Not Worth the Investment Limited Support

We were quite disappointed with Solomon paying $12K, we anticipated significantly better service. It seemed they took a cautious approach, offering assistance that we could have managed independently. I’ll outline our experience as clearly as possible; your individual results might differ.My son, a South Asian student, was ranked third nationally in public forum debate and was among the top five high school jazz saxophonists. He scored 1570 on the SAT, had an unweighted GPA of 3.7 (weighted 4.1) from a reputable school, and his school jazz band recorded with a seven-time Grammy winner at Abbey Road Studios in December 2024.John Crowell initially promised to use “strategic positioning” to enhance his admission chances, which sounded promising alongside their impressive Ivy League admission statistics.However, when selecting schools, they pointed out his lower GPA and suggested institutions with about 20% acceptance rates. More prestigious schools were labeled as “high risk” they didn’t even consider applying to any top-15 schools.The guidance counselor, Breanna Eschlemeier, proposed NYU Steinhardt as an Early Decision option due to his jazz background and also recommended applying for public policy as an alternative.Specifically, for a public policy major, they advised applying to Emory/Oxford, BU, Fordham, University of Wisconsin, Wake Forest, and George Washington (the first two being high risk). If we wanted to target different universities, we needed to sign in writing that we were disregarding Solomons advice and following our own plan.Breanna provided minimal feedback on his essay drafts often just changing a few words. The “editorial team” offered little input, making it seem like using Grammarly would have been just as effective.Although my son was accepted into NYU Jazz and is pleased, I can’t attribute much of this to Solomon. Admissions into jazz programs rely heavily on performance videos, music resumes, and live auditions with faculty.Solomon offered minimal guidance for increasing his chances at more prestigious universities and even discouraged applying there.Previously, we used IngeniusPrep for my daughter, which was more affordable and provided better service.Additionally, once enrolled, you couldnt downgrade your package. When we decided they werent providing adequate support and wanted to downgrade, it wasnt possible this is buried in the fine print, so be cautious.I hope this information is helpful every students situation is unique, and college admissions are competitive, but we expected more from Solomon.On a positive note, our interactions with Solomon were highly professional. Breanna was pleasant, and she did help move my son’s application forward by sending timely reminders. I acknowledge her recommendation of Steinhardt, considering her background in NYU admissions.