A guide to the choice of study agents in the United States

Now there are more and more agents studying abroad. How do you choose? Next, let's take a look at the selection guide of American study agents. Welcome to reading.

First of all, let's look at how the intermediary is chosen.

1. Look at the company's qualifications

Companies in the study abroad industry vary in size and quality. Most importantly, many companies don't even have the qualification certificates issued by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Education. The service quality and professional strength of such companies are worrying, which will not only cause economic losses to students, but also affect their future. Therefore, when consulting, students and parents must keep their eyes open and correctly identify formal intermediary companies. You can check the qualifications of these companies from the foreign regulatory information website of the Ministry of Education of China.

2. Look at the professional level of the company's consultants.

Many parents are easily attracted by some preferential policies of the company when consulting. I would like to remind parents that the purpose of finding an intermediary is to help students apply for an ideal school. Never choose a company just because of a little discount, because if they can't help students apply to the ideal school, the loss can't be made up by thousands of dollars.

3. Understand students objectively and don't listen to the extreme evaluation of consultants.

Some study abroad consultants made malicious promises in order to get parents to sign contracts. Many parents believe the consultant's words and think that students can apply to some schools that are practically impossible. As a result, after signing the contract, the consultant was no longer enthusiastic, denied the promise, avoided seeing it, and even found fault with students and parents. Another part of consultants deliberately suppressed students and lowered their expectations, and the choice of schools was far below the normal level of students. Therefore, parents are advised to know some information about studying abroad in advance, treat students' background objectively, and don't blindly listen to the words of one family.

4. Pay attention to the openness and transparency of services.

Some intermediary documents and online application information are not open to students, many students do not know the progress of application, and even some intermediaries promised to apply for 8 schools, and finally only applied for 6 schools. Therefore, the right to know the application is very important, and students and parents must understand it clearly.

5. Be cautious about some extra services and resources provided by study agents.

Many intermediaries seize the attention of students and parents to internship and promise to provide them with internship opportunities. But as far as I know, these internships are basically batch training internships, with little gold content, commonly known as "comparison". Students get nothing through internships. If a large number of students have the same internship content, there is a risk of similar backgrounds. In addition, some intermediaries recommend students with poor backgrounds to choose some cooperative colleges. You must pay attention, because you may enter a diploma workshop if you are not careful.

6. Pay attention to the terms related to fees and refunds in the service agreement.

Many parents did not study this part carefully when signing the contract, so that they could not protect their rights and interests when there were problems in the later application.

Then let's take a look at the misunderstanding of intermediary selection.

First, the study abroad intermediary approved by the Ministry of Education is a good formal intermediary.

This is completely wrong. There are 4 19 self-funded study abroad agencies approved by the Ministry of Education and individual provincial education departments. You should know the fact that they are only qualified for examination and approval and are only allowed to engage in self-funded study abroad intermediary services. Qualified management does not mean formal management, or even high quality. In recent years, the competent authorities, including the education department and the industrial and commercial department, have not made statistics and published the illegal acts and complaints of study abroad agents, but such facts do happen every day.

Second, black intermediaries are irresponsible study abroad intermediaries. Schools and consulting companies are not study abroad intermediaries and will not be "black intermediaries".

Foreign language schools, universities and so-called independent consulting companies, independent study consultants, diy study consultants, etc. Are the most deceptive study abroad agents.

Liars always say they are not liars. Because the reputation of study abroad agents is really bad, therefore, some institutions or people who are essentially engaged in study abroad agents will always try their best to get rid of the relationship with them. I remember that about three years ago, Cui Yongyuan mentioned the new concept of "college intermediary" in a CCTV program, which is an accurate positioning of colleges and universities engaged in various so-called study abroad training classes and preparatory classes. They are actually study abroad agents, but they don't even have the shabby coat of study abroad agent qualification. Once a dispute occurs, the responsible person can often take advantage of their institutional advantages as a school or even a public university to pick up all their responsibilities.

There are countless institutions in the society engaged in the intermediary business of studying abroad in more beautiful vests. Practically speaking, there are many professional elites among them, but more of them are mainly pursuing interests. They take various forms, including: consulting companies, independent admission consultants, "so-and-so education alliance", "so-and-so university network" and "so-and-so". Without exception, they try to stand on the side of students and push themselves to the opposite side of the study abroad agency, claiming that they are not the study abroad agency. They are study abroad agents, and they all do it, which may even be more expensive and unreliable services. Some students told me face to face that a famous "study abroad agent" claimed to guide him to study abroad by DIY and classified him as a so-called high-end application, but his clerical level was not even the English level of high school students. When the students questioned, the other party claimed that we were deliberately imperfect and deliberately left some grammatical mistakes-too many grammatical mistakes should not be intentional. This statement is unreasonable.

Third, the official background of the study abroad agent must be reliable.

It should be said that institutions with official background, especially those with the background of the Ministry of Education, do have relatively better international education resources, and the integrity of services is also guaranteed by certain mechanisms. But every student is different. So as far as the case is concerned, it is hard to say which study agent is the most reliable and correct choice for you. This depends not only on the background and resources of the intermediary, but also on the people who provide services for you. After all, study abroad consultation and application services are done by people, and personal experience has great weight for the scientificity, operability and success of study abroad plan.

At the beginning of the self-funded study abroad service market, some government departments and institutions did play a very positive role. It is undeniable that some institutions with government background have unique advantages and experience in resources. However, all self-funded study abroad intermediaries are independent legal entities decoupled from the government, and their previous relationship with the government cannot be used as a basis to measure whether they have good management level, team ability and professional ethics.

Fourth, institutions with many advertisements, big scenes and many branches or study abroad agents with overseas background are all good intermediaries.

If you think that such an institution must be more reliable and powerful, it is a typical mistake of "watching advertisements without looking at the curative effect". Large-scale, trans-regional and even transnational operation has its historical accumulation and success. Large-scale luxury office, huge staff, neat dress, streamlined management, seemingly rigorous customer management system, dazzling awards, is only a commercial form, and can not be used as a basis for judging whether it is a good intermediary. When talking about how to choose a study abroad agent, some media recommend or even suggest: choose a large-scale study abroad agent. In this regard, I want to say that Sanlu milk powder and Harbin medicine are also large in scale. Aren't they still deceiving people? ConocoPhillips is a multinational predator, isn't it willing to accept the oil spill?

5. A study abroad agent with low or free fees is a good intermediary.

The study abroad agency itself is a form of service company arising from the information asymmetry in the study abroad market, so it is unnecessary to say that it is commercial. It is inevitable to pay for services. Only the level of fees and the development and changes of the project are definitely the result of market recognition and competition. Institutions that charge too much, if the market, that is, students don't recognize their services, then such institutions will be abandoned by the market. Institutions that charge too little, if their services don't meet the market expectations, no one will buy them. This is the so-called cost performance. There is an intermediary in Beijing, and no matter what level, its fees for studying in the United States are always about 5,000 yuan higher than those in the same industry. In this case, many students give up their choice, although they feel really professional after consultation and the service is very reliable. Why is this? It is understood that it has actually hired a group of excellent overseas consultants, which greatly increases its service cost. The service is very transparent. Students can check the email address used when applying for a university, and also exchange their study abroad plans and application progress with overseas consultants. Many institutions are just the opposite: the claimed overseas consultants are simply false, and they do not disclose any application materials and application progress to students. The so-called "ceramics" is also unwarranted, and only the intermediary knows what is going on.

So why are there still some cases where the fees are "ridiculously low" or even free? The reasons are nothing more than the following: First, the study abroad agent split the services according to the project or stage, and the quotation may not fully cover the services that students need, "hiding some expenses". Second, attracting students at low prices and secretly collecting other "black money" are the tricks of many illegal organizations. Third, there are indeed very few institutions that are supported by market fees or returned by foreign institutions' enrollment commissions, so the fees are low or free. However, this situation is generally rare, and most of them are limited to the use of college admissions agents in Britain and Australia.

6. If it is difficult to control foreign study agents, choose local study agents.

This concept mostly exists in the central and western regions or second-and third-tier cities. Many parents and students think that the study agent is the same, and it is convenient to be closer or closer. There is nothing wrong with this, but it is debatable to think that the institutions around us must be reliable or controllable.

We say that in addition to having legal qualifications, we should also consider the background, college resources, team and practical experience of the intermediary. The Ministry of Education and individual provincial education departments have approved more than 400 intermediary agencies for studying abroad, and the branches in different regions of the country are uneven. Most of them are located in the developed areas of education and economy represented by Beijing, including coastal areas, and some large institutions have also set up branches in various places, including foreign institutions. According to the survey data, the number of students studying in Beijing alone (including branches with local education and foreign education in Beijing) accounts for more than 50% of the total number of students studying at their own expense. Therefore, it is obvious that, besides being located in the capital, Beijing's institutions naturally have advantages in resources and information, and the team's experience is far ahead in the country.

It can be found that most students and parents have the experience of inquiring about study abroad information and submitting consultation through the internet, whether it is the investigation of the study abroad agent itself or the investigation of the third party organization. Therefore, the development of modern information technology has long offset the distance of space. Choose an agency to study abroad. Don't confine yourself to the institutions around you. Choose an institution that suits you. Some institutions headquartered in Beijing have also received information and manpower support from the headquarters. They should not be excluded from the choice.

Seven, there are many successful cases of prestigious schools or many cases of difficulties in studying abroad. Intermediaries are good intermediaries.

I believe that everyone who looks up information about studying abroad on the Internet or visits an education exhibition and receives promotional materials from study abroad agencies will find a phenomenon: almost every study abroad agency will list its own successful cases, which is very brilliant. In these cases, in addition to being admitted to a prestigious school, there is also a hint that the study abroad agent always seems to "come back to life" and send those unqualified to a prestigious school. More interestingly, if you collect the information of 100 study agents and do a calculation, you may find that the number of applicants to top universities such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford and Cambridge seems to far exceed the actual number of students admitted to universities. What does this mean? Many so-called success stories are made up! !

There are only two objects that study abroad agents should guard against: potential customers and direct competitors. Even if some cases are true, and they are indeed done by study agents through very professional operations, do you think the study agents will really tell everyone their application strategies and all the details in the case descriptions?

Therefore, there is nothing wrong with referring to cases or referring to the handling experience of study abroad agents. The key is not to be confused by so-called success stories. The case is not worth showing off, but it is true and suitable for your own situation.

Eight: Choose a study abroad agent to see the ranking of study abroad agents, and the media selects good study abroad agents.

If you take all the remarks in the media seriously, then you can trust all the weather forecasts and all the promises of politicians.

In China, most media are engaged in commercial media. In addition to the so-called sense of social responsibility, their primary goal is to make a profit. Just as we advise you not to trust the so-called "university ranking" too much, because this is an annual commercial game of foreign media, although it has certain reference value, some domestic media will also stage various evaluations of study abroad agents every year. Do you really believe that if an organization doesn't invest in advertising fees, the media can award prizes?

I don't know which media's selection results are based entirely on consumers' evaluation. This does not seem to be the case. Then, although the organizations that have won various awards in the media may have their own merits, do you think it is necessary to take media awards too seriously if more than two organizations call themselves "the first" or "the best" and more than eleven organizations call themselves "the top ten"? Therefore, those students who try to inquire about the ranking of study abroad agents, the top ten study abroad agents and the best study abroad agents everywhere should forget these keywords.

Nine, the study abroad agency recommended by acquaintances is reliable.

Entertainment loves to get together, shopping loves "group buying", and traveling loves to go hand in hand. This is understandable, but if you always refer to your classmates, or completely trust acquaintances, or even hearsay, it is unwise to choose a study abroad agent.

We always say that studying abroad should be planned, the service of studying abroad should be personalized, and personal characteristics should be emphasized. Then how can your classmates' situation suit you? Everyone is different. Just because a classmate succeeds in an organization doesn't mean you can succeed. This so-called success must not be a single connotation of applying for a school or even getting a visa.

The so-called acquaintance recommendation is also not desirable. Anyway, is this "acquaintance" an expert in studying abroad? Of course he doesn't know your situation as well as you do. It is more reliable to consult by yourself. One of the reasons why I founded the study abroad supervision network is that after I stopped being a study abroad agent, many acquaintances still asked me for help in planning and recommending study abroad institutions. My practice is to recommend several different institutions or several study abroad consultants according to the students' situation and goals, and then make a choice.

Hearsay is even more unacceptable. Never choose or refuse to choose an institution to study abroad because you often see posters, publicity materials or lectures of an institution on campus, or see some favorable or unfavorable comments on the Internet or some closed forums. Because those good comments are either written by the study agents themselves or written by the hired ones, in all fairness, negative comments may also be written by competitors.

The study agent can do everything for me.

When students choose a study agent, of course, the first thing is to buy the professional services of the study agent, and the second is to save trouble and effort.

We find that a few institutions in China often refuse some students, but these students have become contract customers in other institutions. It is worth pondering. Are these institutions rejecting students because of their poor ability, poor service attitude or other reasons? I believe that students with judgment will have their own answers.

We should respect that study abroad agents are not omnipotent. It is not dangerous if the study agent makes a complete commitment to any of your requirements or hopes. The necessary materials and information must be provided by the students themselves, and many links of the work also require the students' own participation. The so-called "packaging" of study agents must be limited, and the price of "fraud" will be very heavy. At present, foreign universities and embassies and consulates attach great importance to the screening and examination of fake materials, and have a set of feasible mechanisms.

Finally, let's take a look at the precautions.

I. Educational promotion institutions

In recent years, students admire countries very much, such as Britain, America, Australia, Canada and so on. Education promotion agencies have been set up in China and Beijing. These institutions are non-profit, which can give more authoritative and quick educational information to students preparing to study abroad, and at the same time omit the link of an intermediary company. Students should also choose international study institutions first. Only in this way can students realize their plan of studying abroad more quickly and economically.

Second, qualifications, reputation and history.

The national education department has approved many intermediary service agencies for studying abroad, with specific core qualifications (registered address, legal person name, etc.). ) Companies can check the information of foreign-related education supervision of China Ministry of Education online. The services of many large intermediary companies are not standardized, and there are many cases of "changing hands" of student materials. Some joining intermediaries introduce students to other institutions, which has caused some disputes.

3. Senior experience or study abroad background.

At present, there are many intermediaries, and the branches set up in other places have not been filed with the Ministry of Education, and they are still in a state of fragmentation, so it is difficult to provide promised services to students. Parents should also choose a learning route suitable for their children and choose a school with guaranteed quality and good school reputation. Parents should verify the school information provided by the study abroad agency, including the cost of studying abroad, the study abroad system of the country where the school is located, and the living conditions of students abroad, so as to avoid misleading because of vague information.

Fourth, follow-up services.

At present, overseas education promotion agencies and some intermediary agencies regularly hold pre-trip preparation meetings for study abroad guidance and foreign exchange, and also have cooperative relations with major banks. At the same time, we also keep close contact with the study abroad offices of overseas universities, and continue to provide services for students on the other side of the ocean, including accommodation arrangements, bank account opening, school registration, renewal and even future application for green cards. Most of these services are free. So remember to ask clearly when consulting.