Everyone has many hopes and plans associated with entering the university. At the same time, this is a complex and rather specific process (especially if we are talking about a foreign university), requiring careful preparation, attention and coordination of all actions. This is why professional support is so important.

But due to the abundance of companies and consultants in the market that promise to help with admission, it is easy to get confused. So today I want to offer you quick guide at the discretion of the consultant.

So what does an admissions consultant do? In general, its activities can be reduced to the following actions:

  • it helps applicants navigate education and career options
  • teaches you how to prepare all documents in the most efficient way so that they fully reflect your current qualifications and experience
  • provides comprehensive support throughout the entire admission process
  • acts as an “outside view” (critical, objective and professional), which is simply necessary to finalize all important written documents

How to choose a consultant

In my opinion the most important step in choosing a company or an admissions consultant - this is an individual consultation.

Were you offered a free initial consultation? If there is no such consultation, then how can you understand who you should work with? Two consultants are always different - their opinions, advice, working methods and experience can be very different. That's why it's so important during a consultation to make sure you're working with a professional and that you have a good rapport.

How long does this initial consultation last? From my point of view, 30 minutes is the absolute minimum for you to ask questions about the services, and the consultant could give the first assessment of your profile and evaluate the possibility of entering the selected universities.

What precedes the initial consultation is also very important. Does the consultant ask you to fill out a questionnaire in advance or submit your resume? If not, then, most likely, the consultation will be quite superficial and most of the time will be spent on understanding where you studied, what grades you have, where you worked, etc.

Personally, I do not conduct an initial consultation without receiving a resume and information about plans for admission from the applicant. So I know that I can conduct the most effective consultation and already give it useful advice incoming.

One of the important criteria for the first consultation – are you asked enough questions (about you, your plans, career expectations, etc.)? If not, then this is a reason to think: most likely, such a consultant is ready to work with everyone and his goal is to sell his services (and not help you enter the chosen program).

To better understand if a consultant is right for you, you can use the following questions:

1. “What do you think of the schools I have chosen? Are there any other schools that you think I need to think about?”

2. “How exactly can you help me with my admission?”

3. If you do not know about the experience of the consultant and the results of his work, be sure to ask about it. If you have this information, but something remains unclear, specify the details.

4. "What methods of work do you use?"

5. "What time do you work?"

6. “What is the average time you need to check the document(s)?”

7. “Tell us, please, in general terms, how our work with you will go.”

8. "How are you different from other consultants?"

9. “By what criteria do you choose those with whom you are ready to work?”

10. “Have you worked with clients from my country? What experience do you have with applicants from different countries?”

11. If you are not applying for the first time (after failed attempt): "What experience do you have with those who apply again?"

12. Any question about weak point in your background. For example, how to deal with a long period of time without work or low grades.

What is the difference between a good consultant and a bad one?

Good consultant:

1. Will listen to you carefully and give specific advice specifically for your situation.

2. Understands your strengths and weak sides as a candidate.

3. Fully explain all aspects of the admissions process.

4. Be honest with you. For example, when discussing your choice of schools, he will tell you what your chances of getting into there are with your GMAT, TOEFL and/or GRE results.

5. Shows genuine interest in you and your life.

6. Already during the first consultation, he will give you specific and helpful tips, which you can use even if you don't continue working with it.

7. Helps you with ideas, advises you on how best to tell your story.

8. Tell you how long it will take to prepare a set of documents and when you can finish the work - regardless of your expectations about this or his fee (ie sometimes he will tell you to work longer than you expected, sometimes less).

9. Knows (or knows how to find) any admission information you need.

Bad consultant:

1. Doesn't listen to you.

2. Does not ask questions, gives general advice and recommendations that may not apply to your situation

3. Does not have information about study programs and universities in different countries and/or the admission process.

4. Does not have high standards and does not encourage you to work hard.

5. Is indifferent to you as a person, because he considers it his job only to check your documents or prepare you for an interview (and does it formally).

