Terms and Conditions

I. Our Comprehensive Consulting Services (“Services”) include:

A. PRE-APPLICATION STRATEGIC PLANNING

1. INITIAL ASSESSMENT: Student’s current classes, grades, interests/hobbies, and future aspirations will be assessed to determine strengths and weaknesses. Recommendations to improve weaknesses, and how to better align the student for the college admissions process will be made.

2. ACADEMIC PASSION or NICHE: Brainstorm with the student to determine an academic passion or field of study, which will then correlate to the possible choice of a college major. Extensive work will go into exploring the student’s academic passion as this is the key thread that will tie all activities to the college application. Academic passion may be revisited every year to discern for a possible change of interest.

3. ACADEMIC CLASSES: Once an academic passion/niche is determined, we will assist the student in selecting academic courses that are challenging yet manageable, which generate a transcript with the best possible grades. Will create a 4-year academic plan of coursework, laying out all high school years.

4. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY: Recommend appropriate activities that will help the student stand apart from the competition. Here, will highlight the individuality of the student in the choice of activities, whether it is a club, sports or through art/music. Remove weak activities that are time-consuming and does not help your application.

5. COMMUNITY SERVICE PLANNING: Determine which community service work would be the best fit for the student according to the student’s area of passion. Help develop a strategy for the student to pursue organizations and get noticeable recognition.

6. LEADERSHIP ACTIVITY PLANNING: Explore ways to demonstrate leadership qualities, an appealing quality to colleges. This may be done through various inside and outside school activities. Can assist in drafting a cover letter and resume for an internship, or cold calling an university professor for academic research.

7. SUMMER ACTIVITIES: Top colleges care a lot about how you spend your summer. Maximize this time, don’t waste it! Create an insightful and compelling summer, by choosing activities that showcase the student’s academic passion or intellectual pursuit. Rule out superfluous activities that the colleges do not care for.

8. TESTING ROADMAP: The number of tests and type of tests needed for college admissions is mind-boggling. Create a well thought-out plan for when to take SAT II tests, SAT’s/ACT’s, and AP’s so that the student is not pressured in 11th grade.

9. CONTESTS/AWARDS: Often forgotten or ruled out as only for stem students, contests/awards are another data set that looks excellent on the college application. Determine which contests/awards the student should apply for and can succeed in.

10. COLLEGE VISITS: Colleges care about your level of interest– are they the student’s first choice or a backup? A college visit is a way to exhibit your level of interest. Set up optimal times to visit colleges, before 11th grade when most students are frantically visiting campuses. Evaluate fit of the college– size, department, urban/suburban.– a create a list of colleges which are optimal for the student.

11. TOTAL CONSULTING TIME: Total pre-application coaching time includes forty (40) total hours of consulting. This may include, and not limited to, phone calls, emails, facetime, skype, and research and edits that are done for the student.

B. APPLICATION PREPARATION

1. ACADEMIC PASSION or NICHE: Transform the student’s academic passion or intellectual pursuit, into a college major on the college application. Identify the college major to select for each college that the student is applying to, as might the choices vary from college to college. The strategy here is to position the student to attain college admission.

2. COLLEGE VISITS: Colleges care about your level of interest– are they the student’s first choice or a backup? A college visit is a way to exhibit your level of interest. Set up optimal times to visit colleges, before 11th grade when most students are frantically visiting campuses. Evaluate fit of the college– size, department, urban/suburban.– a create a list of colleges which are optimal for the student.

3. BEST FIT COLLEGE: Finalize a balanced list of colleges that are a good match for the student’s goal and academic niche, including some reach, target, and safety schools. Develop a strategy to apply Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision or Rolling Admissions.

4. ACTIVITY SHEET: Perfect the student’s activity sheet, which the student has been padding for the past 3 years, to support your overall academic positioning. This will encompass any community services, leadership activities, summer programs, and contests/awards of the students. Extensive work goes into highlighting the individuality of the student on paper, so that the college finds the student a “sure admit!”

5. FINAL TESTING: Assess the top test scores of standardized tests to send to colleges, keeping in mind of Score Choice and superscore. If the student has been following IVYBOUND CONSULTING’s test taking roadmap, they will not be overwhelmed in grade 11.

