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IvyWise in the News
(Excerpted)
November-December 2000
They're in the news, in demand and can command some mighty big bucks. Who are they? Education consultants, that's who. Though they've been around for many years, up until now they've flown pretty much below the radar screen. But no more. Last year's highly publicized mad scramble for admission to independent schools has made parents crazed over this year's chances and caused more of them to try for whatever edge they can get. And, in many cases, that means turning to an educational consultant, who can charge from $95 an hour to a $2,500 flat fee for help, aid and assistance in getting into school - including nursery school. "It's a frenzy out there," marvels Simone Hristidis, director of admissions for Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School. "There is a smaller number of spaces available (because of siblings) for a greater number of kids. The crush is just unbelievable."
But can these consultants really separate perception from reality? The answer is far from clear. We spoke to about a dozen admissions directors, and though they had heard of several consultants, most said they had not directly spoken on the telephone, or seen on a tour, 99% of them. And the consultants, when asked by the INSIDER to name schools they had recently visited for first-hand accounts, could not or would not. There are exceptions to this: Many in admissions knew Nina Bauer, a former Dalton teacher who recently became an educational consultant, and had contacted them to learn about their schools and introduce herself.
What is an Educational Consultant and do they need a Special License to Practice? Pretty much anyone can call themselves a consultant, but to have believability, a background in education is essential. Many are former teachers (Jane Ellen Weltz, Nina Bauer and Elaine Vipler). . .
Nina Bauer joined a firm called Ivywise last year, and concentrates on nursery and elementary placements while her partner concentrates on college options. She meets with parents and child to know the family's needs and child's abilities. Then she goes to work preparing a hit list (at least seven elementary and 10 nursery schools) and acceptance strategy. "In this market, she says, "the goal has to be to get the kid in, not to apply to all elite schools. And I think parents are crazy not to look into some public schools as a safety option." As part of her fee ($600 for nursery school applications, $1500 for two 90-minute in-person elementary school sessions and a $300 per hour extra time rate) Bauer will perform a load of niceties. These include in her words "looking over a parent's thank you note to a school toured, work on a first choice letter to make it concise and compelling, help with an essay if parents need to write one and preparing them with anecdotes for their school interview."
An interesting view is espoused by Nina Bauer who says she "would like to work in a complementary fashion with the nursery school director and give parents the personal attention that the director can't." She adds that "directors have to run a school, they don't have time for intense handholding. If anything, nursery directors should be happy to have me, as parents are so demanding. Using me takes some of the load off them." "Parents rightly or wrongly do see the nursery school director as someone brokering their kids into school," reports Bauer. "A common fear I hear is that 'the director will scare me off my first choice school because she has two other families she wants to send there'" Some parents, continues Bauer, "don't feel comfortable asking certain questions of the director, or maybe they had the child evaluated and they don't want the school to put that in the record."
Also doing her homework is Nina Bauer, who toured schools when she set up shop last year. "Most were helpful and saw me," she says. She plans to tour more schools this spring to stay current. "I need to keep my face in these schools, I know that." She also implies that her effort is not matched by some of her colleagues. "there are a lot of people in their 60's or older in this business who are looking to get out." Indeed, most admissions and nursery school directors would be hard pressed to pick any of these advisors out of a lineup. .One admissions director notes that when she first came to her school a decade ago, she held a breakfast for consultants to bring them up to date. "It was the first and last time because I never heard from any of them again," she says. Nicole Donnelley, admissions director of Chapin, could only remember taking Nina Bauer on a tour last year.
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