6. According to your observations, does not try to learn more about you after the first sessions.

7. Forces specific ideas/stories on you to use in emails.

8. Works more like an editor than a consultant.

Assistance with admission is provided by both individual consultants and agencies / companies offering comprehensive services on admission. The differences between them are as follows:

1. Specialization

Not all agencies and consultants have a specific line of work in which they specialize. Quite a lot of companies work on all types of education (from language courses And high school to MBA). On the one hand, such a range of services is convenient for those who need to go through a long preparation path before entering (to improve their language, prepare for the GMAT, etc.). On the other hand, in such a situation, one cannot expect a consultant to have a thorough knowledge of all the details of the admission process, for example, to a master's program in German business schools.

A company or consultant specializing only in MBA programs or a master's degree abroad, will help you better understand all the details of the chosen program and develop an admission strategy aimed at a particular educational institution.

2. Choosing a consultant

In some cases (depending on the contract) the agency has the right to change your consultants. Therefore, if you want to get to a certain consultant, indicate it right away and do not agree to replacements. In addition, if the agency does not provide free consultation with the employee you want to work with, it is better to look for other options.

If you choose an individual consultant, you immediately choose the person with whom you will work. His approach will be more individual and flexible than the company, but it is important to make sure in advance that your ideas about joint work match up.

3. Multiple opinions

Sometimes the agency gives you the opportunity to evaluate documents by more than one employee. And here there are pluses and minuses. On the one hand, this makes it possible to get different opinions. On the other hand, these opinions can be somewhat superficial (since consultants do not know you well) and in the end will simply confuse you.

While some agencies claim to have an information edge over individual consultants, this is hard to accept given the abundance of free (or inexpensive) information.

To summarize, I want to say that it does not matter if you use an independent consultant or an agency. After all, in the end, everything will depend on the person with whom you will work. At the same time, you should not think that you necessarily need a consultant with a degree in the specialty that you are going to enter. Certainly, personal experience Successfully passing all the stages helps a lot, but a person with experience will also suit you. successful work who knows how to listen and who will help to show you as a candidate in the best possible way.

I hope that now it has become clear to you how exactly an admissions consultant can help you and how not to make a mistake with his choice.

The purpose of our work is to give you practical and proven recommendations for successful admission to the master's program of the world's best universities and business schools.

We provide professional assistance c and .

of our clients speak for themselves - contact us if you want to increase your chances of admission!

The service is implemented by the most experienced career consultants
portal Step Online.

How it works

Choose a convenient time and book a consultation You choose the available time of Step Online consultants and pay for the service.

We organize the provision of services We will contact you, answer all your questions and help you set up the infrastructure for receiving online consultations via Skype. We will send you instructions by mail and will advise you on organizational issues. We will also connect you with the possibility of unlimited use of all tests of the Step Online website for the period of the service.

Take online tests We recommend that you take career guidance tests on the Steps Online portal before the consultation. This will give you the opportunity to more clearly formulate your questions to the expert and work effectively with the consultant. If you already have specific questions for the consultant, this stage is not necessary.

Use the comparison service All the necessary reports that will be needed to answer your questions are already included in the cost of the consultation. You can compare universities and get detailed reports on 50 comparison parameters. You will also receive reports comparing specialties, educational profiles, programs and professions - all available services portal Step Online.

Get a consultation The specialist answers your questions, helps you formulate them. You, together with a specialist, determine the most important criteria for choosing a university for you, compile an individual rating of universities, and form a scenario for your admission actions. The specialist will also help you outline steps that will improve your chances of getting into college. An expert will give you recommendations based on your preferences and goals. Within 1-3 days, the consultant will send you a detailed summary of the results of the consultation by e-mail. The consultation lasts 1 hour.

We control the quality of the services provided to you Our employee will contact you at the end of the provision of the service to you, asking you to complete a survey in order to assess your satisfaction with the service. If you have justified complaints about the quality of services or the service was not provided to you, we will refund your money.

