The admission consulting scam

As the population pressure increases in the country, and the opportunities for quality higher education in the country remain stagnant or continue to decline, it is not surprising that an ever greater number of students look abroad for higher education. There is also a sense of anxiety about the future of the country and many are eager to move outside for education and subsequent careers. This is quite reasonable and understandable. Why our own institutions are on the decline is not my focus today. Instead, my topic today is the rise of a new scam that has taken the country by storm. It is the proliferation of “consultants” who, for a hefty fee and in the name of advice, are exploiting vulnerable students and their parents.

Now let me first state that getting advice from others is a great idea, and should always be encouraged. I have benefitted from the advice of experts all my life. But the problem starts not with the idea of advice but with the higher education consulting business in the country that is deeply unethical and problematic. In the name of consulting, there are people who charge millions of rupees for subpar information, bad advice and employ pressure tactics. Earlier this week, I spoke to a student who was interested in a Master’s of Public Health (MPH) programme. I happen to have a joint faculty appointment in our school of public health in addition to my primary appointment in biomedical engineering. The student was debating between two institutions, where one was clearly the better choice given the students’ own interests, the size of the university, set of opportunities and faculty expertise. There was simply no comparison between the two options. The student was strongly leaning in that direction as well. Yet, the student told me that their “consultant” was pushing for the other place. The arguments given by the consultant were simply nonsense and demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of MPH programmes. When I probed the student about the expertise of the consultant, it turned out that the consultant had no expertise in public health whatsoever and had done his Master’s in Political Science. Yet, this particular student and others were being influenced by him and paying him a hefty fee for awful advice.

My conversation with the prospective student this week was a continuation of what I had heard in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi earlier this year. Family and friends I had talked about these consultants were everywhere. None of the consultants I had spoken to had ever served on any admissions committee, had never been a faculty or a staff member at any university, and were deriving all of their information from simple Google searches. Some went further and for an even greater fee would offer to help with (aka write) admission essays which is both illegal and unethical. One consultant in particular was proud of his 100% admission success, but what he did not tell was that the universities he was sending his clients too were just as sub-par as his services. There are plenty of universities in the US and elsewhere eager to cash in high dollars from students who are unaware of the poor quality of education these institutions provide. These universities offer admission to nearly anyone who applies.

I fully recognise that many parents and students do not have friends or family who have connections to university admission systems. Despite this, I feel parents and students should be more confident of their own abilities. If they start early, they will find that the process is actually not as complicated as the consultants claim it to be. They are better off without many of these consultants. There are plenty of resources on university websites to guide students and help the parents and the students. There are also ample reliable online resources that are free. Parents and students should know that most of the consultants in the country are not qualified, and are not interested in their wellbeing. We have plenty of con-artists in our midst in politics. We do not need any more in higher education.

The writer is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor of Biomedical Engineering, International Health and Medicine at Boston University. He tweets @mhzaman