College applications are often seen as the pinnacle of a high schooler’s life, and it is absolutely essential to be guided in the right direction to maximize your chances of getting into a highly ranked college. While there are many companies who provide great guidance in college applications, there are also many companies that are aware of the desperation shown towards getting into a good college, so many programs scam parents and students tens of thousands of dollars, whether it’s for a dubious research program or a dubious counseling program. 

Here are a couple of sketchy situations to watch out for. 

1. Is the program complimenting you, or making you feel very special?
   1. This tactic is used in dubious honor societies that require a fee to be considered as a member. One such example is the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS), which requires a fee of $90. NSHSS is a scam because genuine honor societies never require a fee. For example, the National Honor Society (NHS), which is recognized in every single high school, requires no fee, but instead demands community service and academic excellence from its applicants. Remember, paying for an honor society membership is much easier than being accepted into an honor society. 
   2. There are many more examples of this slimy tactic used by predatory companies. Here’s an example I myself almost fell for, the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists. At cursory glance, the organization appears to be credible because it’s dubbed as the National Academy. I submitted my name to “nominate” myself for a spot in the program, and when I received an information packet, guess what, I had to pay a $3,000+ fee. 
   3. Ironically, Reddit is an incredible resource for fact checking these programs. Many high school students shared their experiences in the “National” Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists, recalling the terrible experience they had.
2. Does the program require an exorbitant fee?
   1. One program that is universally despised by credible college counselors is the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, with its cheapest program being $2,600 dollars. The program claims to pair students with professors from top colleges. The program also claims to be extremely successful in getting students into top colleges, which pulls the heartstrings of both parents and students. 
   2. However, even though the program may be effective for some people, there are many research programs that require NO FEES, such as the Research Science Institute held by MIT, or sci-MI, a free, online program where graduate and undergraduate students mentor you on a research project. There are SO MANY better alternatives to these paid programs. 
   3. DO NOT go to a pre-college program where you take classes during the summer at Stanford, Brown, or Columbia. Those programs charge you tens of thousands of dollars, and most of the time, these programs are third party programs not affiliated to the university. The university is merely renting out their classrooms and dorms to milk some extra money from high schoolers. 
   4. Granted, you get what you pay for, and there are some programs that are credible despite being expensive, including Algoverse or Futures Forge, which are very competitive programs where only a fraction of students get accepted. 
   5. So, it is very important to research the program before paying thousands of dollars to the company. Some programs may be good, but some programs may be a scam. Just remember, a program is never life changing and will never guarantee an acceptance to a top university. 
3. Is the influencer / website telling you that people with terrible grades can get into an Ivy League?
   1. First of all, people with terrible grades should’ve been automatically disqualified by top colleges, and more often than not, those people were accepted because of legacy admissions, sports, nepotism, or daddy’s money. Some college influencers, especially the notorious LimmyTalks, whom many students dub him as “BS”, spew out false hope for students with poor grades, claiming that students with 2.0(s) also have a strong chance of getting into Ivy League colleges. 
   2. It is true that a very very small amount of students with bad grades get into an Ivy League college, but DO NOT be fooled by these influencers. 
4. Is something too good to be true?
   1. The FLEX college program claims that 75% of their students get into a reach school (a school that’s hard to get into), and even though this statistic will create a crowd of parents desperately trying to sign up for the counseling program, the statistic is either 1. Completely false, or 2. Heavily manipulated. 
   2. College counseling programs often accept heavily qualified students. Those students are already qualified to gain admission to top colleges, and many counseling programs take credit for the students’ achievements. 
   3. Here’s a tip: The counseling program never gets you into a program. Your achievements get you into a college, not a counselor who sits in his cushy chair and reviews your essay.

Doing your own diligence

• Please, do your research on college programs and influencers before you yank thousands of dollars from your parents’ wallet. 
• Reddit is, ironically, the best source of information on these programs. Many redditors will give their honest opinions on a program, and they will immediately tell you whether a program is a scam or not. 
• Also, check out College Confidential for more information too. 

If every single college program or influencer seems like a scam, here are some good ones in the crowd. 

1. Tineo College Prep
   1. Universally recognized as a top-tier college counselor. Highly credible, graduated from Harvard, UPenn, and Stanford. For his thesis at Stanford, he wrote about college admissions, and he tried to understand how admissions worked.  His counseling program does require a fee, but that man needs to eat. 
2. https://www.teenlife.com/#
   1. A database for reputable programs for teens.
3. Next Admit
4. Mahad The Mentor
5. Brainrot University School (It’s april fools)
6. Cold emailing professors

Thank you for reading this article, and to the class of 2030, get started on your college applications now!