Example of a consultation report

Based on the results of the consultation, the specialist will prepare a personal report for you, including a list of suitable profiles and specialties of study, a personal rating of universities, an individual admission trajectory and recommendations to increase the chances of entering selected educational institutions.

Who is consulting

The consultation is carried out by professional career consultants on building the trajectory of admission, training and career of the Step Online portal.

career consultant

Specializes in issues of professional self-determination, choice of university and college, specialty and profile of education. More than 10 years of experience in HR management in corporations in Russia, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Passed Canadian certification in career counseling and diagnostics. Understands Russian and foreign education systems.

10 years of experience

4000Price hours of consultation

04.10.2018

Oksana Kuklina5

Julia fully satisfied all our requests. Very grateful to her

Head of Department for work with applicants of the portal Stepupi Online

A specialist in the field of work with youth, orientation in matters of admission to universities and colleges, choosing a profession, specialty and profile of education. Conducts an online consultation for the portal Steps Online VKontakte, answered more than 10,000 questions from high school students and applicants. Has experience in organizing all-Russian career and career guidance events. Graduated from RSSU, faculty social work, pedagogy and juvenology.

7 years of experience

3000Price hours of consultation

04.04.2019

Rimma Gerasimova5

Many thanks to the consultant Polina Likhacheva, she clearly, competently and clearly explained the questions on admission and selection educational institution. Would recommend to high school parents!

17.01.2019

Fidan Gulamova5

I am very pleased with the consultation with Polina Likhacheva!! Thanks to her, I decided on the choice of universities and profiles for admission! She's a very nice lady, she explains everything well and in detail! These 2000r worth it!! I will recommend her!!

11.12.2018

Eleonora Kiyanitsa5

The consultation was very helpful, got the necessary advice and knowledge

Step Online Career Consultant

Psychologist, specializes in questions of professional self-determination, choice of university and college, specialty and profile of education. Conducts online consultations on the Steps Online VKontakte portal. In the experience of conducting trainings and consultations in online schools, career guidance projects and charitable organizations. Graduate of the Faculty of Psychology, St. Petersburg State University.

5 years of experience

2600Price hours of consultation

25.07.2018

Rustam Irmakov5

Everything went just fine, the hour was used to the maximum, nothing more.

18.07.2018

Yuri K5

The consultant helped me calm down after a long search for directions and universities that suit me. Now I know exactly in which direction I need to move, and what to do. Thank you very much!

05.07.2018

Oleinik olga5

Vladislav is a competent and tactful consultant. Offers his assistance in any questions about admission. Gives clear answers and considers all aspects in depth. Thank you very much for your help and high level

Professiographer and designer of educational trajectories of the portal Step Online

Specializes in issues of professional self-determination, choice of university and college, specialty and profile of education. Implemented more than 300 government projects in education and youth policy, has worked in the field of HR management and career guidance for the last 5 years. Graduated from MESI, Faculty of Management, Faculty of Psychology, St. Petersburg State University.

5 years of experience

2600Price hours of consultation

Order a consultation

Book a consultation and consult with experts. Our experts will help you decide on a profession, university, specialty, education profile, choose a training program, help you build an action plan for entering a university, and increase your chances of admission.

Full support for admission to foreign university ideal for those students and their parents who would like to completely trust in the hands of professionals and enter the university of the first choice! With our help, you can be sure that you have taken into account all the possible requirements of universities before entering and maximize your chances of success.

What's included

Personal consultation

Selection of programs

Resume (CV)

Verification of documents

Preparing for an interview

Letter of Acceptance

More about services

We will provide professional advice and help you deal with educational system the country you are interested in, the entrance requirements of the university, the terms for preparing and sending documents for admission. Before starting work, we will draw up a step-by-step action plan for preparing an application for admission to selected universities, which will make the admission process simple and transparent for you.

The choice of universities is a key step in admission. We will help you choose the most suitable programs. At the same time, if you want to make a detailed selection of universities, taking into account a number of selection criteria, we advise you to order our service "Individual selection of a program", which includes checking the maximum possible number of universities for compliance with your data to their admission requirements.

