Solomon Admissions Consulting is widely recognized in the admissions consulting marketplace as a go-to firm for high-stakes college, medical school, K-12, law school and MBA admissions consulting. Ranked Tier 1 by Entrepreneur Magazine for top national admissions consultancies, Solomon Admissions boasts the deepest bench in the United States of over 80 former top-tier admissions officers working seamlessly together as one team to ensure your success in the hyper-competitive admissions process.We can help students with the following admissions consulting services:College Admissions ConsultingMedical School Admissions ConsultingCombined BS/MD Admissions ConsultingCollege Transfer Admissions ConsultingK-12 Private School and Boarding School Admissions ConsultingMBA and Business School Admissions Consulting
Is Solomon Admissions Consulting legit?
Solomon Admissions Consulting (solomonadmissions.com) has a 4.8 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 101 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Education & Training and its reputation is excellent. Praise is nearly unanimous, with 95% rating it 4 stars or higher; The business has not yet replied to negative reviews; Reviews mostly discuss Customer service, User experience. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What reviewers say
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Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers frequently praise the knowledgeable staff and personal mentors who guide students through college admissions with helpful, structured advice. People note that the overall service is well-organized and responsive, making the traditionally stressful application process smooth and manageable from start to finish.
Some reviewers were not happy with certain aspects of the staffing, noting that a few advisors lacked the specific experience they initially requested or were unhelpful regarding deadlines. Others felt that monthly check-in meetings were somewhat disappointing and that an advisor's knowledge did not always meet their expectations during the process.
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Shout out to Jordan Schank!
Your guidance through the application process made such a difference for our daughter. You helped her find her authentic voice in the essays instead of sounding like every other applicant. The feedback you gave, pushing her to add specific details and really reflect on WHY things mattered clearly made a difference in her writing.
Thank you for investing so much time, for your honest critiques, and for believing in her throughout this process. She couldn't have done this without you!
We loved working with Solomon and specifically Matthew Tatelman for stewarding our son’s college application process. Beyond his role as a counselor, Matthew was an anchor, mentor, coach, and a go to friend for my son this last year to help him and us navigate the college process with humility, patience and gratitude.
Your advice and guidance kept us all informed, rooted and grounded and we are thrilled with the multiple college outcomes including his REA dream college!
Thank you Matthew!
Solomon Told Us to Aim Lower. We Are Glad We Did Not.
We found Solomon Admissions Consulting through an online search. The reviews were strong, their team appeared experienced, and we ultimately decided to make a significant investment in their services to help our daughter navigate admissions to highly selective colleges.
Unfortunately, our experience was disappointing.
Our concerns actually began with the initial sales call. Rather than starting with our daughter’s interests, strengths, goals, or what she hoped to accomplish, the conversation quickly focused on weaknesses in her academic record and what Solomon could not “work miracles” with. We were realistic about how unpredictable admission to highly selective schools is. We were not looking for promises. But we did expect experienced counselors who would objectively assess our daughter, help her present the strongest version of herself, and support her confidence through an already stressful process.
Our daughter was a very strong student with excellent test scores, rigorous academics, significant leadership, and accomplished extracurriculars. She was not a perfect candidate, and we knew the most selective schools would be reaches. What surprised us was how consistently skeptical Solomon seemed about her prospects at schools in the Top 20.
We were also disappointed with the staffing. During the sales process, we were told we would receive a senior-level advisor and specifically discussed wanting someone with experience relevant to one of our daughter’s top-choice schools. Our initial advisor was kind and helpful, but relatively new to Solomon and did not have the specific experience we had requested. Given the amount we were paying, this did not feel consistent with what we believed we had purchased.
We eventually requested a change and were assigned another advisor with more relevant experience. Again, the advisor was pleasant and provided some useful guidance. However, the overall philosophy remained extremely conservative. The college list Solomon recommended leaned heavily toward schools well below the level our daughter wanted to pursue. They are perfectly good schools, but we did not feel we needed to spend this kind of money to build that list.
This became the central frustration with our experience. We were not paying a premium consulting firm to tell us that highly selective colleges are difficult to get into. We already knew that. We wanted experienced help determining how to give our daughter her best possible shot at the schools she aspired to attend while also building a sensible, balanced list.
Ultimately, we disagreed with Solomon’s assessment and developed much of the final college strategy ourselves. We deliberately did not share Solomon’s pessimistic assessment with our daughter because we felt it would unnecessarily undermine her confidence during an already stressful process.
She ultimately applied to several highly selective schools despite Solomon’s reservations. She was deferred by one extremely selective university and accepted by another Top 20 university that she was thrilled to attend. She is now a freshman there.
That outcome obviously makes us very happy. But it also reinforced our concern that Solomon had significantly underestimated her candidacy.
One final disappointment was how the relationship ended. After our daughter received her acceptance, there was a brief congratulatory message and mention of a follow-up conversation, but it never happened. We never heard from the advisor again. As parents who had made a substantial financial investment and spent months working through this process with the firm, the lack of any real closure was surprising.
