# How best to reach out to US-bound college/grad-school applicants in Berlin?



## valoismedici (May 2, 2016)

Hi there!

I'm moving out to Berlin, hopefully starting this July, for a year-long job appointment that begins at the end of September. Before my job starts, I'd like to keep working in Berlin as a freelance counselor (i.e. personal statement editing, application help, college search assistance) for high school and university students who want to apply to undergrad/grad-school programs at US universities. 

I have a feeling this would be a particularly attractive service to expat students and their families - does anyone know of a popular website, social media group, or forum specifically geared towards expat families of students at international schools in Berlin? 

A little about myself: I recently graduated with a BA from UChicago and will start a PhD at Stanford in the fall of 2017, after a year in Berlin. I have a lot of teaching experience (including a few years with a major international private tutoring company), and I was hoping to start taking on clients in Berlin even before I move (I could meet over Skype). 

If anyone knows of a good way to reach out to US-bound students, please let me know! 

Thank you!!


----------



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

The logical place to start is the JFK School, since it's an American program and a percentage of its graduates do return to the US. The other private international schools might also bear fruit though some of them are more British in their focus, I think. No clue if there are forums and such, you'd need to do some sleuthing.

Given that German university tuition is free, and American tuition most definitely not (there are other less polite adjectives one could use to describe it) I'd think that anyone finishing high school in Berlin who possessed a decent command of German wouldn't consider studying in the US unless they were either very rich, or very nuts, or very good at soccer. However, I'm sure that you could find a few expats willing and able to pay for a US education, and a percentage of them might even be anxious enough to let themselves be fully sucked into the application-industrial complex.

Don't take this personally, just an editorial comment as the parent of a 15-year-old, but the mere fact that private consultants exist to assist with US college applications (adding still further to the costs, and ultimately exacerbating inequalities) makes me deeply, deeply relieved to be Canadian.

Interestingly enough, there's now a consultant who helps Americans get into German universities - it's become quite attractive on account of the low cost.


----------



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

A further personal comment, as someone married to a professor and who spent a few years in grad school, including the University of Chicago back in the day:

If a prospective graduate student needs to hire a consultant to assist with their application, they really shouldn't be going to grad school. If you're not bright enough to figure it out and write a decent proposal, you aren't going to be getting a job when you're done - guaranteed. