SERVICES OFFERED
Comprehensive Admissions Consulting Service: my primary service and the one that most of my clients use.Other services: Interview-Only Preparation, Reapplication, Waitlist, and Second Opinion Counseling
COMPREHENSIVE ADMISSIONS CONSULTING SERVICE:
- Skype/Telephone
and/or face-to-face for initial consulting, application content
brainstorming, school selection, feedback on essays (when a
conversation will be more effective in addition to or in lieu of
written comments), and interview preparation.
- Email-based consulting for extensive comments on essays, resumes, and other documents.
I offer a high level of flexibility in terms of pricing and logistics to meet the diverse needs of my clients.
My service is based on a few core principles:
- Clients should only pay for what they need. You will pay for my time based on exactly as much time as something takes. I provide my clients with an MS Excel worksheet so that they know exactly how much time was spent. My clients do not pay for routine emails regarding logistics. Email and Skype/telephone sessions can billed out for as little as 1/10 of an hour. The minimum length of face-to-face sessions is one hour. My clients have found that they get not only the best service, but also one that focuses on value for money.
- Clients should be able to have an easy time scheduling appointments and choosing among email, Skype/telephone, and face-to-face sessions (Tokyo only). My face-to-face sessions are held at selected cafes and client’s offices. Busy professionals need flexibility and a system that fully provides for that.
- The admissions process is hard enough for applicants, so I have very simple and customer-friendly rules. There are no cancellation penalties for last minute cancellations of telephone/Skype sessions. Same day cancellations for face-to-face meetings can be made up to 1 hour before the start time without penalty.
- Keeping my costs low and my stress even lower. One reason that I offer a high level of flexibility is because I keep my costs low. I am interested in maintaining the quality of the service I provide and don't try to work with as many clients as I could. As an experienced manager of admissions consultants, I am aware of the potential negative impact of working too much, so I don't! I try to schedule at least a thirty-minute gap between client face-to-face and Skype/telephone sessions to allow for extra session time and so that I can take a brief break between clients. In addition, since I don’t have to pay office rent and don’t commute, I am generally very relaxed and thus I am able to completely focus on my clients.
My counseling process is designed to maximize your results through providing you with a holistic approach to the admissions process. As you can see below, I have indicated how many hours of my time are likely to be required. As this varies greatly, it is something that I can be much more specific about after an initial consultation. I conceptualize the process this way:
Stage 1: Initial consultation to determine whether we should work together, free! Contact me at adammarkus@gmail.com to arrange an initial consultation.
Stage 2: Resume, 1-3 hours. I can do everything from simply review and comment on to substantially revise your resume. Taking care of your resume first allows me to begin to learn about your past experience.
Stage 3: School selection and initial strategy, 0-3 hours. The amount of time we spend on this will vary greatly. For some clients, I will be actively involved in school selection advising, but not for all. Similarly, my involvement in initial admissions strategy development varies. For many clients, school selection and initial strategy will be combined with other parts of the process. See methods and my blog for more details.
Stage 4: Essays, first school, 3-10 hours. This will vary greatly depending on the number and complexity of essays you have to write and your own abilities. Three hours would be typical for a simple 3-4 page statement of purpose for a masters program. Typically 5 to 10 hours would be required if you were an MBA applicant writing essays for a top US or European program. See methods and my blog for more details.
Stage 5: Recommendations, variable number of sessions depending on the level of depth of my involvement. Assume 1-4 hours for 2-3 recommendations. See methods for more details.
Stage 6: Essays, subsequent schools, .25-8 hours. Revisions to a statement of purpose for the next school might be minor, but given the wide variation in what schools require, there is a huge range of variation. As your portfolio of essays increase, the time required to do each subsequent school should decrease significantly.
Stage 7: Interview practice, variable depending on client need, 2-10 hours in total would be typical for MBAs. See methods and my blog for more details.
Stage 8: Assistance with miscellaneous administrative issues aapplication forms, waitlist letters, scholarship essays), 0-3 hours.
How Many Hours Will You Need?
The total number of hours you will need is something we can discuss in our initial consultation. I have some clients who use as little as two hours and others who need 40 or more. The usage varies so widely that I will assess this on a case-by-case basis.
Here are some past utilization patterns for MBA clients (Note: The details below have made intentionally obscure to protect the identity of the client):
2 hours: High performing American client who just needed some overall feedback on resume and essays, but was a real quick learner, a great writer, and someone who really understood the admissions process even before contacting me. Applied to only one top US MBA program. Admitted.
7 hours: European client admitted to top US MBA program. Only applied to one school and required comprehensive service on resume, essays, application, recommendations, and interview.
10 hours: Indian client based in North America. Applied to four programs with my assistance. Based on that work with me, applied to another four schools. Admitted to two top US MBA programs.
11 hours: Japanese MBA client with native level English and extensive international professional and educational experience. Applied to 4 top MBA programs with my assistance was admitted to three of them. Required about 5 hours for the first school and significantly less time for each subsequent school.
