarships, there is still the ultimate pressure of performing well enough to maintain any renewable offers. Not easy to do in STEM if you’re competition to pass is wealthier and overseas students who received better secondary preparation. I notice a lot as a recruiter year after year.
@@user-sg8kq7ii3y Those funding opportunities are becoming increasingly competitive year after year, and most top private universities/colleges are better at helping the lowest income students. Public universities, on the other hand, don’t always have the funding to provide enough. Tuition is becoming increasingly expensive. Being a minority is not some utopia that provides access to money for college. There are minority opportunities, but not as many as people think. If there were, there would be far more without loan debt and going to private or our of state schools than those who do. According to NPR, Caucasians are receiving the majority of scholarships. Even with scholarships, there is still the ultimate pressure of performing well enough to maintain any renewable offers. Not easy to do in STEM if you’re competition to pass is wealthier and overseas students who received better secondary preparation. I witness a lot as a recruiter.
Tips: Work on getting good SAT/ACT scores, work on life skills, get good grades, have extracurriculars that fit your interest and create impact in local and other communities (volunteering is one) and overall be great, do things that make you unique, not what makes you fit 100% in
What happened to the days when you can just buy your way into college
It's called a scam. Paying 120,000 to bribe i is still bribery,fraudulent behavior and cheating. I work hard plus I find cash jobs much easier instead of paying taxes for thieves and liars
That only happens for politicians and rich bureacrats with influence.
ahhhhhhh 🤓..... the good ol days
This is one big scam plus graduating from an elite, prestigious school doesn't guarantee good jobs with good incomes. I've heard of Stanford, Yale alumni decades after graduating and are working as retail cashiers.
Not going to college also doesn't guarantee good jobs with good incomes. Not smoking does not GUARANTEE that you won't ever get lung cancer. Nothing in life is guaranteed, so, really, what's your point?
Well stated about it being a scam
I hope this won't become another scandal, like with what happened a few years back with the scholarships.
I hope it does. People need to see behind the curtain.
Why would you spend that much money to just have someone tell you to get good grades, volunteer, and be balanced as an applicant? They probably do it to figure out how to lie the right way on some of those essays.
His last answer to the last question was completely out of context. He didn't answer the question as opposed to making an assertion.
It doesn't matter as much. Companies now are more open to hiring people with degrees from non Ivy league schools, and degrees from those schools are more easily available online anyway. Anyone can buy some degrees from harvard and yale now and put it in their resume. So just study something like software development and get a better paying job than rhese Ivy League people.
All the highest positions at my top tier defense company went to low tier colleges from VPs to Presidents. Those Ivy league schools don't guarantee any sort of real world success.
sounds like a scam
At UC Berkeley rich parents have to also hired pricey private securities to proctect their kids while in college.....😢😢😢
Services like this are so, so ridiculous. As a high school teacher, I obviously could never afford something like this for my child. But even if I could, even if the money was no issue, as a high school teacher who teaches some students whose parents hire services like this, I would still never, ever, ever hire a service like this.
Not new - just astounding but nobody is forcing anyone to hire them. Our kids got themselves into a range of competitive colleges including top choices. They had great guidance counselors, but they did the work and did well academically and otherwise through high school. They are happy other with their choices both at large public schools OOS. And they know they did it themselves. Congratulations to all on college, trades, military, whatever the path may be. It’s all good i
Well great business idea, here I come!
So parents think their kids are stupid and can't obtain a full ride scholarship?
Great. The continuation of the 'Great Consultant Grift.' It's just another BS industry.
Actually, Korean families have been sending their kids to after school academies for tutoring in different courses . They are not all rich. They are just willing to make the sacrifice so that their kids get into the right schools.
Learn a trade at a trade school and stop worrying about these costly colleges.
This is complete bs. Go to another school then transfer or look at specific problems they offer over winter and spring breaks as well as summer semesters.
Getting an associates at another school then trying to transferring to one these bs schools for bachelor's or higher will help your chances.
Never underestimate the education you get at a Community College! Especially to get through the general education classes.
I see no issue here. If parents have earned their money through hard work, clever strategies, or taking risks-even if their methods weren't strictly by the book-they have every right to spend a significant amount on hiring college tutors. Moreover, achieving a high score like 1550+ on the SAT demands considerable intelligence from the student, no matter the tutor's expertise. As long as there's no bribery or unfair means involved, I don't see a problem with this. We shouldn't prohibit it. Then, regarding the argument that the system perpetuates inequality, it's worth noting that numerous immigrant and minority families have risen from modest beginnings to achieve substantial success. To join the ranks of the affluent, one must stand out. While certain aspects of one's identity may pose challenges, they do not render success unattainable.
