Preminente Review: College Concierge Admissions Consulting

Preminente is a comprehensive college admissions counseling service with offerings for students from elementary school to post-graduate career placement.

Preminente has a track record of helping students gain admission to top colleges and universities. However, pricing limits it to families with deep pockets who are looking for long-term programs.

Preminente's services are wide-ranging, and include helping students attend elite prep schools as well as specific undergraduate and graduate programs. While à la carte resume and cover letter development are available, most programs from Preminente are long-term and require a significant time and financial commitment.

Here’s a closer look at how Preminente works to help you better understand if it could make sense for your education and career goals.

What Is Preminente?

Preminente is an academic, admissions, and career counseling service earning high rankings from admissions counseling reviewers. The company's management in New York City includes highly educated and experienced academic professionals.

The company’s services include its premier College Concierge packages, international student counseling, graduate college admissions counseling, and others. A major drawback is a lack of pricing and fee information. Still, a little sleuthing led us to discover that the flagship college counseling package costs $25,000 for two years, a significant cost that's prohibitive to many households.

With the College Concierge service, students can access academic advising, transcript evaluation, class schedule planning, standardized test advising, extracurricular advising, internship planning, curating a list of favorite colleges, and help with college applications. With over 20 years of experience, if you can afford the hefty price tag, you’ll likely find yourself better positioned to gain admission to the top colleges on your list. 

What Does Preminente Offer?

Preminente offers academic and career advising suitable for elementary school students through recent graduates, depending on their goals. Here’s a snapshot of the services offered by Preminente:

College Concierge

The flagship offering targets high school students, with options for four-year, three-year, and two-year support. There’s also an option for middle school students looking for help from sixth grade onward, but the best value here is for college-bound high school students.

The College Concierge program starts with a one-hour initial consultation, looking at prospective colleges, academic records, test scores, and extracurricular activities. From there, participants engage in a comprehensive advising program to help build a well-rounded student profile that’s ideal for the student’s targeted schools.

Based on our research, the two-year program costs $25,000. This isn’t the most expensive program we’ve reviewed, but it ranks in the upper echelon.

International College & Graduate School Counseling

If you live outside of the United States and want to attend a U.S.-based college or university, this is the program you'll want to know about. The two packages are designed for students starting in the local equivalent of their sophomore or junior year in high school.

It’s a similar program to the College Concierge but adapted for international students looking to create standout college applications. International locations on the Preminente website include cities in Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.

Graduate School Concierge

Graduate School Concierge is designed to help prospective students gain access to law school, MBA programs, and other master’s and PhD programs. Packages include curating a top school list alongside reviews of academic records, extracurricular activities, work experience, and test scores.

Later in the program, participants get help with applications, interview preparation, and financial aid.

Creative Portfolio Development Services

Creative Portfolio Development Services assist those looking to join a program such as art or architecture, creative writing, music, or theater at a premier college or university. Designed for high school students seeking admission to undergraduate programs, creative portfolio services customize the admissions consulting process to focus on specific portfolio submissions to enhance the odds of acceptance.

Remote Consultation Meeting: Single Consultation

If you don’t want the commitment of an in-depth package, you can sign up for a single 60 or 90-minute consultation for undergraduate, law school, or MBA program admissions. It’s a highly compressed version of the College Concierge program designed to get you on track to navigate the admissions process independently.

Other Offerings

In addition to the packages above, Preminente features the following specialized programs.

• Career Counseling, Summer & Internship Planning: College students and recent grads can sign up for career coaching focused on internships and long-term employment.
• Resume and Cover Letter Development: The resume and cover letter program puts students and graduates on track for employment by helping them prepare a compelling resume and cover letter to supplement job applications.
• In-College Consulting: Consulting for current college students aims to keep them on track for academic success with regular sessions to discuss progress and challenges, including class planning, career planning, and extracurricular options.
• Gap Year Counseling: Gap year programs help students make the most of a year off and prepare them for a successful return to academics.
• PreK – 8th Grade: Elementary and middle school programs focus on academics and the overall education experience and admissions to elite private and boarding schools.
• Academic Advising: Academic advising for all ages is customized to help students thrive in any academic program or environment.

Are There Any Fees?

A significant downside of Preminente is a lack of disclosure on pricing. Based on our research, the two-year program for juniors and seniors costs $25,000, which is a substantial financial commitment and is out of reach for many families.

Other programs are also premium priced, but you must contact Preminente to get the exact pricing for your desired package. If this price leads to sticker shock for you or your household, you’re far from alone. Check out other options with value-based pricing in our reviews of top college admissions counseling services.

How Does Preminente Compare?

Preminente pricing places it in a tier of competitors offering high-cost admissions counseling. If you have the budget, IvyWise is a standout competitor with excellent results for most students but costs even more than Preminente.

PrepExpert is another advising service with generally more affordable prices, but the upper-tier program costs about the same as what you’d pay at Preminente. PrepScholar is a lower-priced option with more a la carte offerings.

How Do I Contact Preminente?

If you’re not a current Preminente client, the best way to reach the company is by phone or email. The phone number is 917-446-1987, and the customer service email address is [email protected]. Admittedly, we’re not impressed that the company uses Gmail for customer service.

Is It Worth It?

We’re on the fence over the value of Preminente. It’s clearly aiming at the top-tier of college-bound students, but without clear pricing disclosures or published results on admissions to top choice schools, Preminente makes it challenging to discern the true value of its programs.

If you’re looking for a college admissions counseling service with in-person meetings, a thorough review of your academics and college prospects, and coaching to help you get into a favorite college or university, Preminente could be worth the high cost.

However, students with a tighter budget or without the need for so much handholding can find excellent alternatives. At the end of the day, Preminente’s offering is compelling. But at a similar price point, you may find a better option. And at a lower price point, plenty of competitors have relatively similar programs.

Check out Preminente here >>

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