Is it worth it to hire a consultant?

Sheri123

For those of you who have hired a consultant, or know of someone who has and are familiar with their experience. How was your/their experience working with the consultant & would you do it again? Was it worth it? How did you/they find the consultant? What did the consultant do (advise you to make changes to your personal statement, give tips on how to edit your essays or diversity statement , or help you get scholarship money etc.)? How expensive is it to hire them? Thank you in advance.

Pacifico

@Sheri123 said:
How was your/their experience working with the consultant & would you do it again?

Awesome and yes.

@Sheri123 said:
Was it worth it?

Yes.

@Sheri123 said:
How did you/they find the consultant?

TLS.

@Sheri123 said:
What did the consultant do (advise you to make changes to your personal statement, give tips on how to edit your essays or diversity statement , or help you get scholarship money etc.)?

I got full service from beginning to end.

@Sheri123 said:
How expensive is it to hire them?

YMMMV based on your needs, your circumstances, and what consultant you choose.

All in all, they will help you put the best possible applications together in ways that you could not have even imagined beforehand. If you have lofty goals then it is worth the investment if you have the means. PM me if you want more details.

deleted account

^^^ Read Pacifico's answer. My consultant made my applications vastly superior this year to what they were last year. I was terrified that I'd get a great LSAT score and it would be my essays that sunk me. If I don't get into one of my reach schools, I can tell you for sure that it was not my essays this time.

My general theory on why I hired mine (who was totally $%&#@#^ expensive) was that at this point in my life, I want no regrets about why I do. And if I didn't hire a consultant and then didn't get into my reach schools, I would have at least one regret for the rest of my life.

And mine provided full service (including optional and scholarship essays), cost me a bundle, and I found out about them from some LSAT-related media that I consume. PM for more details.

kmojoreli

Yes and Yes. One of my chief concerns about this whole process is that a lot of the available information is from TLS and other online sources. IMO those places are just huge echo chambers, where for the most part you have people who are in the same position as you are (applying to law school), giving you advice that they got from another person who was simply applying to law school. Repeated enough times it can become "truth". I wanted to have an expert on my side, and so far it has been worth it for me. My consultants guidance has been invaluable.

DaveH162

This has really made me think about getting one. Unfortunately, they are not cheap. I understand it is an investment, but I do not need expensive Ivy-League grads editing my PS and Resume. I am looking at top schools in my region, and I just don't know that would be necessary. Does anyone have a good review of a (decently) affordable consultant?

deleted account

@DaveH162

Mine wasn't affordable at all. The person whom I hired is not an Ivy League grad, but is a brandname, so was above-average in terms of cost. I have no one else to compare them to, but I think that what they charged is reasonable in the context of law school. And honestly, this person was no fake. They knew what they were doing, their advice was not generic in the least, and I do believe that:
1) Using last year's essays this year, I would have been rejected at one or more of my match schools
2) Using the essays I wrote with my consultant, I will be accepted at one or more reach schools and get into every match school.

Only negative: The secondary proofreaders that my consultant used were somewhat unreliable.

Pacifico

@DaveH162 said:
I do not need expensive Ivy-League grads editing my PS and Resume.

This is such a small portion of what consultants do, and if you don't need it then don't get that service. They will help you submit unparalleled apps relative to what you could do on your own or what most people out there are doing on their own. With the right consultant, you're just bringing your numbers to the table and then putting in the work to write everything but they will make sure that the latter is the best possible version in every case. Furthermore, they are great for getting in off of waitlists and scholarship negotiation. The latter is really the biggest selling point for most people in my opinion because most people suck at negotiating and you're often going up against seasoned lawyers/executives/professors who are very experienced in negotiating. If it costs $2k to hire a consultant but they get you a $30k/yr scholarship when you were only being offered $5k/yr then I'd say it was worth it wouldn't you? And if you could pay $3k for all that negotiation help plus everything else then it is paying for itself. Law school is free for me and I still hired one because I wanted to maximize my potential to set myself up with the best options moving forward. If you can afford it, do it, because it is a significant advantage that helps people outperform their numbers by creating a flawless and cohesive application. Of course, if you're a golden child with a 4.0/180 and don't care about HYS then you'll be fine as long as you don't shoot yourself in the foot. For the rest of us mere mortals, it is a smart decision to take all the good help we can get.