How much does a private school admissions consultant cost?

A private school admissions consultant costs $9,275 for a complete one-school application package at SOS Admissions, one US firm that publishes its prices, plus $975 for each additional school, or $12,200 for five schools. Across a 2025 survey of 600 independent educational consultants, not specific to private school work, the average total fee was $6,388 per student and the average hourly rate $239.

• Scope: consultants who help US families apply to private day schools and boarding schools (K-12), not college admissions. College pricing is covered in admissions consulting pricing.
• Published firm prices: SOS Admissions lists every line item on its private school admissions page (read October 17, 2026), from a $465 planning service to the $12,200 five-school package.
• Market survey: CollegePlannerPro’s 2025 IEC Pricing Survey, 600 responses, 2024 rates. It covers independent educational consultants generally and does not separate private-school placement from college work.
• Costs on top: SSAT registration ($177 standard, $272 with an educational consultant) and application fees of $0 to $150 per school.
• The pricing check for consultants: the Hours-Back Check, package fee ÷ real hours per family, compared with your hourly rate.

Rules of thumb (plain arithmetic from the published prices and worked examples below):

• If you apply to seven schools on SOS Admissions’ five-school package, expect $14,150 in consultant fees ($12,200 + 2 × $975).
• If you buy the one-school package and add six schools instead, expect $15,125, which is $975 more for the same seven schools.
• If you buy 20 hours at the $239 survey average, expect $4,780 before test and application fees.
• If you are a consultant and a $6,388 package takes 40 hours, expect an effective $159.70 an hour, about a third below the $239 hourly average.

How much does a private school admissions consultant cost?

A private school admissions consultant costs from $465 for a single planning service to $12,200 for a five-school package at one US firm with published prices, against a $6,388 average total fee per student in the 2025 IEC survey. No public survey found for this page isolates private or boarding school consultants, so the firm price list and the general survey sit side by side below.

SOS Admissions says its packages apply to one application cycle and that services outside the package are billed at its standard hourly fee, which the page does not print. The survey found 92% of consultants sell packages and 90% of those take installment payments. The quotable version: private school admissions consulting is priced per school and per cycle, so the school list sets the bill more than the hourly rate does.

What does a seven-school private school search cost a family?

A seven-school private or boarding school search costs a family about $14,327 to $15,472 all in on SOS Admissions’ five-school package, once SSAT registration and application fees are added. That firm suggests families apply to at least seven schools, spread across safety, mid-range and reach schools.

The SSAT figures are the middle and upper level prices on the SSAT’s own pricing page: $177 for a standard or school Flex test and $272 for a Flex test with an educational consultant. Hours are assumptions; the $239 rate is a survey average across all consultants, not a private-school rate. Families who need only school selection and essays pay far less than a full package, which is the next comparison.

The Hours-Back Check: how should a consultant price a private school package?

The Hours-Back Check divides a package fee by the real hours a family takes, and a consultant should raise the price or cap the hours whenever the result falls below their own hourly rate. The 2025 IEC survey found most package consultants work 21 to 40 hours per client, and nearly 24% work more than 40.

Read your row against your own hourly rate. Any cell below it means the package is a discount you did not intend to give. Private and boarding school searches add school visits, interviews and testing on top of essays, so log hours on your last five families before trusting the 30-hour column. A consultant who fills packages from referrals alone can ignore acquisition cost; one who buys leads should add it to the fee floor, using the methods in how admissions consultants get clients.

Is a private school package cheaper than paying per service?

A private school application package is cheaper than paying per service only when the family would buy most of the menu, because SOS Admissions’ one-school package costs $9,275 against $7,075 for five core services bought separately. The firm states its packages save $3,445 for one school and $7,180 for five against buying every listed service.

• Five core services for one school, bought separately: planning $465 + school selection $1,875 + essays $1,485 + interview coaching $1,775 + resume $1,475 = $7,075.
• Add a letter of recommendation ($985), a waitlist letter ($1,485) and long essays instead of short ones, and the separate total passes the package price.
• The package includes unlimited hours for one cycle, which matters most for a family that expects many essay drafts.

The practical test for parents: list the services you will actually use, total them, and compare with the package for the same number of schools.

What a private school admissions consultant fee does not include

A private school admissions consultant fee does not include SSAT or ISEE registration, school application fees, tutoring or travel for campus visits, and those sit on the family’s bill separately. Boarding school application fees range from $0 to $150 per school, according to BoardingSchoolReview.

• Testing: SSAT international middle and upper level testing is $339; elementary level (grades 3-4) Flex with an educational consultant is $172.
• Late and rush SSAT registration: $59 and $100 on paper standard tests.
• Tutoring and campus visits: no published benchmark; budget your own.

When is a private school admissions consultant worth it, and when is DIY enough?

A private school admissions consultant is worth paying for when the family is applying to many selective schools in one cycle and cannot give the process 20 or more hours of its own time. The honest DIY route works for a family applying to two or three schools: build the list from school websites, register for the SSAT or ISEE directly, attend open houses, and have a teacher read the essays.

For consultants on the other side of this decision, how families find and choose you is covered in lead generation for admissions consultants and the ranked lead generation agencies for admissions consultants in the US. The first parent call, where the package is chosen, is scripted in the admissions call script.

FAQ: private school admissions consultant cost

What is the private school admissions consultant cost?

A private school admissions consultant costs from $465 for a single service to $9,275 for a full one-school package at SOS Admissions, with $975 per extra school or $12,200 for five. The 2025 IEC survey’s average total fee is $6,388 per student.

How much does a boarding school admissions consultant cost?

No public survey found for this page reports boarding school consultant fees on their own. Consultants listed in the BoardingSchoolReview consultant directory describe package fees and hourly rates, and the one published US price list above puts seven schools at $14,150.

Do private school consultants charge per school?

Some do. SOS Admissions charges $975 for each school added to a package and $742.50 for essays at each school after the first, so a longer school list raises the fee in steps.

How much do admissions consultants charge in New York?

No current published New York fee survey was found for this page. In 2012, WNYC reported that School Choice Group’s new service for individual families would charge as little as $200 an hour or up to $10,000 for a package that continued until a child was placed; treat that as a dated reference.

What costs come on top of the consultant’s fee?

Testing and application fees come on top: the SSAT costs $177 for a standard middle or upper level test and $272 with an educational consultant, and boarding school application fees run from $0 to $150 per school.