Overall, I would describe our experience as mixed to somewhat negative. There were helpful people and useful moments along the way, and I would not tell another family categorically not to use Solomon. But I would strongly recommend that parents remain actively involved, question recommendations that do not seem consistent with their child’s abilities or aspirations, and make sure they understand exactly what level of advisor they are getting before signing up.
College admissions at this level is an incredibly difficult and uncertain process. Families hire expensive consultants because they want expertise and perspective they cannot easily provide themselves. That expertise should help students realistically pursue their potential, not make them afraid to try.
We have another child who will eventually go through the college admissions process. Based on this experience, we will not be using Solomon again.
Danielle Crowe was a great help in navigating the college admissions process. As an international student completely unfamiliar with the CommonApp, she gave incredible advice and helped my family and I make the best decisions for our situation. I got into my dream school, and I am incredibly grateful for her thoughtful assistance throughout the entire process.
Haley did an amazing job finding the gaps in my application and working with me to fill them. She helped immensely to create an application that both acknowledged how I am now and my college future.
They sent an expensive looking advertisement to hire them to get my kid into Ivy League schools. My oldest child starts kindergarten next month. This is predatory and inappropriate.
Solomon was not the first college consulting firm I contacted, but it was the first to leave me with such a “distinctive impression”.
My child is currently in 8th grade, and we are beginning to plan her academic path and college application strategy for the next four years. During our initial meeting with Solomon's Director of Enrollment, however, the conversation felt more like a college admissions interview than a consultation.
He began by asking about my child's dream schools and intended major. When he learned that she hopes to apply to Ivy League universities as an Economics major, with the long-term goal of attending law school, he immediately emphasized how competitive both the schools and the major are. He then suggested alternative schools and majors that he believed would be easier to gain admission to.
I explained that we fully understand how competitive her goals are. Our philosophy is simply that setting ambitious goals provides motivation throughout high school. Even if the original goal is not ultimately achieved, aiming high often leads to better outcomes than lowering expectations from the outset. Unfortunately, he did not seem receptive to this perspective and continued to focus primarily on the difficulty of our intended path.
Recognizing that we had different philosophies, I tried to steer the discussion toward a practical question. I asked how AP course selection should relate to a student's intended major. For example, if two students both apply to Engineering programs, but one has taken a rigorous STEM-focused AP curriculum while the other has concentrated on social science courses, how would that affect their competitiveness? Rather than addressing the question directly, he again returned to discussing how difficult it is to gain admission to Engineering programs. Throughout the meeting, it felt like our conversation was running along two parallel lines that would never meet
Another question caught us by surprise. Early in the meeting, he asked my child for her thoughts on the discrimination Asian students face in Ivy League admissions. I had not expected a discussion about selecting a private college counselor to include a politically sensitive topic, particularly at an introductory meeting.
The meeting also ended rather abruptly when he explained that he had another appointment. I asked whether there were other enrollment officers at Solomon, and he told me he was the only one.
To be honest, I remained interested in learning more about Solomon's services. However, if this interaction reflects the firm's approach to prospective families, it left me questioning whether the company is the right fit for us.
I understand that no admissions consultant can guarantee admission to highly selective universities. Ultimately, success depends on the student's own abilities and hard work, and the consultant's role is to provide guidance and help maximize opportunities. My concern was not that the consultant acknowledged the competitiveness of Ivy League admissions—that is something every family already knows. Rather, I was disappointed that, from the very beginning, the discussion focused on lowering expectations instead of helping us understand how to pursue our goals strategically. Personally, I believe that an effective counselor should balance realism with encouragement, helping students build the strongest possible application while respecting their aspirations.
I hope our experience reflects the communication style of one individual rather than the overall culture of the firm.
For context, my child entered high school coursework two years early through an Academic Center program, attends one of the nation's top-ranked public high schools, maintains an excellent GPA, has received multiple academic and extracurricular awards, and has built a strong record of activities. I mention this not to suggest that we deserve special treatment, but simply to clarify that our goals are based on careful planning rather than unrealistic expectations.
Solomon provided sound guidance and counsel to our student as they embarked upon their journey in life. The experience was extremely positive for student, parents, and all involved. We have little doubt that Solomon provides our family the finest services possible to support a student looking for a path into college and life - we thank you
I had Matthew Tatelman as my admissions counselor, and he was incredible. He helped me brainstorm top-notch ideas for college essays, gave very helpful feedback, and was quick to respond to any emails that I sent. Moreover, Matthew’s expert guidance helped me create a college list which was a good fit both for my interests and application strengths. I am very grateful that I was able to use Solomon to help with my college admission process and am excited to attend Dartmouth next year, which I was accepted to ED with the help of Matthew.
