Colin Sam, a senior at Cincinnati Country Day School, will always remember the joy of being accepted into the college of his choice.
“We were just going crazy. It was one of the best nights of my life,” Sam said.
“I opened up my phone and checked and saw I had gotten in. We started screaming and yelling!”
Sam says he worked hard to get accepted, so when he heard the news about the nationwide college admissions scandal earlier this month, he was outraged.
“It’s something that made me mad personally because these people were taking advantage of the system,” Sam said.
While Hollywood actresses and other wealthy parents are accused of paying hundred of thousands of dollars in an illegal scheme to get their kids into top-echelon schools, Sam said he worked hard to get accepted and was confident in his choice thanks to a new Cincinnati-based company, AdmitAlly.
CEO Anu Vora says she started her company to make sure every student gets a fair shot.
Vora says AdmitAlly helps high school students like Sam get one-on-one mentorship through the college application process at a low cost.
“A lot of families are already spending a lot of money finding these private counselors,” Vora said. “Their privileges are already built into the systems.
“I think most people are not on that boat. And for them it’s important to say there’s something in the market for you.”
As of 2012, 1 in 4 top performing high school students was spending an average of $200 an hour for a college counseling service, Vora says. Most spend a lot more.
“Here in Cincinnati, some charge $600 or $800 or $1,000 an hour,” Vora said.
In contrast, AdmitAlly says it charges $55 per hour.
The AdmitAlly.com website helps students connect with more than 400 mentors from different universities to find the perfect place for them. It helped Sim, a three-sports star, find his new home at Claremont McKenna College In Claremont, California.
“A lot of people end up going to college and think: 'This isn’t the college for me. This isn’t where I should’ve gone.' But I’m fortunate enough to not have to deal with that because i was able to use AdmitAlly,” Sam said.
