What are the differences between consultants?
Families researching admissions support notice that advisors don’t all work the same way. Prices vary wildly, as does the level of engagement during an application process. Clients most often ask me about the day to day experience their student will have, the level of organization they can expect, and the amount of resources that will be brought to bear on the process.
My answers are simple. The day to day is tailored to the student’s needs. My level of organization is exacting and unparalleled, aligned precisely with each student’s goals. And I am a maximalist: I prefer to do more and throw whatever I can at an application rather than trying to game out the minimum we can get away with. On the client side, this looks like a clear, refined, and precisely tailored process.
Here’s a visual representation of the client experience:
Underneath simmers complex strategy, deep knowledge, and non-judgmental adaptability that I feel are essential to my work and my students’ success.
This is what it looks like at Palladis*:
**I do not actually have a lab and rarely need eye protection for my work.
Enough about me. The educational consulting landscape can feel generic, and honestly, a little icky. Everyone throws around stats and makes promising sales pitches. Hopes are high. The stakes are high. Of course, I have a preferred style that I think is the best in the world, but I don’t claim to be the right fit for every admissions situation. On my way to founding Palladis, I worked with several different styles of educational consultants as an application and essay specialist, so I have some insight to offer. In an effort to be helpful, this is how I categorize the field. Remember, at Palladis, I am all about helping you make the right decision, even if you don’t choose me.
The Contractor
This style is directive, and engagement tends to be as needed. It works best for highly independent students and families who want minimal input.
A directive advisor hands the student a set of specifications and expects them to build to it. This can work well for students who want clear instructions and minimal back and forth, but the plan often reflects the advisor’s judgment more than the student’s own instincts and voice. There is often a very limited amount of engagement outside of specific meetings.
The Assembly Line
This style is standardized, and engagement is largely advisor directed. It works best for students who are good at fitting themselves into a specific model, and for families who want a proven, structured outline to follow over individualized attention.
A standardized advisor applies the same framework or checklist to every student, regardless of the individual sitting in front of them. This approach scales well across a large number of clients, but it tends to smooth over the specific interests, strengths, and circumstances that make one student’s application genuinely different from another’s.
The Autopilot
This style is variable, and engagement is largely client-initiated. It works best for students who are comfortable navigating technology on their own, and for families who want to hand the process largely to their student.
Self-directed tools put the student or family at the controls, often with AI or software offering suggestions along the way. These tools can be useful for basic research, but they don’t build a strategy around a specific student, and they leave families to manage the logistics themselves. Trust me, AI is not great with complicated advising questions.
The Strategist
This is where Palladis sits. Strategists work with a student’s own instincts and voice rather than imposing a fixed formula, and each recommendation grows out of a relationship built over time. This style is collaborative and best for families who want a student’s voice centred in the process. The level of parent engagement varies here, but students are deeply engaged as is the advisor.
Palladis takes its name from Athena, the Greek goddess that soldiers and explorers sought out for good counsel, wisdom, and strategy before heading off on bold adventures. That’s the role I try to play, a trusted source of counsel who helps a student think clearly before and during the journey itself rather than someone who takes the journey for them or hands over a map of the territory and says, “Good luck”. Palladis provides the logistics that support the strategy not just the strategy on its own. I track deadlines, coordinate the moving pieces of an application cycle, and manage the details that turn a plan into a completed, well timed application. Families at Palladis get both the reasoning and the follow through.
The relationship often extends far beyond one admissions cycle. I support students from high school through undergraduate admissions, and I continue working with many of them into graduate and professional school applications. Students and families frequently stay connected with me long after an engagement technically ends, and that continuity fortifies students beyond a single application season.
My cross border experience also shapes how I advise. I work across admissions systems in Canada, the United States, and internationally, which means the guidance I give reflects substantial, current knowledge of how different systems actually evaluate students, not a single domestic playbook applied everywhere.
Which style fits your family
Every style above has strengths, and the right fit depends on what your family values most. If you want an advisor who works with your student’s own voice, handles both strategy and logistics directly, and builds a relationship that lasts past one admissions cycle, Palladis is likely a strong fit. The best way to find out is a short consult, where we can talk through your student’s goals and how I work.
– Sarah, 24 Jul. 2026
