What kind of experience do your consultants bring?

We look for coaching talent above everything else. It’s a plus if someone has personally navigated competitive admissions and understands the qualities that characterize people who earn spots at the world’s top institutions. But beyond that baseline, what we care about most is whether they can truly connect with and develop a student.

Here’s our honest view on experience: it’s overrated by itself. We’d rather have someone with natural instincts, genuine feel for the craft, and the kind of drive that makes everyone around them better — even if they’re newer to consulting — over a fifteen-year veteran who’s competent but has plateaued. Experience plus talent can be extraordinary. But talent alone, in the right environment, will outperform experience alone every single time. For us, coaching talent is the experience that matters most. Everything else — knowledge of specific schools, familiarity with application platforms, understanding of committee dynamics — can be learned quickly by someone who has the underlying gift. The gift itself can’t be taught.