Commonly Asked Questions

The choice to hire an educational consultant to assist with your or your student’s college search and selection process is a big one. Please reach out to us directly at info@forshoreed.com with your specific questions. Below, we provide some questions commonly asked by students and families when considering an IEC:

• Do I need this service? Can’t I do it on my own?

The short answers to these questions are “no” and “yes,” respectively. In fact, millions of students successfully apply to college without the assistance of an IEC. That being said, your specific situation might require you to hire the services of an IEC. Perhaps you have difficulty accessing your school counselor, or you want to go to college in a different part of the country (or even a different country) from where you live. Maybe you plan to apply to a wide variety of selective colleges with multiple essay prompts, and you know you (or your student) will need help with that task. Perhaps you need individualized attention, or your availability to work on your applications does not match up with school hours. Maybe you just like having a second opinion–a truly objective voice–when making such a consequential decision. Plenty of people file their own taxes, but many financial situations make it wiser to hire an accountant. An educational consultant might be thought of in much the same way. 

• How does it work? When do I begin? 

The delivery of services will depend on whether you choose to meet with your counselor in-person (i.e. you are on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland or Virginia or Sussex County, Delaware) or virtually. Most students and families who choose an IEC for comprehensive services will hire near the end of their sophomore year of high school, though some families may elect comprehensive services as late as the summer between junior and senior year. Most students and families who begin later in the search and selection timeline might choose a la carte services. 

• Do you only work with local students? 

No. We are excited to work with students and families from across the country and around the world. During times of peak demand, we will prioritize students living on the Delmarva Peninsula when taking on new clients. 

• How often do I meet with my counselor? 

The frequency of meetings will depend upon what point you are in the search and selection process. For ninth and tenth grade students, meetings are scheduled once per quarter to review academic progress, extracurricular involvement, community engagement, and to refine future plans. The list building and research process begins leading into the junior year, and juniors usually meet with their counselor monthly to work through standardized testing, career and major interest profiles, and list refinement. In the spring of junior year, meetings become more frequent as application lists are drawn up. In the summer and fall of senior year, meetings are held as needed and are often scheduled on a weekly basis until applications are submitted. After applications are submitted, students and families will meet with their counselor as needed. 

• What sort of tools do counselors use to help me? 

Our practice uses the CounselMore platform to help manage all elements of the college search, application, and selection process. This platform allows for frequent, informal check-ins between students and counselors. It also works as an invaluable organizational tool and provides a more robust research interface than what is commonly available in schools. Counselors are available via email and text message on evenings and weekends during the fall application season. A huge advantage of hiring an independent educational consultant is easy access to expertise when needed.

• How much help will my Independent Educational Consultant give me? 

The role of a consultant is to provide an applicant with all necessary assistance they might need in completing their college applications. This includes essay coaching and editing assistance. The consultant will not write or complete any element of a college application on a student’s behalf, and they work to ensure that the student honestly and accurately affirms the validity of their application when they sign it. 

• Will using an IEC help me to get into a more selective college? 

While using an IEC will not directly change the academic profile of an applicant, the advice of a consultant can maximize offers of admission in a few ways. First, an IEC’s job is to ensure that an applicant makes their strongest possible application. Submitting authentic and intentional applications makes a tremendous difference in outcomes, and our role is to help our clients produce these applications. When hired early in a student’s high school career, an IEC can also provide invaluable academic coaching and course selection advice–elements that will have a positive impact on the most critical element of a college application: the high school transcript. 

• How much do your services cost? 

The cost of services will depend on the needs of the client. The full price of comprehensive services can cost upwards of $6000; a la carte services can be purchased for as little as $500. All services are automatically discounted 20% for any student attending Worcester County (MD) Public Schools. WCPS students enrolled in FRPL programs may negotiate their own price or barter for services. Contact us today to learn more about the price of our services.