12.5 hours: American MBA client admitted to two top programs and two other programs. Dinged at two other top programs. Required extensive work on goals, overall feedback on content, school selection strategy, and interview preparation.
16 hours: East Asian client admitted to one top MBA program. Applied to three. Interviewed and admitted at one. Strong international background, but complicated personal story that required extensive discussions. Intensive review of all application components.
20 hours: European client admitted to 2 top MBA programs, invited for interviews at four, applied to seven. Advanced level non-native English speaker in a remote location. Required extensive assistance at communicating his story effectively, but once mastered needed help on making it fit for each subsequent application. Relied on me for intensive review of all application components for each school.
25 hours: Japanese MBA client with relatively weak English ability and some test score problems. Admitted to one top MBA program. Interviewed at two schools. Applied to six. Needed comprehensive assistance with the application to the first school (9 hours), but was a relatively quick learner.
30 hours: Japanese MBA client with high-level English. Applied to five schools. Admitted at one, withdrew application from three of them after interview was extended as client had already been admitted to a top choice program, and dinged at one school after interview. Wanted comprehensive assistance on the entire process.
40 hours: Japanese MBA client with advanced English. Applied to multiple top MBA programs. Admitted to all of them. Required extensive assistance with all stages of the admissions process.
51 hours: Japanese MBA client with advanced English. Admitted to 2 top US MBA programs and withdrew from two others. Dinged at one school. Required extensive assistance with the process at all stages including strategy development, multiple reviews of all documents for all schools, and a large number of hours of interview preparation.
LL.M. and other graduate degree clients will usually need 5-15 hours depending.
My service is designed to maximize your results through a holistic approach to the admissions process.
Bottom Line: I promise to provide the best advice I can to suit your specific needs and budget.
PRICES
As mentioned above, I charge by the hour (a real hour, not a fifty-minute one!).
Please note that all payments made in Japan are subject to Japanese consumption tax and therefore there are two different rate structures:
For Payments Made in Japan:
| Base Hourly Japanese Yen Rate Before Tax | Hourly Rate in Japanese Yen including 5% Consumption Tax |
| 22,000 | 23,100 |
| Pre-purchased Hours | Package Discount Hourly Yen Rate Before Tax | Total Price in Japanese Yen Before Tax | Total Value of Package Discount Compared to 22,000 Japanese Yen Base Hourly Rate | Total Package Price (including 5% tax) | Discounted Rate for purchasing additional hours based on the initial package purchased. Per additional hour (including tax) |
| 5 | 21,000 | 105,000 | 5,000 | 110,250 | 22,050 |
| 10 | 20,500 | 205,000 | 15,000 | 215,250 | 21,525 |
| 20 | 20,000 | 400,000 | 40,000 | 420,000 | 21,000 |
| 30 | 19,500 | 585,000 | 75,000 | 614,250 | 20,475 |
| 40 | 19,000 | 760,000 | 120,000 | 798,000 | 19,950 |
PLEASE NOTE: Once I commit to working with you, I do so for the entire admissions season. So if you need to buy additional hours beyond the initial package, I guarantee my availability. I will also lock-in your price for the entire time we work together. One of the reasons that I work with a limited number of clients is that I can always provide full service to the clients I work with. Also, please note that once you buy a package you would pay the package hourly rate for any additional hours purchased.
For Payments Made Outside of Japan:
My prices below are in Japanese yen because I am based in Japan, so please contact me for a price quote for other currencies.
| Base Hourly Japanese Yen Rate | |
| 22,000 |
| Pre-purchased Hours | Package Hourly Yen Rate | Total Price in Japanese Yen | Total Value of Package Discount Compared to 22,000 Japanese Yen Base Hourly Rate | Discounted Rate for purchasing additional hours based on the initial package purchased. Per additional hour |
| 5 | 21,000 | 105,000 | 5,000 | 21,000 |
| 10 | 20,500 | 205,000 | 15,000 | 20,500 |
| 20 | 20,000 | 400,000 | 40,000 | 20,000 |
| 30 | 19,500 | 585,000 | 75,000 | 19,500 |
| 40 | 19,000 | 760,000 | 120,000 | 19,000 |
PLEASE NOTE: Once I commit to working with you, I do so for the entire admissions season. So if you need to buy additional hours beyond the initial package, I guarantee my availability. I will also lock-in your price for the entire time we work together. One of the reasons that I work with a limited number of clients is that I can always provide full service to the clients I work with. Also, please note that once you buy a package you would pay the package hourly rate for any additional hours purchased.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE:
Payment Methods: Payment is via domestic bank transfer, international wire transfer, or PayPal. Most international clients prefer using either PayPal or Wire Transfer. Japan-based clients are subject to a 5% surcharge for using PayPal. There are no initial signing and/or hidden fees.
Extension of Service: In the event that you are unable to use any hours you purchase from me within one year from the date of purchase, you can extend your hours for one additional year without extra charge, but these hours are no longer refundable.
