Empowerly Advising Review: College Admissions Counseling

What Is Empowerly?

San Francisco-based Empowerly is an education technology company that was founded in 2017. Co-founders Hanmei Wu and Changxiao Xie built Empowerly by drawing on their own college admissions experiences. Today, Empowerly's services support students from high school right through to the application season. 

What Does It Offer?

Empowerly offers comprehensive college counseling along with specialized programs. Here's a closer look at its key features: 

College Counseling Programs

High school college counseling: Empowerly offers a range of services to high school students, who can work 1:1 with a counselor as they navigate everything from course selection and extracurricular activities to choosing a college and major. Empowerly will also guide students through financial aid and scholarship applications. 

Essay advising and review: Students can receive feedback from their counselor and a dedicated editing team on their application essays. According to Empowerly, reviews are completed within 48 hours. Empowerly's Admissions Committee Review adds another layer of support, with former admissions officers evaluating application drafts before submission.

Test prep and academic support: Empowerly provides standardized test prep and subject tutoring. For example, you can take the full SAT exam multiple times before test day under timed conditions. Empower states that many of its students boost their SAT scores by more than 150 points, and that all of its test prep experts have 3,000 or more hours of experience with standardized test prep.

AI Scholar

AI Scholar is a unique program that guides students from grades 7 through 12 through machine learning lessons, Python coding labs, and project work. The program features small class sizes, with a 10:1 student-teacher ratio, and expert instructors from top schools such as Brown, Stanford, and MIT. Past projects include using data for disaster relief, exoplanet discovery, and developing algorithms for better movie recommendations. 

For me, the real appeal is the chance to explore a technical interest through hands-on work. It's worth considering if you have a student who genuinely wants to learn these skills, and not just add another activity to their application. 

Research Scholar 

Students in Grades 9 to 12 can work on an independent research project 1:1 with a PhD candidate from an elite school. The program runs year-round with 4 cohorts and projects ranging from 12 weeks to 12 months. 

Research Scholar could be a good fit for a student who wants to investigate a subject more deeply than they can do in a regular class environment. However, you may want to ask about the weekly workload and other expectations before signing up.  

Are There Any Fees?

Empowerly doesn't publish its rates on its website, and advertises that it designs custom packages based on students' needs. Estimates online that range between $10,000 and $30,000. This may or may not be accurate, but if it is, then Empowerly's pricing is on the high end. 

In contrast, CollegeZoom offers hourly pricing at $350, and packages from $3,000 to $6,000. It also publishes its rates on its website. 

How Does Empowerly Compare?

Empowerly's appeal seems to be the combination of counseling, online planning tools, and specialized learning programs, like AI and Research Scholar. CollegeZoom offers planning and application packages, but it also advertises hourly help and a college-specific assessment designed to identify gaps in your student profile.

IvyWise focuses on connecting students with top-notch college counselors for admissions to elite schools. It claims very high admission rates, stating that its students are 6X more likely to be admitted to top schools than general applicants. It also claims that 98% of its students have been accepted into one or more of their best-fit schools. 

How Do I Open An Account?

You can get started with Empowerly by booking a free 30-minute video consultation on its website. 

Is Empowerly Safe To Use?

Empowerly is a legitimate college admissions counseling platform. It's been around since 2017 and has helped over 5,000 students get into their school of choice. Its "About Us" page features pictures and bios of several team members. 

How Do I Contact Empowerly?

Existing Empowerly students and parents can reach out via email at [email protected] for support. If you're new to Empowerly, you can send an email to enrollment@empowerly. You can also contact Empowerly by calling 1(800) 491-6920.

Is It Worth It?

Empowerly may be worth considering for families who want comprehensive guidance. I like that they combine individual counseling and application feedback with standardized test prep. I also like the specialized programs that allow students to take a deep dive into different academic and career interests.

Unfortunately, Empowerly's lack of transparency about pricing is a major drawback, because it makes it harder to comparison shop. We're strong believers that even premium pricing should be transparent.

If you find its service offering compelling, I recommend booking a free consultation and asking about pricing. Only then can you make a fair comparison between Empowerly and alternatives like IvyWise, CollegeZoom, or others. 

Check out Empowerly here >>