Motivation letter, or essay, also called Motivation Letter or Personal Statement, is an integral part of an application for admission to a foreign university. Using from 400 to 1,500 words, the applicant needs to explain admission committee why this program was chosen, what goals he wants to achieve by entering this program, due to what qualities, knowledge and skills he will be able to succeed in the program and in his future career. Our team has edited hundreds of essays for various universities around the world. The work on the essay is carried out by consultants who have a Master or PhD degree from leading universities in the world, people from Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the post-Soviet space.

A letter of recommendation is an individual letter from the teacher and / or employer of the applicant, addressed to the admissions committee of the foreign university where you are applying. Since writing letters of recommendation is not yet common in post-Soviet academic practice, our team helps to write letters of recommendation from the words of the recommender. We do not “come up” recommendations for recommenders, because such a practice, in the eyes of the admissions committees of foreign universities, is tantamount to deception. We help you interview referees and draw up an unconventional letter of recommendation revealing your personality and potential.

When applying to a foreign university for master's and some bachelor's programs, it is often required to provide a resume drawn up according to academic standards. In many cases, the resume becomes the first piece of the application that is looked at by the university admissions office. Our team of professionals will help you make a positive first impression by crafting your resume well.

One of milestones admission to the world's leading universities is an individual interview. No less important than the preparation of the application will be its successful completion. We help you to prepare thoroughly for it, we will analyze the most likely questions together with you, conduct a test interview and provide a report based on the results of your answers.

Our team will provide you with full support until the successful completion of the admission process (receiving a letter of acceptance from one or more universities), after which it will help you navigate the next step-by-step actions.

The procedure for supporting admission to the university

    We will check entry requirements and evaluate your chances of admission

    We will draw up an admission strategy: how exactly do you best position yourself

    We will draw up a step-by-step work plan for admission to all selected universities

    Review the application for admission and make any necessary changes

    We will help with sending a portfolio or preparing for an interview, if necessary

    We will advise you (phone, email) until you receive a letter of conditional/unconditional enrollment

    Having received an offer of a place from one or more universities, we will help you navigate the next steps

FAQ

  1. Choose a specialty
  2. Select country of study
  3. Get acquainted with the rankings of universities (general and by subject)
  4. Select universities and study programs
  5. Taking into account all the requirements of universities, prepare documents for admission
  6. To increase your chances of admission and prepare the highest quality application, consult with Education Index specialists and choose the service of our company that suits you best.

It is best to start preparing an application and submit documents for the program about a year before the start of training, i.e. if you want to start studying in the fall of 2017, you need to apply in the fall of 2016. For example, for bachelor's programs at Oxford and Cambridge, the deadline for applying officially ends on October 15 a year before the start of training, and in leading universities in the United States - January 1 of the year receipts.

We guarantee high-quality preparation of all documents and applications for admission. With our help, your chances of successful admission will increase markedly. At the same time, the final decision on enrolling a student, which always remains with the university, is also influenced by your academic performance, test results and a number of external factors over which we cannot influence.
At the same time, we suggest that you focus on our experience and statistics on the admission of our students. Most of them enter 5 universities out of 5. With rare exceptions, they enter 2-3 universities out of 5.
In addition, in the event of a negative decision by the university of first choice, we will help you enroll in the pre-masters program offered in many universities around the world. Passing it will help you improve your academic results and knowledge in English. Upon completion of this program, you will be able to continue your studies in the master's program.

The service of Full support for admission to a foreign university does not include:

  1. Scanning, cutting, converting, formatting your documents
  2. Writing the necessary essays for you from scratch
  3. Advice on the transfer of funds for tuition and accommodation fees
  4. Accommodation reservation
  5. Visa support
  6. Advice on moving to another country, finding accommodation, opening an account, etc.
We will be happy to help you with booking a room at the university residence, as well as give advice on moving to another country as part of our Relocation Assistance service.