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0 helpful votes
They sent an expensive looking advertisement to hire them to get my kid into Ivy League schools. My oldest child starts kindergarten next month. This is predatory and inappropriate.
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Solomon was not the first college consulting firm I contacted, but it was the first to leave me with such a “distinctive impression”. My child is currently in 8th grade, and we are beginning to plan her academic path and college application strategy for the next four years. During our initial meeting with Solomon's Director of Enrollment, however, the conversation felt more like a college admissions interview than a consultation. He began by asking about my child's dream schools and intended major. When he learned that she hopes to apply to Ivy League universities as an Economics major, with the long-term goal of attending law school, he immediately emphasized how competitive both the schools and the major are. He then suggested alternative schools and majors that he believed would be easier to gain admission to. I explained that we fully understand how competitive her goals are. Our philosophy is simply that setting ambitious goals provides motivation throughout high school. Even if the original goal is not ultimately achieved, aiming high often leads to better outcomes than lowering expectations from the outset. Unfortunately, he did not seem receptive to this perspective and continued to focus primarily on the difficulty of our intended path. Recognizing that we had different philosophies, I tried to steer the discussion toward a practical question. I asked how AP course selection should relate to a student's intended major. For example, if two students both apply to Engineering programs, but one has taken a rigorous STEM-focused AP curriculum while the other has concentrated on social science courses, how would that affect their competitiveness? Rather than addressing the question directly, he again returned to discussing how difficult it is to gain admission to Engineering programs. Throughout the meeting, it felt like our conversation was running along two parallel lines that would never meet Another question caught us by surprise. Early in the meeting, he asked my child for her thoughts on the discrimination Asian students face in Ivy League admissions. I had not expected a discussion about selecting a private college counselor to include a politically sensitive topic, particularly at an introductory meeting. The meeting also ended rather abruptly when he explained that he had another appointment. I asked whether there were other enrollment officers at Solomon, and he told me he was the only one. To be honest, I remained interested in learning more about Solomon's services. However, if this interaction reflects the firm's approach to prospective families, it left me questioning whether the company is the right fit for us. I understand that no admissions consultant can guarantee admission to highly selective universities. Ultimately, success depends on the student's own abilities and hard work, and the consultant's role is to provide guidance and help maximize opportunities. My concern was not that the consultant acknowledged the competitiveness of Ivy League admissions—that is something every family already knows. Rather, I was disappointed that, from the very beginning, the discussion focused on lowering expectations instead of helping us understand how to pursue our goals strategically. Personally, I believe that an effective counselor should balance realism with encouragement, helping students build the strongest possible application while respecting their aspirations. I hope our experience reflects the communication style of one individual rather than the overall culture of the firm. For context, my child entered high school coursework two years early through an Academic Center program, attends one of the nation's top-ranked public high schools, maintains an excellent GPA, has received multiple academic and extracurricular awards, and has built a strong record of activities. I mention this not to suggest that we deserve special treatment, but simply to clarify that our goals are based on careful planning rather than
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0 helpful votes
Solomon provided sound guidance and counsel to our student as they embarked upon their journey in life. The experience was extremely positive for student, parents, and all involved. We have little doubt that Solomon provides our family the finest services possible to support a student looking for a path into college and life - we thank you
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0 helpful votes
I had Matthew Tatelman as my admissions counselor, and he was incredible. He helped me brainstorm top-notch ideas for college essays, gave very helpful feedback, and was quick to respond to any emails that I sent. Moreover, Matthew’s expert guidance helped me create a college list which was a good fit both for my interests and application strengths. I am very grateful that I was able to use Solomon to help with my college admission process and am excited to attend Dartmouth next year, which I was accepted to ED with the help of Matthew.
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Our daughter loved working with Adrienne Gilbert, whom we were able to connect with relatively late in the game (January of her Junior year) but, despite it, she benefitted TREMENDOUSLY from her energy, encouragement, and advice. We all learned a LOT from her about strategy and positioning (guess, what it is NOT intuitive) that we would never have known on our own, but -- mostly --our daughter was comfortable with her, she is warm, she listens, she's responsive, she's knowledgeable, positive -- it's great. It's exactly what we were hoping for --for us, process matters as much (if not more) than outcomes, but her outcomes were amazing as well -- beyond our wildest dreams, she was either accepted or waitlisted to all but one school she applied to, and she is going to her dream school! Maybe more importantly, I think our daughter learned a lot about how to tell her story -- and even explored new fields, new intellectual concepts, and ideas that she might want to pursue in college, all at Adrienne's encouragement. We liked working with her so much we have hired her to work with our son.
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0 helpful votes
We had a very positive experience working with Solomon Admissions, and we especially appreciated the guidance and support provided by Matt Tatelman. Matt helped my daughter through the entire college application process in a thoughtful and organized way. He provided clear direction, useful feedback, and strong ideas that helped us present her application in the best possible light. What stood out most was Matt’s ability to understand our daughter's strengths, interests, and goals, and then help shape a strategy around them. His suggestions were practical and valuable, especially when it came to strengthening essays, positioning her activities, and making sure the overall application felt cohesive and compelling. Overall, we were very satisfied with the services provided. The process can be stressful for both students and parents, but Matt’s guidance made it much more manageable. We are grateful for his support and would recommend Solomon Admissions, especially Matt, to families looking for experienced help with the college application process.