Refunds: Consistent with Japanese Law regulating educational providers like myself, I will refund 85% of your unused balance if requested within in one year from the date of purchase. All refunds are subject to the following conditions:
1. Cost of Transfer: Any refund provided will be subject to decrease due to the need to pay wire transfer or domestic banking fees. Any PayPal refund you receive from me will be subject to any fees you have to pay to PayPal.
2. Change in Package Discount Rate: The package rates above are a discount on my standard hourly rate. Therefore requesting a refund on unused hours for package is subject to an altered hourly rate for the service I provided. For purposes of a refund, your discount will be based on the total number of hours used.
Example 1: if you buy a 5-hour package, use four hours, and request a refund on one hour, the 1,000 yen base discount will be revoked. Therefore your base refund would be reduced from 21,000 yen (one hour at the discounted rate) to 17,000 yen (1 hour at the discounted rate minus 4000 yen for the 4 hours you used at the regular rate). The remaining 17,000 yen would be the amount you receive an 85% refund on. The total refund would be 14,500 (or if you paid consumption tax, plus 723 yen for Japanese Consumption Tax, for a total of 15,223 yen.
Example 2: if you buy a 20-hour package, use 19 hours, and request a refund on one hour, you will receive the 10-hour rather the 20-hour package discount rate. Therefore your base refund would be reduced from 20,500 yen (1 at the 20-hour discounted rate) to 11,000 yen (1 hour at the discounted rate minus 9500 yen for the 19 hours you used at the 10-hour rate). The remaining 11,000 yen would be the amount you receive an 85% refund on. The total refund would be 9350 (or if you paid consumption tax, plus 468 yen for Japanese Consumption Tax, for a total of 9818 yen).
Example 3: if you buy a 40-hour package, use 38 hours, and request a refund on 2 hours, you will receive the 30-hour rather the 40-hour package discount rate. Therefore your base refund would be reduced from 38,000 yen (2 hours at the 40-hour discounted rate) to 19,000 yen (2 hours at the discounted rate minus 19,000 yen for the 38 hours you used at the 30-hour rate). The remaining 19,000 yen would be the amount you receive an 85% refund on. The total refund would be 16,150 (or if you paid consumption tax, plus 808 yen for Japanese Consumption Tax, for a total of 16,958 yen).
3. Maximum of 50,000 yen not refunded after changes due to alteration in discount rate. After accounting for any change in the hourly rate as discussed in "2." above, the maximum amount of your unused balance that I can retain is 50,000 yen.
Example: if you buy a 30-hour package, use 10 hours (Hopefully because you were admitted to your first choice school in first round), and request a refund on 20 hours, you will receive the 10-hour rather the 30-hour package discount rate. Therefore your base refund would be reduced from 390,000 yen (20 at the 30-hour discounted rate) to 380,000 yen (10 hours at the discounted rate minus 10,000 yen for the 10 hours you used at the 10-hour rate). The remaining 380,000 yen would be the amount you receive an 85% refund on. As 15% of the total would be he total refund would be 58,500 yen, I would keep 50,000 yen. Your total refund would be 330,000 yen (or if you paid consumption tax, plus 16,500 yen for Japanese Consumption Tax, for a total of 346,500 yen).
LOGISTICS
Telephone/Skype sessions : I encourage all my clients to use Skype as it is free, but if you want to talk with me on the phone, please call me. For Skype, I am video enabled. There are no penalties for last-minute change of schedule.
Email sessions: We don't have to schedule anything. You just send me files and I review and comment on them. I usually reply within 24 hours, but can adjust based on your needs. If I will require longer than 24 hours to review your files I will let you know.
Face-to-face sessions are conducted at the Royal Park Hotel in Nihonbashi, Chuo-Ku. I meet clients in Fontaine, the Royal Park's Lobby Lounge. For details, please see http://www.rph.co.jp/restaurants/res00900.html (in Japanese) or http://www.rph.co.jp/english/restaurants/res00900.html (in English). I will pay for your beverage of choice. Plans for face-to-face sessions are flexible and will be determined on an individual client basis. Please contact me for details. Unlike telephone/Skype or email sessions, I have a one-hour minimum for all face-to-face sessions. Same day changes to schedule are no problem and are without penalty. I would ask that you notify me prior to the start of the session if you are unable to attend. If I am waiting somewhere for you, I will charge for my time. Since I started my own business in 2007, I have only penalized one client.
General Availability: I am usually available 7 days a week between 11/15 and the end of January (exact January date varies based on application deadlines). I will usually be available weekdays and either Saturday or Sunday from 1/21 through 4/30. I am usually available 5-6 days a week from 7/1 to 11/14. I am not available on 1/1/11. I will have limited availability in May and/or June 2011 as I will take an extended vacation.
Privacy: I take your privacy seriously:
1. If we see each other at admissions events I will only acknowledge you if you wish me to.
2. I will not provide any identifying information about you unless you specifically give me permission to do so.
3. I destroy all paper files (I have an industrial strength shredder!) and delete all electronic files once I am finished working with a client.
4. I do not use past client story examples in my essay analysis on my blog.