Another day, another article for our Essentials guide to help you learn how to maximize your college admission chances. For this article, we are covering the fundamental attributes that make up the reliable and trustworthy college application services that you want to hire.

As with any rule in the college apps process, there are exceptions and small nuances to everything; this doesn’t mean you should take this advice for granted, however. What you need to consider is that the following observations were made from our team’s years of experience in the college application services industry. We know what the untrustworthy and overpriced services actually look like in this industry, and from there we know what the trustworthy and reliable services look like.

If you find any of these qualities fulfill a majority of the college application service’s attributes in question, you may consider them trustworthy for the most part. Remember these two notes, these should be kept in mind and always remembered.

Note 1: Reviews are easily manipulated. There are plenty of fake reviews –especially on the site in question—outside of the site that are planted there by the actual college application service itself. Reviews, at least in this day and age, are not completely reliable sources of determining if a college application service is trustworthy.

Note 2 (this is probably more important than Note 1):  Even if a site is trustworthy, there are plenty of “trustworthy” and legitimate sites that technically provide services but are simply not up to par with expectations. This usually comes in the form of “technically” following their rules by the ink but coming short in terms of quality without infringing on any laws. For instance, clients may purchase college application services to have an Ivy League graduate edit their personal statement. They may have it edited by an Ivy League graduate, but more often than not these editing services are lacking in quality and only look tempting because they are “made by Ivy graduates”.  

With those vital notes considered, let us at last get to the “good stuff”. Here is the list of qualities you need to find in a college application service in order to know that they are trustworthy and reliable. We will also be adding short descriptions to each trait; that way you will be more well-equipped to know the specifications about said trait that need to be considered. As a word of clarification, a lot of these qualities happen to parallel with our own college application services. This is because we’ve strategically scoured the web for the best high-quality college application editing services and compiled the most common attributes in each one; then we’ve emulated said attributes to make sure our service fits the needs of our clients as best as can be.

Traits of a Trustworthy College Application Service

1. Long, useful guides: This generally goes for just about any website, but any college application service that is advertised on a website is safe and trustworthy if it provides lengthy guides to the application process. Most genuine websites give free blog posts with general advice, but quality services usually provide lengthy posts and guides. A guide or post on a site that only has about 400 words or just a small video on obvious topics that only provide surface level advice. Below is an example of a bad guide that shows a site is not trustworthy in giving high-quality materials.

Example: 430 word article with a small video accompanying it. It talks about how to write the application well. Spell everything right, don’t offend people, and write from the bottom of your heart.

This advice isn’t wrong per se, it is just too short and too vague to give any genuine help to any students who actually want to engineer the perfect college application.

2. Genuine Testimonials: This is a rather difficult thing to prove. The best advice we have is to make use of emails and contact information from the consultancy or service provider: send them a message and inquire them on the legitimacy of the testimonials that they have on hand. Some sites have a banner on their main page or landing page which proudly display all the universities their clients were accepted into. You may ask them for evidence for the legitimacy of these acceptances and proof of the testimonial’s realness.
3. Verified Payments Logos: These are rather vital for determining if the college application service is legitimate. Sites that require online payments through Paypal are more trusted, though that is only the first hurdle. It will at least confirm that the college application service is not a scam, but it may not confirm that the service they provide would be up to par with what you expect. Expecting good, high-quality editing services comes from other factors.
4. Real Backgrounds: Much like number 2 this can be quite tricky to find evidence for. College application counsellors and coaches will more often than not display their educational and work background on the site in question. (it’s okay if they don’t, simply send an email or phone call asking about their editor’s background) Proof of educational backgrounds can be proven with evidence such as photos of the editor’s acceptance letters or diplomas.
5. Reasonable Price Range For The Industry: This is a rather important one to remember. In short, if you can pinpoint this trait in all of the college application services that you are analyzing for legitimacy, you may be able to take half to three quarters of the services you know off your list. Essentially, knowing the reasonable price range will weed out most of the baddies. Most college application service businesses and websites that charge severely low rates are scams; these are usually in the 10-100 dollars range for editing services. Genuine, competitive, in depth analysis and editing services which maximize your admissions chances to great schools range from 800-4000 dollars. These apply for single packages. If, however, a service provides college application upgrades and optimization in only one aspect such as spelling for as much as 1000 dollars, there is reason to be suspicious of the company’s intentions.
6. Specialized For College Application Services ONLY: We know: every point made in this list is just about as equally important. However, this is also very much so. Any editing service you see that not only provides college application services, but also editing services for all types of essays is most likely a scam. If they’re not a scam, they are even more likely a company that cannot provide the high-quality editing services needed to construct the right college application. The reason for this is simple: Companies that contain college application services along with other extraneous services are stretched out too thin. Most of these companies will end up hiring “general” writer rather than specialists who work solely on college applications. The face of the matter is that college applications are not like any other writing assignment; there is no preparation for it in high school and it is not something that can be practiced and mastered at the ripe age of 18. We’ve specialized in college application services and have seen the damage general writers can do to an applicant’s personal statement. Make the wise decision and do not waste time with generalized writing services. Hire writers and editors from companies that work solely on college application services; college apps are an entirely different beast on their own to tackle and you can’t fight them without help from a specialist. Whether it’s a stranger on Fiverr who was once (sort-of) good at high school English or an Ivy League graduate who was accepted for their legacy admissions policy, only a college admissions services consultant or editor would be able to go anywhere near describing the intricacies and meaningful events of your life in vivid imagery and masterful detail.

Try to look for as many of these qualities in a college application service business as much as possible. We know. A lot of these qualities happen to match traits that PenningPapers just so happens to possess. That is because here at PenningPapers we strive to emulate the most ideal college application service provider for our clients, as the industry and field can be rife with disappointments. (everything from subpar quality editing to outright scams) We emulate what high-quality college application services provide and congregate them for our own services to provide the best quality editing and consulting available for our clients.

PenningPapers aside, it is paramount that whichever college application service or consultation company you choose is legitimate and high-quality in their service. It is rare to find a college application service that is not a scam, and even more so one that provides high-quality editing or consulting that can expertly engineer the application to its maximum admission potential.

We hope we’ve made your search for good college application services more clear, as pessimistic of a view as we’ve provided. Sure, the industry is bleak, but there are still hidden gems of high-quality services out there. (as rare as they are) Though our service is a long-formulated combination of all the positive attributes of the services we’ve extensively researched, (hence why we recommend our advice and consulting) we’re not the only option. It is up for you to decide whether you can spot which services are legitimate and which are simply shiny objects masquerading as quality guidance.