How To Pick A Good Overseas Education Advisor

If you're an overseas student planning to study in an American college or university, you have many things to decide on and prepare for:
- Choosing the best school from over 4000 choices.
- Finding a safe, comfortable place to live before your arrival.
- Getting safely from the airport to your new school/ home.
- Getting $100,000 or more to earn your American diploma or degree.

With such a huge committment of time and money and so many options and factors that go into planning the best education program possible, many students seek the guidance and support of an overseas education advising service in their local area.
Choosing the right advising service is almost as important as choosing the right school. Here are some things to look for when you are deciding which education advisor to work with:
Government License - Does the advising service have a current government license? They usually have to have it displayed in their office so ask to see it. Government licenses show that the service has the necessary financial support to operate and the experience and resources necessary to provide good advising services. If the company does not have a government license, be careful!
Education Background and Advising Experience - Find out if the counseling staff you will be directly working with have the education and experience needed to give you the kind of good advice you need. Ideally, the counselors should have attended an American college or university and have at least 3-5 years of experience in helping students get accepted to American schools. They should be able to provide a long list of schools they have helped students get accepted to, especially the kind of school you want to apply to.
Office Facilties/ Location - The office should be located in a good area and be well-staffed and equipped with the necessary printed and online resources needed to get you quick answers to your school placement questions.
Type of Schools and Services - You should work with an advising service that specializes in placing students in American schools. American schools and the American school system is different from other countries so it's important to work with a service that focuses mostly on placing students with American schools rather than schools in many different countries. American school specialists will be able to provide you with better information and better preparation for the experiences you are going to encounter in the USA.
Price - Compare the service prices of at least a few advising services, but don't necessarily choose the one that offers the cheapest prices. If you try to save money by working with a less-experienced advisor, you may end up paying much more in the end if they make mistakes or your decisions are based upon inaccurate or incomplete information they provide.
References and Reputation - Don't believe the claims or success stories that an advising service states in their promotional material or tells you until you can verify them from independent sources. Try to find out the school placement results from former clients from online sources. Look at which schools the advising service is an official representative for. Most American colleges and universities are very selective in who they will allow to represent them so if you see certificates from a lot of good schools posted in the advisor's office, that is a good sign.
Pre-Departure Services - Getting a school acceptance letter is just a small part of the process of starting your American education program. A good advisor will be able to help you apply for your student visa and prepare for the visa interview, give you lessons on what to expect in an American classroom, successfully dealing with everyday living situations in the USA, making travel reservations, purchasing the necessary medical insurance, providing on-going support services, etc.

STUDENTS - What was your experience working with an overseas school advisor? Do you feel they helped you make the right decisions? Do you feel they were worth the money you paid them?

SCHOOLS -  What has been your experience working with overseas school advisors? How do you decide which advisors to work with? How important are these advisors to your international student recruiting efforts?

American Education Partners works with a number of experienced and carefully-selected American school placement advisors throughout the world. For help in finding a good education advisor in your local area, contact our School Placement staff at: info@americanedpartners.com