ACADEMIA / Higher degree of success / EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANTS HELP HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS DEVELOP EXTRA EDGE IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS

By DAVID KAPLAN

Staff

CAROL Safran told a 17-year-old client how to make the most of her past relationship with a squirrel.

Safran had been hired to help Elissa Dingus, a Lamar High School senior, get accepted to a good college, and they were brainstorming on topics for her college application essay. The student mentioned that she once had a pet squirrel.

Safran drew more out of her. The girl told Safran how an abandoned baby squirrel, his eyes still unopened, showed up on her driveway after a windstorm.

She researched how to feed and prepare a nest for it and nurtured it for several months. Eventually, the squirrel she named Sammy was ready to return to the wild. One afternoon, while playing in the yard, he ran up a tree and never returned.

At the urging of Safran, the girl wrote an essay using Sammy as a metaphor for her own stage in life - heading off into the wilds of college.

Many people don't know that entrepreneurs such as Carol Safran exist. What she does is something of an under-the-radar business. Its practitioners have different names for their profession: College adviser, educational consultant, college mentor or college coach. This is one of their busiest times of year.

To market themselves and get their name out, these independent consultants speak and write for free, teach classes and, when possible, flaunt their credentials.

Most high schools have counselors who provide similar services, advising students on finding and gaining admittance to an appropriate college, but the admissions process has become so competitive that some parents are turning to professionals.

Using a person in private practice seems to have paid off for Dingus, who gained admittance several schools and ended up at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore.

She also was accepted to Beloit College in Wisconsin, a well-regarded liberal arts college, which noted in its letter of acceptance, "The Admissions Committee enjoyed reading your thoughtful and well-written essay comparing your readiness to attend college to your nurturing of Sammy the squirrel."

Fees charged by educational consultants can be high, but more and more parents believe it is worth it.

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Dan Parsons, president of the Houston chapter of the Better Business Bureau, said when sizing up consultants, consumers might ask for the opinions of university recruiters or admissions officers, and he advised, "beware of the hard sell."

Safran, who has a master's degree from Harvard University's School of Education, has been college mentoring for four years.

She said her key purpose is to help students realize what their unique qualities are, and once they do, convey those strengths during the application process.

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For parents who may not want to pay for one-on-one service, Safran also teaches a variety of classes at the Jewish Community Center that are open to the public. She also speaks to groups of parents in a home setting.

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