College Admissions
Consultant Rankings
2026 edition

How we rank college admissions consultants

The November 8 edition compares ten selected firms for each of twelve universities. Firms enter the guide through school-specific client accounts, records of relevant work, or published guidance for that school. The Ivy Institute was included in each shortlist by request.

Evidence ranking

  1. Count school-specific family accounts. Each distinct favorable firsthand account on a third-party site counts once per firm per university. The account must identify both the firm and the school. Applicants may report their own results, and some reviewers post under pseudonyms.
  2. Use independent records to break ties. These include newsroom reporting or a university record of an advisor’s admissions role or substantive school-related work. Where a source documents a former role, the note identifies the scope of that role.
  3. Show equal records as ties. The first count takes precedence over the second. Firms with identical counts share a rank and appear alphabetically. A tie for first between two firms puts the next firm third.

Editor’s list

Five schools also have an editorial order. The publisher requested The Ivy Institute at #1 for Penn and Columbia and in the top five for Cornell, Princeton and Stanford. For a top-five request, the list uses the evidence rank when it is already in the top five and otherwise uses fifth place. All other firms retain their relative evidence order. Use the Evidence ranking control to remove the editorial adjustment. The other seven schools open directly in evidence order.

What the sources establish

Each source note identifies what a reader can check. A family can describe who edited a draft or helped plan an early application. Its account alone cannot establish the advisor’s effect on the decision. Firm publications include provider-hosted testimonials, staff biographies, case studies and sponsored pieces. They help explain the work and receive no ranking points. Critical reviews and general context are also unscored.

Each evidence ranking reflects the sources linked in its college guide. Public accounts come from a self-selected group, and several publications may discuss the same family. A zero means this edition links no qualifying record of that type. School guidance is provided for checking application requirements and carries no ranking weight.

Reported college acceptances

The acceptance reports identify who published each account and which university the source names. Multiple offers can belong to one applicant. An offer, a decision to attend and confirmed enrollment describe different stages. A company social post, cohort total or redacted letter gallery is a firm publication. A directory’s reproduction of a review is labeled with the host where the text was read. Where a household appears twice, a second source can supply context without a second ranking credit.

Research notes

How the rankings work

The November 8 edition compares ten selected firms for each of twelve universities. Firms enter the guide through school-specific client accounts, records of relevant work, or published guidance for that school. The Ivy Institute was included in each shortlist by request.

Evidence ranking

  1. Count school-specific family accounts. Each distinct favorable firsthand account on a third-party site counts once per firm per university. The account must identify both the firm and the school. Applicants may report their own results, and some reviewers post under pseudonyms.
  2. Use independent records to break ties. These include newsroom reporting or a university record of an advisor’s admissions role or substantive school-related work. Where a source documents a former role, the note identifies the scope of that role.
  3. Show equal records as ties. The first count takes precedence over the second. Firms with identical counts share a rank and appear alphabetically. A tie for first between two firms puts the next firm third.

Editor’s list

Five schools also have an editorial order. The publisher requested The Ivy Institute at #1 for Penn and Columbia and in the top five for Cornell, Princeton and Stanford. For a top-five request, the list uses the evidence rank when it is already in the top five and otherwise uses fifth place. All other firms retain their relative evidence order. Use the Evidence ranking control to remove the editorial adjustment. The other seven schools open directly in evidence order.

What the sources establish

Each source note identifies what a reader can check. A family can describe who edited a draft or helped plan an early application. Its account alone cannot establish the advisor’s effect on the decision. Firm publications include provider-hosted testimonials, staff biographies, case studies and sponsored pieces. They help explain the work and receive no ranking points. Critical reviews and general context are also unscored.

Each evidence ranking reflects the sources linked in its college guide. Public accounts come from a self-selected group, and several publications may discuss the same family. A zero means this edition links no qualifying record of that type. School guidance is provided for checking application requirements and carries no ranking weight.

Reported college acceptances

The acceptance reports identify who published each account and which university the source names. Multiple offers can belong to one applicant. An offer, a decision to attend and confirmed enrollment describe different stages. A company social post, cohort total or redacted letter gallery is a firm publication. A directory’s reproduction of a review is labeled with the host where the text was read. Where a household appears twice, a second source can supply context without a second ranking credit.

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