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Grace has been great to my daughter. No nonsense, always straight to the point, with actionable feedback and clear game plan. She was never warm and fuzzy, but always very helpful, coming up with creative ideas that made my daughter’s application stand out. Grace was instrumental in helping Juliana get into her dream school - Princeton through ED process. Thank you, Grace!
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Solomon's program was great for our high schooler. They provided a clearly communicated and knowledgable pathway that was both rigorous in its overall requirements and flexible in its application with regards to timing. The long-term, mid-term and short-term goals were always clearly communicated. Our specific advisor, Delphin Byrd, was experienced, insightful and highly professional. Our child wound up with amazing options -- this was their work to own and be proud of, but Solomon provided the critical structure. Delphine put it all together and made sure it made sense.
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Grace Chee was a wonderful thought partner for our daughter as she embarked on her high school journey. From helping create the academic plan to supporting ideas for summer activities and finally providing critical review and encouragement through the gruelling college app process, Grace provided the required framework to help my daughter stay on track.
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My son Andrew worked with Philana Tenhoff this year for his college applications. Our entire family is incredibly grateful for her expert guidance and support. From the early high school years through the final applications, Philana guided Andrew step by step with professionalism and care. We truly appreciated her flexibility — she was always available for both regular and ad-hoc meetings, despite the 3-hour time difference between us. Her dedication delivered outstanding results. Andrew was accepted to many top CS programs, including UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, UT Austin, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, and UC Santa Barbara. Her general guidance also helped him receive strong offers from UW Seattle, UIUC, and NYU — schools he applied to on his own. We highly recommend Philana to any family looking for a reliable and effective college application consultant.
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0 helpful votes
My son’s counselor, Adrienne Gilbert, was amazing throughout the entire process. We knew very little about the U.S. college application system, but she explained everything clearly and helped shape a strong, compelling story, presenting his application in a very professional way. He has now committed to Brown—one of his top three choices from the start. He likely would have missed submitting the Brown video if Adrienne hadn’t checked in with him on the day it was due. There were only a few hours left, and thanks to her prompt follow-up, he quickly completed and submitted it. That’s just one example of the kind of support she provided. Working with Solomon Admissions gave my son a structured process—his essays were completed on time, and he always had expert guidance while still being encouraged to follow his passions. In summary, we truly could not have achieved this outcome without her support. Thank you, Adrienne!
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0 helpful votes
Our counselor was Adrienne Gilbert, who is a senior admissions consultant. We could not have hoped for a better consultant to guide our son through the college application process from start to finish. Her depth of knowledge on everything from teacher recommendation letters and which activities to list in the Common App to deciding ED/RD schools was invaluable and really made a difference in how our son presented himself in his applications. From day one, she was very involved in guiding my son through what he needed to do each academic year. She offered sound advice on everything from taking standardized tests to getting his application essays under the word count limit. We especially appreciated that she was very accessible and quick to respond to any and all questions. She also helped our son find opportunities that would highlight his abilities and interests, and more importantly, she offered very detailed tips on how to secure internships and engage with university professors. Thanks to her prep, my son was able to secure an assistant position with a professor at a major university. The college application process is very stressful and exhausting for the student (and the parents), but thanks to Adrienne, our son was accepted to Vanderbilt, his top choice. She was always his biggest supporter, and we are truly grateful to her for everything she did to help our son (and us).
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Our experience with Solomon Admissions consulting was great, with a big part of it because of our advisor Grace Chee! I can honestly say having Grace Chee as my son and now daughter’s advisor was the best decision we could have made. We liked her so much my brother got her for his daughter and son also! Having Grace tell my kids what they need to do is 1000% more effective than my wife or I doing so. She helps guide and support them throughout the years to set them up for success. It was great not having to be involved at all, during college application time as it was stressful enough for my son, he didn’t need us to keep bugging him about his applications. In the end after all the dust settled, my son is going to USC, which we (and him) are super excited about. I’m going to be going through all this again with my daughter later this year, but thank goodness we have Grace by her side! Would totally recommend Solomon and Grace to anyone that needs an advisor.
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0 helpful votes
My experience with Solomon Admissions Consulting has been nothing but great. With the guidance of Grace Chee, I was able to learn the in's and out's of the college application process and what it takes to get into the college I wanted. She helped set a plan for me to follow and was there for me during times of struggle and confusion. With Grace's help, I was able to get into one of my top choices and for that I could not be more grateful.
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Mr Enyart made the difference with the CAPS essay as well as supporting the supplementals. My daughter has secured 80% of 18 targets including CMU, Michigan, UT Austin, UCLA, UCSD, Wisconsin and more. The key was the CAPS essay which I felt was strong.
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We partnered with Philana who provided great, strategic advice and leveraged tools and structure to organize the process, which ultimately led to admission to an Ivy League University.
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Nikki was very helpful in framing my perspective and assisting me throughout the admissions process!
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Philana was very helpful, patient, and guided me through the college application process. She held mock interviews, read over essays, and kept me on track of writing/completing supplemental essays.
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We wanted to take a moment to share our sincere appreciation for the support we received throughout the process. I would especially like to recognize the outstanding work of our consultant Nikki Burke. She was incredibly attentive, patient, and thoughtful throughout the entire process. Her strong organization and ability to keep us on track made a complex and often stressful journey feel clear and manageable. Nikki guided s with calm, clarity, and consistent encouragement, and we truly believe her dedication played a meaningful role in this successful outcome.
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0 helpful votes
Philana Tenhoff provided great guidance! She helped with the overall planning, college selection, application strategy and project timeline and management! Would highly recommend.
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