Frequently Asked Questions
- I live so far away from you! How would we end up working together?
- Do you write essays for your clients?
- Can you guarantee me admission to a particular school?
- I don't want to retain you if you're just going to tell me that I am not likely to get into School X, or that I'm not ready to apply, or that I shouldn't be applying at all.
- The counseling process involves a lot of personal details. I'm nervous about sharing them with a stranger.
- I'm embarrassed about some really stupid things I've done.
- I'm probably not in the running for a top school. Will you still work with me?
- I graduated from college quite some time ago and am contemplating a serious career change. Will you work with me even though I am not a recent college graduate?
- When is the best time to start working together on admissions strategy?
- I applied last year on my own and am not happy with my results. Do you work with re-applicants?
- Can you come to my school or organization to speak to our group?
- Where can I find out more about your team's background?
- What kind of turn-around do you offer?
- What are your fees?
- Should I wait until I have my SAT/GMAT/LSAT scores before I contact you?
- Can I work with Anna Ivey personally?
1. I live so far away from you! How would we end up working together?
Our clients are located all over the world, and we routinely work with people as far away from us as Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. We work "virtually" by phone, and each of our clients also receives a password-protected website where we post messages, drafts, questions, documents, etc.
For workplace and corporate consulting, we typically provide our services on-site or through a webinar model.
2. Do you write essays for your clients?
No. Our goal is to bring out the best in you; we help you improve whatever you bring to the table. Most of our clients produce many drafts of their materials and are prepared for brutally honest feedback. We will push you... and push you... and push you to do your best work. Think of yourself as an athlete in training, and us as your coaches - you'll still run your own laps and lift your own weights, while we help you train for the big competition.
We do not ghostwrite essays, and although we receive many such requests, we do not provide "samples" closely tailored to your own circumstances to help you "visualize" what your materials should look like. That strays too close to writing your essays for you.
We do make an exception for resumes, because that's not the kind of document where people care a whole lot about authorship, so we do provide resume samples for clients to use (mostly for formatting purposes).
We also publish books and other materials that are available to the general public, and you can certainly use those as guides.
3. Can you guarantee me admission to a particular school?
No. To do that, we would have to pre-screen prospective clients ruthlessly and turn down anyone who would hurt our "guarantee" or success rate.
We help our clients -- from whatever walk of life, with whatever problems or challenges in their backgrounds -- to improve their chances by submitting the very best applications of which they are capable.
Sometimes our advice is to wait before applying so that they can take steps to improve their profile, and we map out a longer-term action plan together. We are very candid about what schools they can and can't reasonably expect to get into, although we never claim to have a crystal ball either. Only the admissions committee that reads your file can guarantee you admission to that school, and no one else.
4. I don't want to retain you if you're just going to tell me that I am not likely to get into School X, or that I'm not ready to apply, or that I shouldn't be applying at all.
People have different reasons for seeking out our help, and only you can know whether our honest assessment - about your career and educational goals, your admissions chances, and the most suitable schools - has value to you. Bear in mind, though, that you are likely about to spend hundreds of dollars in application fees, over a thousand dollars on a test prep course, potential admissions counseling fees, several years' worth of lost income and work experience, and over six figures in tuition on a degree that may or may not suit you, from a school that may or may not be a good match, and a diploma that may or may not open the doors you want opened to you.
Indeed, we would generate more fees if we simply pushed people through the appication process. We break our admissions consulting services into two stages -- a diagnostic stage, and the application stage -- because not everyone decides to apply right away, or at all, after the diagnostic. If moving forward with us to work together on applications is not in your best interest, we will tell you so, even if that means fewer fees for us. We believe that's the only way to provide our services ethically. We will never promise you the moon.
It is not unusual for people who are initially discouraged by our honesty to thank us later for saving them so much money long-term and prodding them to seek out better alternatives.
Read more about our Code of Ethics here.
5. The counseling process involves a lot of personal details. I'm nervous about sharing them with a stranger.
We know that we can give you the best advice only if you feel comfortable being completely honest with us, and we promise clients that we will keep their information, and even the fact that we are working together, confidential, unless they put us in communication with someone else to discuss some aspect of the working relationship.
6. I'm embarrassed about some really stupid things I've done.
If you've done some stupid things (and we've seen and heard it all), you'll need to know how they will impact your career plans and/or applications. Fudging something on your application is a terrible way to start your college career, and you don't want to spend this important time in your life worrying that something will come to light that you lied about. Business schools routinely audit applicant information, and if you're a law school applicant, you'll also have to revisit stupid things you've done when you apply for the state bar to become a practicing attorney. It's better to confront those issues now and figure out the best way to deal with them sooner rather than later. We can't be very helpful to you if we don't have the full picture.
7. I'm probably not in the running for a top school. Will you still work with me?
All we require of our clients is motivation and ethical behavior. We happily work with people applying to all tiers of accredited schools. We do not work with people on applications to unaccredited or online programs, however.
8. I graduated from college quite some time ago and am contemplating a serious career change. Will you work with me even though I am not a recent college graduate?
Absolutely.
9. When is the best time to start working together on admissions strategy?
The ideal time to start working together is at least nine months to one year before you plan on applying, because some strategies for improving one's application profile take more than just a few months to implement. We start working with students on college planning as early as freshman year of high school.
Other time-frames to keep in mind: You should plan on applying as early as possible in the admissions season (October/November); the best essays usually take several months of brainstorming, drafting, and editing; recommenders expect at least a month of lead-time; and many people need more than just two months (the duration of a typical test prep course) to achieve the test scores they want. I am happy to work with applicants at any stage in the process, however. I also work with applicants on waitlist strategy and management in the spring.
10. I applied last year on my own and am not happy with my results. Do you work with re-applicants?
Yes. We can review your previous application and help you identify where you fell short and determine which problems are fixable and which ones aren't (in the immediate term). That process will also help you make a more informed decision about whether to accept an offer you already have or give it another try.
11. Can Anna come to my school or organization to speak to our group?
Yes. Anna routinely give talks and is happy to tailor the content to the interests of your audience. Please contact us about booking availability.
12. Where can I find out more about your team's background?
Click here, which will take you to our "About" page.
13. What kind of turn-around do you offer?
We use our best efforts to turn documents around in two full business days. Of course, if you submit seven essays in one posting, that will take more time than if you post one essay.
14. What are your fees?
Please contact us for current rates and packages and availability. We don't use a shopping cart model on our site because we stop taking on new clients as soon as we reach full capacity with our client load. We limit our client loads so that we do not jeopardize our personalized service or our availability for existing clients.
15. Should I wait until I have my SAT/GMAT/LSAT scores before I contact you?
It's best if you begin working with us before you have your scores. We can give you our advice on test prep options and timelines, and we can tackle bigger strategy questions long before you have a score. The earlier we start strategizing together, the more time you have to implement your strategy.
16. Can I work with Anna Ivey personally?
Anna oversees the work of the entire Anna Ivey Consulting team, so she works with only a limited number of clients one-on-one. When you contact us about working together, we will let you know who on our team is available to work directly with you. Even if Anna is not your day-to-day point person, she will still be collaborating closely with your day-to-day team member.
Anna has chosen her team members with great care -- it's her name on the business, so she doesn't hire just anybody. (We have grown slowly and deliberately over the years for just that reason.) She stands behind her team members' work completely and is eager for feedback from clients who are working with her team members. We all have different backgrounds and areas of expertise, and we collaborate as needed to offer the highest levels of service to each client.
