Experts Match Children, Private Schools for a Fee

Laura and Mark Ratner of Potomac, Md., recently spent several hundred dollars to hire a consultant to help them choose just the right private school for their 5-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter.

Mark Ratner, a physician who, like his wife, is a product of public schools, acknowledges that the process of paying someone to advise him on getting his children into private school made him a bit squeamish. “I was skeptical about the whole consultant idea,” Ratner said. “I doubted anyone could tell me something about my kids I didn’t know. I was wrong.”

Ratner said that while he had recognized that his daughter was bright, he learned through this process that she would probably thrive in a highly competitive academic environment.

The Ratners are part of a growing number of parents in the Washington area and across the country who increasingly are willing to shell out hundreds and sometimes even thousands of dollars--even before they pay application or admission fees--to consultants who advise them on what school is best for their children and then to “package,” or prepare, their child for admission to that school.

Business is booming for educational consultants, and the biggest growth in demand is for placement help with the youngest scholars, especially those entering preschools and private kindergartens.

This demand, experts say, is a natural consequence of a second, mini-baby boom, the perceived deterioration of public schools, and a rise in the number of two-income households in which parents increasingly view a good education as essential to success in life.

Several times a month, Mark Sklarow, executive director of Fairfax, Va.-based Independent Educational Consultants Assn., said he gets “a call from a panicked parent saying, ‘Help! Help! I need help getting my child into a private school.’ I ask how old the child is and they say, ‘Three.’ ”

Sklarow said he quickly tries to impress on such callers that “it isn’t about getting little Jessica into the best school, it’s getting little Jessica into the best school for her.”

Consultants say that in such places as Washington, with more than 300 private schools, parents often seek a leg up in their chase after the most prestigious institutions. But a good consultant will quickly disabuse parents of the idea that he or she can use clout with admissions officials to increase a child’s chances, Sklarow said.

For fees that typically range from $500 to $1,500, the consultants evaluate children and advise parents on which schools would provide the best match academically and socially. On average, they see from 75 to 100 families a year, though some have as many as 250 clients, educational consultants say.

Most consultants have degrees in education, and many have worked on the admissions staff of at least one private school before striking out on their own.

Their services begin with an evaluation of the family and the child in face-to-face interviews that can last from one to several hours. After that, services include recommending appropriate schools, filling out and submitting application forms and suggesting tutors or other specialists to help a student improve a test score--which costs more, of course. And almost always the job includes calming fears as families await acceptance letters. Sometimes, it requires buffering children from overly anxious parents.

“It’s really hard to have your kid rejected, and one of the jobs these consultants perform is hand holding,” said Heather Hoerle, director of marketing for the Washington-based National Assn. of Independent Schools.

Consultants say they can make families understand what schools are looking for--and then help with the packaging.

Typically the consultant meets with the child, having them do puzzles or read a book and asking them what is important to them in a school--that it be small, strong in science, friendly or whatever. For very young children, age 3 or 4, the consultant might visit a nursery school for an hour to observe how the child acts in his regular environment with other children and with the teachers.

Consultants also meet with just the parents to find out if the student has any “issues,” the code word for social or learning problems. Finally, a consultant reviews test scores and teacher evaluations before recommending what institutions match the family’s values and also seem within reach academically.

“Counseling students on how to make themselves look better to a certain school is a legitimate function,” said Eileen Kugler, an Independent Educational Consultants Assn. spokeswoman.

“There’s nothing unethical about that. They help kids focus. It’s not paying someone for their influence to a particular school.”