A5.5 Inside Information on Study Abroad Agencies

Should You Use a Study Abroad Agent? An Insider's Look at the Industry

All content in this article is shared solely from the author's perspective and experience and is for reference purposes only.

Should you use a study abroad agent? If you ask others, they might analyse the pros and cons of using an agent versus applying independently, weighing the advantages and disadvantages based on different personal circumstances. But if you ask me (I am Ten-Litre Cat), I won't analyse those aspects. My advice is not to use one. This article will focus on topics such as what level of representation study abroad agents hold with foreign institutions, their relationship with these schools, the differences between personal applications and agent-assisted applications, and introduce issues like student referral commissions.

Ten-Litre Cat has personally used study abroad agents at various stages. This included well-known large companies, as well as smaller, lesser-known agencies or studios run by graduates from prestigious universities like Cambridge. I have also represented some UK institutions at recruitment events. I used to blindly believe that using an agent was more reliable, that they must possess unique resource advantages to operate, and I even blindly trusted that the experience and expertise of agents' consultants were undoubtedly superior to that of students.

After some profound lessons, I prefer not to dwell on those negative experiences. Agents are also expensive. Regarding university applications, my view is this: average students are not advised to use them, and outstanding students don't need to. The exception might be for those who are under-qualified and seek unconventional pathways, like the super-rich recently featured in the news, but this requires finding reliable channels and being prepared to shoulder the associated risks and high costs. Examples include children of exceptionally talented or connected individuals (e.g., children of presidents, chairpersons, prominent families, wealthy individuals, experts in a field, or students recommended by top talent), those who directly donate buildings or large sums to universities, or those who initially succeed through dubious channels offered by unreliable agents but ultimately fail – such as the wealthy individual exposed in 2019 who spent $6.5 million to gain admission to Stanford only to be expelled later.

Now, most foreign universities have offices in China. The staff in these domestic offices usually speak Chinese, so you can contact them directly for assistance throughout the process, free of charge. Secondly, for institutions without a domestic office, you can find all necessary information directly on the university's official website and relevant social media channels, or contact the UK university directly. This, of course, requires communicating in English, but universities generally reply very promptly on weekdays, and the information provided is reliable, coming straight from the source.

Study abroad agents are generally categorised into large companies and smaller agencies. Their revenue typically comes from student application fees and commission rebates from universities (some agency fees exclude costs for personal statements, translation, visas, etc., which are charged extra). The rebate is usually a percentage of the student's tuition fees (including language course fees, where commissions are particularly high). The specific rebate amount varies by university and can differ by level of study. However, some higher education institutions and top-tier, well-known universities do not offer any rebates.

For universities that do not pay rebates, agents will typically apply through the university's official website, UCAS, or by contacting the university's staff in China, etc. – which is the same process as applying independently. Among agents, there are primary agents and secondary agents (some are tertiary or even N-level agents, but some might be unclear or indifferent about their level, so we won't overcomplicate this here. If genuinely interested, a separate topic on overseas institution agents could be explored later. Note: 'agent schools' aren't necessarily foreign universities; they can also be secondary schools, etc.).

Some study abroad agents are primary agents for foreign universities. The university pays the commission directly to this primary agent. A primary agent is an agency that has a direct contract with the university (but note, this does not mean you receive preferential treatment by using these agents; you still must meet the same requirements, it's still first-come, first-served, etc. There is essentially no difference from applying personally).

Smaller agencies, studios, or companies mostly do not hold primary agent status with foreign universities (though exceptionally capable small companies might secure it – I know one small agency started by an international student that managed to). Instead, they cooperate with primary agents, receiving a portion of the rebate after the primary agent takes their cut, thus becoming secondary agents.

Note 1: Regardless of the agent level, all study abroad agents have an applicant-institution relationship with foreign universities. This means the university will not give you preferential treatment based on which agent you use. Generally, all agents and all individual applicants have the same opportunities. Of course, if you are among the applicants mentioned earlier – such as someone who directly donates a building to the school, or the child of a celebrity, etc. – then the university might offer preferential treatment on a case-by-case basis. For example, after certain wealthy individuals with the surnames Pan and Li donated enormous sums to top universities, their children were successfully admitted.