6. COLLEGE APPLICATIONS: Assist in answering the questions on the Common Application or the Coalition Application. Solve problem areas that might arrive. If needed, we work with you to perfect addendums, turning academic weaknesses into strengths by explaining them away in a mature, intelligent manner.

7. MAIN ESSAY: Brainstorm unique and effective essay ideas, creating essays that don’t fall into “the normal,” boring essay category. They key is to craft a narrative that exhibits the successes of the student while expressing their individuality. This will surely help to set the student apart from other applicants. Offer up to three revisions. RETURN POLICY of Essay Review and Editing Service: 1.If the service is not used, you may get a refund within 5 days. 2. If the service is not used after 5 days, you will not get your money back. But, you may apply the amount toward a payment for another service. 3. If edits are made by the IvyBound Team of Expert Advisors, then there is no refund available.

9. LETTER OF RECOMMENDATIONS: Most top students have surprisingly bland recommendation letters, a common and dire pitfall.  We identify teacher, counselor, and/or a coach who can be your best advocates. We also help you prepare a cover letter, resume and portfolio of work for the recommender, enabling them to write stellar letter of recommendations.

10. INTERVIEWS: Prepare for the interview by studying a list of most-asked questions. Learn inside tips to impress the interviewer. We teach the students to dictate their real interviews so that they control what is written on the interview evaluations by controlling the content and flow of the interview itself. Conduct a 30-minute facetime or skype mock-interview.

11. DEFERRAL/WAITLIST/GAP YEAR: Address ways to approach the college when deferred or waitlisted.Discuss ways the student should contact the admissions team of the college to show the level of interest in the college and program? When taking a gap year, ways to strategically position your academic/non-academic pursuits, so that when you are admitted when you apply.

12. ADMISSION DECISIONS: Once the student receives acceptance letters, we can assist you to evaluate college admissions options once you are admitted.

II.OUR RESPONSIBILITIES DO NOT INCLUDE

1. The Responsible Party and the Student understand that the application process is complex and uncertain, and that the decision to accept or reject an applicant is in the control of the college and not within the control of the Company. The Company does not guarantee acceptance into any college.

2. Influencing college admissions officers through undue influence related to the admissions process.

3. Registering and taking standardized tests, arranging for the transmission of test scores to colleges, or completing financial aid forms or college applications.

4. It is the sole responsibility of Student to remain in close communication with Company representative regarding any college admission correspondence from colleges and other pertinent information to the college admissions process.

5. Maintaining communication with the high school counselor and following the requirements of the high school counseling office. This includes communication from high school personnel regarding the school’s college application procedures and internal deadlines for requesting transcripts, letters of recommendation and other documents received from the high school.

6. Completing financial aid and scholarship applications.

7. Work on weekends or responding to Student or Responsible Party requests on weekends.

III. TERMS OF AGREEMENT

The terms of this contract are governed by New Jersey State law.

1. Duration. This Agreement shall commence on the date set forth on the first page of this Agreement, and except for services listed in Section I.B.8. and Section I.B.9., shall continue in full force and effect until all applications on which the Company must provide Services have been submitted to the respective colleges, unless the Agreement is sooner terminated pursuant to the provisions of Section III.4. below.

2. Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability. The Services are provided “as is” without representation, warranty or condition of any kind. To the fullest extent of applicable law, Company disclaims all warranties and conditions, express, implied, statutory or otherwise, including, but not limited to, implied warranties and conditions of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In particular, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Company makes no representations or warranties with respect to (a) the likelihood of the Student’s success in obtaining admission to any program, (b) whether the Services will enhance or detract from the strength of the Student’s application, or (c) any guarantee that the Student will obtain admission to any program. Accordingly, the Student and the Responsible Party agree that Company shall not in any way be liable for the Student’s failure to achieve admission to any program. The Student and the Responsible Party further agree to indemnify, defend and hold Company harmless from and against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable legal fees and disbursements, stemming from third party claims arising out of or resulting from the Student’s or the Responsible Party’s acts or omissions in connection with this Agreement, the delivery of the Services, or the admissions process. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, Company shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use any of the Services even if Company has been advised of the possibility of such damages or such damages are reasonably foreseeable. In any event, the liability of Company, whether for negligence, breach of contract, breach of warranty, or otherwise, shall in the aggregate under this Agreement, not exceed the amounts paid by the Student and the Responsible Party to Company for the Company’s services.

