Solomon Admissions ConsultingReviews of solomonadmissions.com

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.

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 unrealistic expectations.

We have had Solomon for the past year and three months, and our experience has been quite negative. We had the junior package with 5 schools. The only useful thing is the first letter with all the useful links, but it turns out that if you search the internet, you will find that information anyway. The following 1-hour monthly meeting with the advisor is nothing but disappointing. We were told our advisor has many years of experience with students interested in economics, but after a couple of meetings, my son kept saying that her knowledge of applying economics is not even as good as his. But since this is our second advisor, we didn't feel good about asking to change again. That's pretty much what happened for the rest of the year: a one-hour monthly meeting and talking to my son without much clear guidance. My son didn't get into any of the summer camps he applied to, despite a perfect PSAT score, a 1560 SAT, a perfect GPA at a top-1 public high school in California, a research paper, and two upcoming research presentations. I don't blame Solomn obviously, just shocked that an intial letter of information and then 1-hour monthly chat for the past year deserves $12K. Not to mention the essay feedback from the advisor and editing team is very minimal (probably because our essays are already in a very good shape?) For two schools, we submitted the essays late, just a few days before the application deadline, the adivsor refuse to pass our essays to the editing team. The lesson I learned is that if your child is already very motivated and academically good, don't bother with all these consulting services. They won't be able to boost the applications anyway. Solomon does have a senior package, which I assume should be much better than junior package.

I used this company for my twin boys. The advisor was a recent graduate of a well-known school in Chicago. When she no showed for one of our Zoom meetings, it must have rang an alarm bell, but we gave her the benefit of the doubt. The whole thing was a disaster. They would proof read the essays and would sent them back with significant basic errors which they had created, that we had to correct ourselves.

We had a deeply disappointing experience with Solomon’s Admissions Consulting. Despite paying for a senior consultant and two additional schools, we were initially assigned someone with only one year of experience, according to their own website. After pushing back, we were offered three other consultants, each with only 2–4 years of experience reviewing applications—not exactly senior. Solomon’s refused to provide references, citing “client privacy.” The consultant we ultimately chose was kind and supportive of our daughter, but she was unfamiliar with our renowned, competitive private high school in a major U.S. city. She provided a “customized” 4-year plan that turned out to be for another student—with broken links and outdated information. She was often unavailable, seemed to work part-time, and routinely sent information well after our high school had already covered it. All Solomon’s internal deadlines were missed on their end, even though our daughter met every requirement on time. The final school list wasn't provided until July before senior year—far too late. By then, our high school counselor had already given much more helpful and specific advice, and the school had hosted multiple workshops. The “Top Secret” school guides were generic and identical. Though our daughter submitted all her essays by the agreed-upon deadlines, editors failed to return feedback on time. When they did, the edits were riddled with grammatical errors and sometimes altered the meaning of her writing. Worse still, Solomon’s asked to use one of her essays as an example and returned it on their letterhead, implying authorship. Everything felt boilerplate. Our daughter got into her dream school, but it was no thanks to Solomon’s—she would have achieved this without them. For the price we paid, the service was not only underwhelming but unprofessional.

If you're looking to have a pristine college application or succeed at transferring universities, you're better off looking somewhere else. We paid for the counselor to help with FOUR schools, and it's been rejection after rejection. Through the initial meeting, my counselor had said that it's better to apply as a humanities major since it'd be more competitive applying as business. And yet the entire process, she kept pushing for me to apply as more obscure business majors because oh well, my classes for spring semester were all related to accounting and management. The counselor doesn't do much apart from giving you a few vague ideas on what to write about, and the editing team is completely separate. You'd be better off saving money by running your essays through ChatGPT because they certainly didn't rewrite anything if it didn't seem like an AO would take particular notice. And the most infuriating part. One of the schools I was desperate for? My counselor had told me that I didn't need her help because I was essentially guaranteed admission because I was in-state. We still asked her to help for further guarantee, but surprise, surprise! Decisions day came, and I was rejected. Maybe this works better if you had a more experienced and positively reviewed counselor, but honestly, you're not getting much here apart from a personalized college list (which you can do on your own with research) and an AI-esque vomit of your essays.

Don't believe the marketing. There is no need to spend a premium for this firm. Our experience was impersonal and fairly generic. The first counselor assigned to us had only graduated from her bachelor's a year before! We had to raise a complaint for an experienced one, which the replacement counselor was, but she gave no counseling beyond what we parents already know. The essay work is done by a different team and it felt no better than a Chatgpt rewrite. Edit: I am compelled to respond after Solomon's reply to my review. 1. One day after my review was posted, it was taken down on that basis that I was not a true customer. I was asked to provide proof to Trustpilot, which I did. I wonder how such challenge was initiated? I assume Trustpilot does not ask for proof-of-purchase for every 1-star review. 2. Once my review was reinstated, Solomon contacted me to discuss a potential partial refund. I declined. The timing of the offer raised questions for me. 3. My review was later flagged again, this time for allegedly containing defamatory content. I stand by my account as a truthful retelling of our family’s experience. I appreciate Trustpilot for upholding transparency and an unbiased integrity. 4. I was surprised that detailed academic information about my child was referenced publicly in Solomon’s response. That level of disclosure felt unnecessary and concerning. 5. That said, the response also omitted context around my child’s UC GPA. While freshman-year grades included a low mark, that course was later retaken with an "A". The UC system excludes freshman grades from the GPA calculation, and my child’s UC GPA was a competitive 4.2. For non-UC schools, we made sure this effort was mentioned in supplemental essays, reviewed by Solomon. 6. Despite 5 above, our child was only admitted to UC Davis and Santa Cruz. Given that UC admissions weigh heavily on GPA and essays—areas we specifically engaged Solomon for coaching, essay and application guidance—it’s disappointing that we saw such limited outcomes. 7. Right at the first meeting, we shared that we weren’t aiming for Top 20 schools. Cornell was a moonshot and I find no fault to use ED for it. While Solomon suggested Boston University as an ED option, we had expressed that it wasn’t a fit. Their ongoing suggestion of this plan, even in response to our review, reflects a repeated disconnect with our preferences. 8. Notably, Solomon’s response did not dispute that our first counselor had very minimal professional experience. We believe this context is important for families evaluating value and the premium cost of these services. While no service can guarantee outcomes. However, based on our experience, the support we received did not match the expectations set by the firm’s marketing or pricing. We’re sharing this to help other families make informed choices.

Don’t fall for the marketing stories. They did nothing to make our child feel special. We started with Solomon two years before college and our counselor suggested standard guidance such as take all AP classes, take summer classes and start a blog. Our child had a 4.4 sophomore year and 4.2 Junior year, D1 athlete and numerous leadership and volunteer opportunities and our counselor had little time for us once the application process drew closer. Once we expressed our concerns she became very defensive and removed conversations from us. We had to reinitiate the conversation’s 2 months before applications were due. Received 0 follow up after we sent applications. Still no follow up to see where sour son landed. Horrible feeling for our son and us as parents. We should receive full refund. Unless your child is solely focused on academics and the college process don’t fall for the marketing. Take your time, save your money and find someone locally for a lot less. You will end up with same result. I would rate them 0 out of 10. Don’t waste your money.