When College sophomore Brooke Tancer began going over her college applications at the start of her senior year of high school, she had some help. Advising her every step of the way was an independent college admissions consultant hired by her parents.
"It made the work I had to do a lot less stressful and much easier because I had someone checking things over for me," said Tancer, whose college consultant would come to her house regularly.
As more and more applicants fight for spots in the nation's top colleges, families such as Tancer's are increasingly turning to outside college admissions consultants for guidance.
These high-priced consultants -- which could cost as much as a semester's tuition -- do everything from helping students decide where to apply to editing their admissions essays.
"Over the last decade the pressure on students and parents to decode the admissions process ... has promoted a cottage industry of independent counselors to develop," Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson said.
"Our opinion at Penn is that a strong high school counselor from an individual high school is all that is needed," Stetson continued.
He added that a consultant may be helpful in teaching students how to package themselves.
Stetson noted that it was impossible to tell whether or not an applicant had visited an outside consultant.
However, with many high school guidance counselors over-extended and ill-equipped to deal with large numbers of students, some affluent high schoolers now consider hiring consultants to be the norm.
According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, there is only one guidance counselor for every 491 high school students in the U.S.
"People come to me because they often feel they are not getting individual attention from their high school college advisers," said Steve Goodman, a top college consultant in the Washington area.
Goodman stressed that his job is "not necessarily to get [students] into the best schools, but to get them into the right schools."
This help, however, comes with a hefty price tag. Goodman charges between $5,000 and $15,000 for his services, which include helping both parent and child through every step of the application process.
For many, the peace of mind that a college admissions consultant brings is well worth the expense.
"I had never gone through the process before," the mother of a current Penn applicant said, explaining why she chose to hire a consultant.
The mother -- who did not wish to be named -- is so pleased with the result that she intends to send her other child, currently a sophomore in high school, to the consultant next month to receive help with her resume.
This parent is not alone. According to the Independent Educational Consultants Association, six percent of all high school graduates last year had consulted a paid adviser.
In some affluent areas in the United States, 25 percent of high school graduates had visited a consultant.
"If parents are going to invest $160,000 for a child's education, they are willing to spend a few hundred ... or even thousands of dollars to gain a little bit of control and ensure that the investment that they are going to make is a good one," said James Boyle, president of College Parents of America, a for-profit educational consulting organization.
Tancer agreed that, while a college consultant is not necessary, it eased the nerves of both her and her parents.
"If you're concerned with the money, you don't need one, but if that is not an issue, it is a good idea," Tancer added.
According to Goodman, his business has increased 30 to 40 percent in the last five years.
"The system has become so complex. A lot of families believe you need an advocate and someone who understands the intricacies of the process," he said, explaining the influx.
Goodman admitted that despite his explanations, parents sometimes refuse to see the limitations of their child.
"It becomes tricky when the parent believes that the child should be going to Penn but [he] really has the academics for Penn State."
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