The Student and the Responsible Party acknowledge that the disclaimers and limitations of liability set forth in this Section are an essential element of this Agreement between the parties and that Company would not have entered into this Agreement without such disclaimers and limitations of liability.

3. Confidentiality. Company shall not provide any of the Student’s confidential information to a third party under any circumstances, or disclose that a Student is a client of Company, in either event other than as requested by the Student or as required by law.

4. Termination by Company. Company reserves the right to terminate the provision of the Services at any time and for any reason upon written notice to the Student. In the event that Company terminates the provision of the Services, the Student’s and the Responsible Party’s sole and exclusive remedy shall be a refund of a pro-rata portion of fees paid for the Services as determined by Company in its sole but reasonable discretion. For purposes of this Section, the hourly rate of the Services is $250/hour.

5. Communications. All communications between the Company and the Student and/or Responsible Party shall take place between 10 am and 8 pm EST, Monday through Friday. The Company reserves the right to make exceptions to this rule.
6. Deadlines. The Company must return edited essays to the Student by college admissions deadlines if and only if the essays are sent by the Student to the Company within deadlines set by the Company. The Company is under no obligation to return edited essays to the Student by deadlines set by the Student or Responsible Party.

7. General Provisions. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties, merges all prior and contemporaneous communications and supersedes any prior written agreement with respect to the subject matter hereof. This Agreement shall not be modified except by later written agreement signed by both parties. If any provision of this Agreement proves to be or becomes invalid or unenforceable under any applicable law, then such provision shall be deemed modified to the extent necessary in order to render such provision valid and enforceable; if such provision may not be so saved, it shall be severed and the remainder of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. The headings of sections and paragraphs herein are included for convenience of reference only and shall not control the meaning or interpretation of any of the provisions of this Agreement. The rights and obligations of the Student and the Responsible Party hereunder are not assignable without the prior written consent of Company. The Student and the Responsible Party agree that all controversies, claims or disputes regarding this Agreement shall be resolved solely and exclusively by the federal or state courts located in New Jersey, and the parties hereby submit to the jurisdiction of such courts. In the event of litigation relating to the subject matter of this Agreement, the non-prevailing party shall reimburse the prevailing party for all reasonable legal fees and costs incurred by the prevailing party in such litigation.

8. RETURN POLICY of Essay Review and Editing Service: 1.If the service is not used, you may get a refund within 5 days. 2. If the service is not used after 5 days, you will not get your money back. But, you may apply the amount toward a payment for another service. 3. If edits are made by the IvyBound Team of Expert Advisors, then there is no refund available.

9. RETURN POLICY of Facebook Monthly Subscribers: Our fees, including the full monthly fee for any month (or portion thereof) elapsed (regardless of whether logged the Student onto the private facebook group, participated in the group, saw Facebook Q&A, downloaded PDFs), and any sign-up or registration fee, are non-refundable except as set forth below: (1)  If you are canceling your subscription within 5 days (or such other period as required by law) of your initial purchase, we will refund the full amount of such initial purchase. (2) If we cancel your subscription before your renewal date, you will not be charged for the next month. If you cancel your subscription, on or any days after your renewal date, you will be charged for that month. 

10. RETURN POLICY of Facebook Annual Subscribers:  Our fees, including the full monthly fee for any month (or portion thereof) elapsed (regardless of whether logged the Student onto the private facebook group, participated in the group, saw Facebook Q&A, downloaded PDFs), and any sign-up or registration fee, are non-refundable except as set forth below: (1) If you are canceling your subscription within 5 days (or such other period as required by law) of your initial purchase, we will refund the full amount of such initial purchase. (2) You will be prorated the amount minus the months elapsed (plus the full monthly fee for any month (or portion thereof) elapsed) and minus any promotion given to annual subscribers, in this case (Minus $45 for an additional month). 

11. There is NO RETURN POLICY for High School One-on-One Counseling Package or Hours bought.

12. There is NO RETURN POLICY for College One-on-One Counseling Package or Hours bought.

13. There is NO RETURN POLICY for any documents bought, such as the Early vs. Regular Admit Rates of Top 50 Nationally-Ranked Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges.