Details
- Listing Type: Service Providers
- Category: Independent Educational Consultant
- Sub-Categories: College Advisor
- Affiliations: Independent Educational Consultant Association (IECA)
- Service Delivery: In-Person, Online
- Accreditation: IECA Professional Member
Reviews (2)
- My daughter worked with Hilary...
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Best College Counselors Ever
Best investment we ever made. We learned about Riley Baker when our niece applied early decision and got accepted to a prestigious college in the Southeast. She recently graduated and had the most amazing college experience. Based on their experience, we engaged Riley Baker to work with our daughter when she was a sophomore in high school. What I have learned: The team at Riley Baker is at the top of their game. They are all about getting to really know their students and helping them get into the best, right college. They have made the experience of preparing for and applying to college a positive one. Our daughter has a clear plan on target, reach and likely schools, all of which she would feel great about attending. They have literally taken the stress out of the preparation by working closely with our daughter so she is prepared at every step. The counselors get to know their students on a different level than their parents. Her counselor communicates with her in an encouraging, non-emotional way that gives her a logical perspective. As a result, our daughter has taken real ownership in the process. Our daughter's teachers have commented on how our daughter is way ahead of her class in being motivated and having a clear idea of what type of school and curriculum she is interested in. I can't say enough about the experience and have recommended Riley Baker to other parents who are also thrilled with their experience. If there is one thing you want to get right, this is it.
My daughter worked with Hilary and after spending over $1000 on her consulting services chose a school she is now leaving mid year semester year. After attending , she learned the school was a "commuter school" amongst other very impactful details that lead to this poor decision. Hilary pointed out that we should have read these things in the Fiske guide to colleges to prevent this from happening. Obviously we did not hire her to direct us to the Fiske college guide. We thought her advice would add value.
Ultimately it was our error but the money spent was not worth the advice. I will add that once we were in this position I reached out for help and she had little to no knowledge about transfer students/applications. I learned more about it in 5 minutes on the internet.
The college application process is overwhelming and a big decision - in our case a 80k per year decision. We thought getting advice from Hilary would add value. In this case it did not.