Admissions rates can be improved by investing time and energy on pre and post application activities and focusing on authenticity. Students in the top quartile of their class who have overcome substantial obstacles (1st gen esp) can enjoy fantastic outcomes by telling their story. We believe in game planning to avoid the college trap.
Let them waste their money, in the future college degree won’t matter that much. Unless you’re going into medicine or something and those kids don’t need consultants. This is what happens when you have too much money in your economy. People find ways to waste it. 🙄
Smart business model. Consultant offshored tutors for 24hr assistants (assuming)...
Is this to manage operating costs to increase margins?
Morgan Radford went/graduated from Harvard. She is super smart. Her interviews are awesome.
Isn't this PRECISELY why Aunt Becky from Full House had to go to federal prison a few years back?!? 🤔 😂
equal opportunity act is really working great!! 😂😂
In other words, the rich kids who can’t get in on their own merit still buying their way in.
This is crazy and just shows how inequality is being reinforced in America. Geez!
Agreed completely
So do you want equality across the board? So you want lazy people to have equality with hard-working people who put in extra effort to become successful? So are you suggesting communism/socialism?
In a democratic society with a free market, it is inevitable that some will become extremely successful, some will be moderately successful, some will fail, and others who will fail miserably. This is what having the freedom to choose what you want to pursue results in. Are you suggesting that this is "bad"?
2:34 And the lie detector determined… that was a lie.
All this to be a wage slave.?
Pass
This is wrong that parents will pay such a greedy company so they will not tutor other students in their kids class. It it also wrong bc you're spending millions, and only the rich can afford this while most Americans can not.
we don't need a degree. Its a business
What's a good country to raise your child in these days?
So kids who can't remember to study for a chemistry test, and have to cram in eight hours, are being set up for elite jobs?
What's wrong with this picture?
Chileeeee. Just throw your little money away lolol
America slowing becoming like South Korea.
I am curious to know, what do these consultants do to help poor and working-class students into elite colleges and universities? I look forward to hearing the answers to that question.
They target rich families obviously
What a rip off for the rich!
Quiet weather man and just tell the weather.
Irresponsible reporting. Ms. Radford used shock tactics to freak out future college applicants. There was so much information she did not share or even offer in a blog, or podcast. What a disappointment from the TODAY show.
Spending all this money so you can spend 4 years being over loaded with homework
The key is to expand your victim status. If you can't change your genetics then you should "identify" as something with massive victim points.
College can all be done online and everything can learned online in 2024 and even in 2009. In my opinion college is a waste of both time and money 💰.
This is not exactly a new thing.
We need to fine every person that ever paid back a loan, in full, on time. Trump didn't get away with that and no one that paid off a mortgage should be allowed to keep their property either!
ohh in Asia? that’s an old story lol
Tax the rich, anyone with 5 million and more 80 Percent on all assets. Lower the Middle Class tax for single and married.
Ha!!! What a laugh.
Gross
Do you think it's worth it? Yes....no kidding, they pay you 120k per yr for no Guarantee - Thanks for the free advertising!! Woohoo
Unacademy abroad +
Wait. What why? College is hard to get into? -asian
Higher Ed's days are numbered. Overpriced and overrated.
Don't be jealous
@@jangheedavidhan6253 Not a matter of jealousy but a matter of fact. There is a consistent decline in yearly enrollment due to cost with its outcome of overwhelming debt. Then there is the ongoing corruption of academic studies with politically driven ideologies.
@@FSR431 if they have the means.. it's their money and their kids.. mind your own life.
However you want to dress this up, it’s always those with money who will have an advantage. Sorry middle class…
Thank god I decided not to have kids. And no regrets either!!
College is overrated. Who is going to help you after you get into the elite college? Kids will not survive the elite college if they are motivated.
These college degrees when will worthless soon.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 You parents are beyond ridiculous, being ripped off with no guarantees. These companies are brilliant! $3 billion industry. Bet they didn’t go to college either!
Just click the box that says "African American" and you'll get in, no problem!! :)
Apparently, you aren't aware that the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in higher education almost a year ago. Please stop trying to make this about black people and then trying to blame us for it.
Unfair society, trumpy, elon, all born from a elite golden cribb club.