Note 2: Since donating buildings or money to universities was mentioned, remember to avoid letting middlemen take a cut. Whether donating a building, money, or anything else, remember to contact the university directly, so that you, your child, or your friend's child, etc., can be prioritised for admissionarman.

Upon becoming a secondary agent, the primary agent company typically provides consultants specialising in documents and applications to assist the secondary agency. This includes training the staff of the secondary agent, providing updated university lists, and offering support with visas or accommodation. Essentially, all necessary materials and information are handed directly to the secondary agent, often down to the smallest detail. This means secondary agents can be further categorised into three types:

 

Type 1: Independent Secondary Agents. These self-sufficient secondary agencies have their own application teams capable of handling documents and related matters themselves. Some independent agents even train new recruits internally after hiring them. They only need to consult the primary agent when unsure about something and route the application through the primary agent's system upon submission.

 

Type 2: Dependent Secondary Agents. These agencies lack their own document preparation or application teams. Their main focus is continuously recruiting students. They then pass the student's information to the primary agent's consultants, who analyse it, provide advice, etc., which is then relayed back to the student. Documents are also handled either by the primary agent or by outsourcing to freelance personal statement writers.

 

Type 3: Hands-off Secondary Agents. Pay particular attention to this 'Hands-off' type, which could also be a primary, tertiary, or N-level agent. True to the name, 'Hands-off' means the study abroad consultant uses every trick in the book to get you to sign the contract and receive payment. Once the contract is successfully signed, they then outsource your application to another company or an individual freelancer. With luck, the outsourced party is reliable, and you successfully gain admission to your desired university. If unlucky, the outsourced party is incompetent, knows nothing, and is utterly useless, significantly wasting your time, energy, money, mood, and overall wellbeing.

 

In other words, consultants within study abroad agencies are essentially salespeople. They receive a commission for every student they enrol. Typically, personal statement writers are also paid per document, based on volume, quality, or other metrics. The specific commission amounts can vary depending on the company and the student.

 

Consider this illustrative example: Company A is a primary agent for numerous universities. Company B, a small studio, approaches Company A, expressing a desire to send students through A and to channel applicants to Company A. Company A welcomes this warmly. After both parties sign an agreement happily, Company B begins sending students. A student, Zhang San, sees Company B's advertisement, contacts them to apply for university, and pays Company B a fee of X ten-thousands. Company B then passes all of Zhang San's information to Company A to process the university application. After Zhang San successfully enrols, the university pays a commission to Company A. Company A deducts a certain percentage and then transfers the remaining commission to Company B.

 

Next, let's discuss student referral commissions ('kickbacks'). Many study abroad agencies offer kickbacks to individuals or organisations who refer students to them. The amount of the kickback varies based on the number of students and the nature of the cooperative relationship, among other factors. There are also several methods for these kickbacks; we will briefly touch on a few here.

Brief Discussion (1): Individuals referring students to agencies. In this case, after a successful referral, the agency directly gives the individual a percentage of the student's application fee as a kickback. These kickbacks are always a percentage; a high rate can mean thousands or even tens of thousands for just one student (even higher for particularly specialised programmes). Individuals can refer students in several ways, for example, through small-scale, personal referrals, or through large-scale methods involving student personal information lists (this involves much more content, including the widespread sharing of lists and other more detailed issues, which won't be elaborated on here).

 

【Brief Discussion (2): Agency-to-agency cooperation. This is relatively straightforward and involves business complementarity between agencies – for instance, in areas like language training or arts training that the other agency doesn't offer but can refer clients to. A kickback is then given based on the specific circumstances (some of these kickbacks are astonishingly high, measured in units of ten-thousands).

 

【Brief Discussion (3): Agency cooperation with domestic schools. This can be further divided into several types, for example, 3+1 programmes, 2+2 programmes, or an agency being stationed within a school or becoming one of the school's few, or the sole, designated agent. There are many types and methods.

 

For instance, a study abroad agency partners with a domestic secondary school or another institution, and that school's students are then uniformly channelled to a specific foreign university, and so on.

 

In reality, for most of the process of applying to foreign universities, aside from your own academic grades, the most important element is the personal statement. Everything else can be managed by yourself. However, if you still strongly prefer to use an agency, it is possible, but you must choose with extreme caution. This is because some study abroad consultants and personal statement writers within agencies have never studied abroad themselves, or have never even been overseas.

 

This reminds me of an experience N years ago at a study abroad fair. Many parents were queuing to ask an agency consultant questions. This consultant told all the inquiring parents and students that he was a graduate of a famous foreign university. Afterwards, I was curious and asked him, "So you also graduated from XX Foreign University?" He said no, he had never been abroad, let alone studied overseas. However, his company was later planning to send them on a short study tour to a well-known university, after which they could claim to have studied there. He said every study abroad agency does this – lying to enhance their educational background, since parents and students wouldn't know.

 

Furthermore, some study abroad agencies like to advertise that 'Student XX, with YY background, successfully applied to ZZ prestigious university through us.' In reality, this is often just marketing, or the student's own ability was already very strong.

 

Therefore, based on the above, the recommendations are:

 

Apply entirely yourself. Except for possibly needing to find a professional, experienced person to help give suggestions for improving your personal statement, all other information can be obtained with help from the university's official staff in China or directly from the university officially. Regularly check university websites and social media. Follow the British Council's Chinese social media and official website. Follow the official channels of the Chinese Ministry of Education's Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE). Follow the social media accounts of the universities you want to apply to. Keep up with visa or other policy trends in the country where your chosen university is located. Join discussion groups for your interested universities or subjects. Use your initiative to search and find information.

 

Find a reliable personal tutor/advisor. Find a personal tutor you find reliable and reasonably secure for paid consultations, personal statement guidance, or application planning, etc. If one isn't enough, you can consult several simultaneously for reference. Be very careful not to blindly trust their claimed prestigious university background. Be cautious, observe carefully, and compare.

 

Use a reliable agency or opt for a semi-DIY approach. If using an agency, be extremely cautious, observe, and analyse. Don't sign with the first one you ask; consult at least five different agencies. Prepare your questions in advance. You will find that different agencies give different answers to the same question, and some consultants are less knowledgeable than you are; many are unprofessional.

 

Key Observation 1: Service attitude varies. Be very wary of consultants who are overly familiar from the start, appear deeply concerned for you, and seem very trustworthy. The reality often is: once you've signed the contract, their attitude changes completely. If you're lucky, they at least do the work. If unlucky, the work is poor quality, delayed, or not done at all. Getting a refund becomes a battle of attrition (a game of博弈). They might try to blame everything on you. (Don't be afraid; pursue legal action if necessary. If you need help, perhaps wait until I establish or figure out a way for you to join my proposed Study Abroad Mutual Aid Alliance. My ideal is: eventually to disintermediate the process, create a Study Abroad Mutual Aid Alliance, and ensure no international student suffers unfairly).

 

Key Observation 2: Consultants will aggressively push universities that offer high commissions, rather than making a proper assessment based on your profile. Sometimes, they know perfectly well your background is weak, but to secure the contract, they will flatter you, saying you're very clever, the chosen one, and have no problem getting into top universities. They might also use tactics that seem caring but are actually subtle threats (or sometimes blatant threats), making you believe you aren't suitable for certain universities, or that you might not graduate, or that you alone will be responsible if your application is rejected, etc. If you encounter a terrible study abroad agency, consultant, or personal statement writer, believe that the experience they bring you will be unforgettable and serve as your first profound lesson in the ugliness of the world.

 

Now, many agencies charge low fees or no fees at all, earning solely from university commissions. So, it is possible to cautiously select a reliable one. However, it is essential to clarify all costs and prices, refund policies, what services are included, their quality, contract terms, etc., with them before paying. Before handing over any money, it is also advisable to mentally prepare for the possibility of future unpleasantness.

 

Alright, having written at length, I'll stop here for now, speaking simply and informally. Please note that all content in this article is for reference only, so the final decision and choice rest entirely with you. If many people wish to understand the information about study abroad agencies and personal applications more broadly or in greater depth, I may write more when I have time in the future. Just know that I typed this out word by word on my mobile phone on Friday, 16th April 2021, with a feeling of [XX]. Finally, I hope this article can be of help to everyone, and I wish you all the best with your studies abroad.