The college entrance consulting market, which helps students enter prestigious universities in the United States at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, is drawing attention

The entrance exam consulting market, which helps admission to prestigious universities such as the Ivy League in the U.S. at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, is drawing attention again. Along with criticism that it is a “legal entrance exam ladder for the privileged class,” some point out that it reminds of the Korean drama “Sky Castle.”

On the 30th, the British daily Telegraph reported on the status of the entrance examination market at prestigious universities in the United States through an interview with Christopher Lim, head of the American entrance examination consulting firm Command Education.

According to reports, Command Education provides customized consulting throughout the entire process, including test preparation, volunteer activities, self-introduction strategies, and activity portfolios.

The annual consulting fee is about 120,000 dollars, and it amounts to 750,000 dollars for the entire course from seventh grade (middle school) to college entrance. The program also includes unlimited tutoring for entrance examinations such as SAT and ACT.

The company’s customers reportedly include a well-known influencer, the child of a CEO of a large European bank, and the child of a president of a country.

Command emphasized its performance, saying, “94% of students who have been consulted over the past five years have passed at least one of the top three universities.” In fact, a student was notified of his acceptance in seven out of eight Ivy League schools last year.

“All activities, not just grades, should be strategically coordinated,” CEO Lim said. “It is not helpful for a student who wants to study computer engineering to do volunteer work related to food.” In fact, there was a case where a student who donated the remaining sample to a charity while reviewing cosmetics on TikTok was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania.

Lim, a second-generation Korean immigrant, recalls that it was “not the best grade.” He said that creating a non-profit organization to prevent school violence in high school and serving as an advisor to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation was the decisive moment for his admission to Yale University. Command Education, which was established based on this experience, is growing rapidly with annual sales of $20 million. The entrance exam consulting market has been controversial for a long time for “unfair.” In particular, criticism of the “American version of Sky Castle” spread as a large-scale college entrance corruption in which celebrities and chaebol children entered universities with proxy tests and false specifications in the United States in 2019.

Consulting itself is not illegal, but criticism is raised that it is a “structure in which even entrance exams are bought with money” given that most of the actual users are in the top 1% ultra-high income bracket.

About 23% of freshmen at prestigious universities in the United States have experience consulting for entrance exams, and if they are children with an annual income of $500,000 or more, the proportion reached 48%, nearly half.

In response, CEO Lim refuted, saying, “Five percent of all customers are provided with consulting for free,” adding, “We apply the same process whether they are rich or free students.”

Meanwhile, Crimson Education, another consulting firm, is famous for its services that plan omnidirectional specifications required for entrance exams, such as writing books, writing papers, and making podcasts. The company has an enterprise value of $554 million and is led by a CEO from Harvard and Stanford.

Some students started when they were 11 years old. According to the WSJ, consultants advise students to develop their best interests for entrance examinations even before entering high school, and sometimes hire more than 20 mentors and tutors.

JULIE KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL