Protege Consulting

Those Crafty Marketers

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A potential client showed told us about a company with excellent credentials that provides test prep. This company held a sales presentation and had touted all the great American schools that their graduates were attending. It's true. They had graduates attending some of the best schools.

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Compared to Protege, this company is a large operation with excellent marketing and many students. The best talent in companies like this are involved in  sales and marketing, and we're the first to admit, they've got us beat in that regard.

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Our potential client had an assumption that somehow this school was sufficient to get her child placed at a top school because others had done the same. Fortunately, she had the data showing how many students had been placed at each top school, and when we compared that number with the number of students they had in their program, only 1% had been accepted by top schools.

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These schools recruit students who show a lot of promise and offer them test prep for free. We know this because a student we trained for several years was courted in every which way by one of these outfits. Even if the student doesn't want one of their prep courses, they offer use of their facilities, free application assistance, free dinners, etc., so that they can use the student in their marketing.

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Once the student has been accepted at a top school, they pay the student to talk about the prep program at sales presentations. Similarly, they pay professors and administrators from the top schools to come during their vacations to create the appearance that they the prep center has an advantageous relationship that can help your child get admitted.

 

The truth is that these companies are a pain for top schools because their application agents bring unqualified applicants for interviews at top schools as those students have been led to believe that they have a chance of getting into a top school.

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While others use marketing methods to fill their classes, Protege's mission is to transform each student to achieve his or her highest potential.

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