Our daughter loved working with Adrienne Gilbert, whom we were able to connect with relatively late in the game (January of her Junior year) but, despite it, she benefitted TREMENDOUSLY from her energy, encouragement, and advice. We all learned a LOT from her about strategy and positioning (guess, what it is NOT intuitive) that we would never have known on our own, but -- mostly --our daughter was comfortable with her, she is warm, she listens, she's responsive, she's knowledgeable, positive -- it's great. It's exactly what we were hoping for --for us, process matters as much (if not more) than outcomes, but her outcomes were amazing as well -- beyond our wildest dreams, she was either accepted or waitlisted to all but one school she applied to, and she is going to her dream school! Maybe more importantly, I think our daughter learned a lot about how to tell her story -- and even explored new fields, new intellectual concepts, and ideas that she might want to pursue in college, all at Adrienne's encouragement. We liked working with her so much we have hired her to work with our son.
We had a very positive experience working with Solomon Admissions, and we especially appreciated the guidance and support provided by Matt Tatelman. Matt helped my daughter through the entire college application process in a thoughtful and organized way. He provided clear direction, useful feedback, and strong ideas that helped us present her application in the best possible light.
What stood out most was Matt’s ability to understand our daughter's strengths, interests, and goals, and then help shape a strategy around them. His suggestions were practical and valuable, especially when it came to strengthening essays, positioning her activities, and making sure the overall application felt cohesive and compelling.
Overall, we were very satisfied with the services provided. The process can be stressful for both students and parents, but Matt’s guidance made it much more manageable. We are grateful for his support and would recommend Solomon Admissions, especially Matt, to families looking for experienced help with the college application process.
Grace has been great to my daughter. No nonsense, always straight to the point, with actionable feedback and clear game plan. She was never warm and fuzzy, but always very helpful, coming up with creative ideas that made my daughter’s application stand out. Grace was instrumental in helping Juliana get into her dream school - Princeton through ED process. Thank you, Grace!
Solomon's program was great for our high schooler. They provided a clearly communicated and knowledgable pathway that was both rigorous in its overall requirements and flexible in its application with regards to timing. The long-term, mid-term and short-term goals were always clearly communicated. Our specific advisor, Delphin Byrd, was experienced, insightful and highly professional. Our child wound up with amazing options -- this was their work to own and be proud of, but Solomon provided the critical structure. Delphine put it all together and made sure it made sense.
Grace Chee was a wonderful thought partner for our daughter as she embarked on her high school journey. From helping create the academic plan to supporting ideas for summer activities and finally providing critical review and encouragement through the gruelling college app process, Grace provided the required framework to help my daughter stay on track.
My son Andrew worked with Philana Tenhoff this year for his college applications. Our entire family is incredibly grateful for her expert guidance and support.
From the early high school years through the final applications, Philana guided Andrew step by step with professionalism and care. We truly appreciated her flexibility — she was always available for both regular and ad-hoc meetings, despite the 3-hour time difference between us.
Her dedication delivered outstanding results. Andrew was accepted to many top CS programs, including UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, UT Austin, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, and UC Santa Barbara. Her general guidance also helped him receive strong offers from UW Seattle, UIUC, and NYU — schools he applied to on his own.
We highly recommend Philana to any family looking for a reliable and effective college application consultant.
A Truly Supportive Experience with Adrienne Gilbert
My son’s counselor, Adrienne Gilbert, was amazing throughout the entire process. We knew very little about the U.S. college application system, but she explained everything clearly and helped shape a strong, compelling story, presenting his application in a very professional way.
He has now committed to Brown—one of his top three choices from the start. He likely would have missed submitting the Brown video if Adrienne hadn’t checked in with him on the day it was due. There were only a few hours left, and thanks to her prompt follow-up, he quickly completed and submitted it. That’s just one example of the kind of support she provided.
Working with Solomon Admissions gave my son a structured process—his essays were completed on time, and he always had expert guidance while still being encouraged to follow his passions.
In summary, we truly could not have achieved this outcome without her support. Thank you, Adrienne!
Adrienne Gilbert helped my son get into his 1st choice college, Vanderbilt (2.8% acceptance rate)!
Our counselor was Adrienne Gilbert, who is a senior admissions consultant. We could not have hoped for a better consultant to guide our son through the college application process from start to finish. Her depth of knowledge on everything from teacher recommendation letters and which activities to list in the Common App to deciding ED/RD schools was invaluable and really made a difference in how our son presented himself in his applications.
From day one, she was very involved in guiding my son through what he needed to do each academic year. She offered sound advice on everything from taking standardized tests to getting his application essays under the word count limit. We especially appreciated that she was very accessible and quick to respond to any and all questions.
She also helped our son find opportunities that would highlight his abilities and interests, and more importantly, she offered very detailed tips on how to secure internships and engage with university professors. Thanks to her prep, my son was able to secure an assistant position with a professor at a major university.
The college application process is very stressful and exhausting for the student (and the parents), but thanks to Adrienne, our son was accepted to Vanderbilt, his top choice. She was always his biggest supporter, and we are truly grateful to her for everything she did to help our son (and us).
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