Agents can help families apply overseas, but it's hard to know whom to trust, writes Charles Anderson
A plan that an education agent prepared for a Chinese couple's two sons included a sample essay question that could be included in a U S college application: "Evaluate a significant achievement or risk you have taken or an ethical dilemma you have faced."
It is a question they might have asked themselves. The Boston Globe reported in October that the couple, Gerald and Lily Chow, who live in Hong Kong, had filed a lawsuit against the agent, Mark Zimny, and his company, IvyAdmit.
According to depositions filed with a Massachusetts court, the couple paid Mr Zimny $2.2 million over two years, believing that he was donating to elite universities like Harvard on their behalf, and that this would ease their sons' way into the Ivy League.
"Unfortunately, so little is understood among the general Chinese population about the college admission process in the United States," Mark Sklarow, executive director of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, said by e-mail from Fairfax, Virginia. "It has been too easy for unethical agents and con artists to lie, cheat and manipulate a population that only wants what's best for their child."
Overseas education is big business, and it has led to an increasing number of for-profit agents (who generally work directly with universities) and consultants (who generally work independently) who dole out advice to students and parents, particularly from Asia.
It is hard to figure out whom to trust. While there are agents who falsely present themselves as school representatives, there are others who work legitimately with universities on international outreach.
While there are consultants who make promises they cannot deliver, others offer honest, critical advice. To complicate matters, admissions systems vary greatly between countries, as does tolerance for use of agents.
In the United States, it has long been illegal for universities to reimburse agents for each student they recruit. But in countries like Australia, Britain and Canada, agents are legitimately used. Some reputable schools, like the University of Sydney, offer names of suggested agents working domestically and overseas.
In the 2009-10 academic year, China surpassed India as the largest source of international undergraduates at U S colleges, according to the Institute of International Education. In the 2011-12 academic year, the number of Chinese students in the United States increased 23.1 percent from the previous year.
Mr Sklarow said interest in overseas education had "exploded" in China. While other Asian countries have been sending significant numbers of students overseas for generations, in mainland China it is a new experience for many educators and families.
Parents may be eager to send their children overseas, but they may lack the language skills or the understanding of Western practices to figure out the application process.
"The result is unethical, dishonest agents and others who are using family anxiety to bring in clients with ridiculous false promises," Mr Sklarow said.
A 2010 report from Zinch, an education consultant with offices in the United States and China, said 80 percent of Chinese students applying for U S undergraduate programs used agents, many of whom were not certified. It attributed the use of agents to the high level of dishonest behavior. The study, which included interviews with 250 Chinese high school seniors, said 90 percent of letters of recommendations were not written by teachers; 70 percent of essays were not written by students; and 50 percent of transcripts were falsified.
In a move to become more transparent, the University of Nottingham last month became the first higher education institution in Britain to publish the commission rates that it pays to agents. The university also has campuses in Ningbo, China, and outside Kuala Lumpur.
The head of the university's international student recruitment, Harriet Matthews, said in a statement that it was important that prospective students had all of the facts, including which agents it worked with for their counseling services.
"Agents play a really important role in international students coming to the U.K. and we hope that this move will be helpful to them also," Vincenzo Raimo, director of the international office at the University of Nottingham, said by e-mail.
Several countries have codes of conduct for those acting as go-betweens. In April, Australia, Britain, Ireland and New Zealand introduced the London Statement, which sets out ethical guidelines for education agents, but has no legal power.
Jane Welsh, Asia-Pacific managing director at Oxbridge Applications, which focuses only on Oxford and Cambridge, said their consultants never promised successful admissions. "Because you just don't know, all you can do is give students the appropriate educational support," she said by telephone from London. "There are obviously wealthy people in the world, and in any industry some people think that money can pay your way into something. But that is not something that would work in Oxford or Cambridge."
Ms Welsh said their consultants offered advice on applications, interviews, course selection and extracurricular activities.
"It's about plugging those gaps," she said. "Sometimes teachers don't know how to prepare those students."
Betty Lun, who lives in Hong Kong, said by telephone that she did not know much about the education system in Britain when her 18-year-old son, Adrian, said he wanted to study there.
"Having attended local schools we don't know much about the overseas university system," Mrs. Lun said.
A friend recommended a private company called Academic and Continuing Education. Its staff members looked at the son's grades and prospects and suggested that he spend his final year of high school in England to facilitate his entry into a reputable university. The son was accepted into Warwick University, where he will start studying next year.
"For us," Mrs. Lun said, "it has been very good and very easy."
The Qualified Education Agent Counsellors Database has the support of the Australian government. It is associated with Professional International Education Resources, or PIER.
The U.K. Council for International Student Affairs lists members who work under a code of ethics.
The British Council is developing an international agents list. Local British Council sites have some information.
In Canada, the International Consultants for Education and Fairs, or ICEF, lists agents who have completed formal training.
The American International Recruitment Council is a government-registered organization.
The Independent Educational Consultants Association has a directory of qualified consultants.
The Independent Educational Consultants Association offers warning signs that an agent or consultant might not be trusted:
-They guarantee acceptance at a chosen school.
-They do not detail what services will be provided for a certain fee.
-They do not provide details about their background, training or experience.
-They offer to write an admissions essay, or significantly alter an admissions essay, on the presumption that admissions departments can be ''fooled.''
-They have not been vetted by any outside association.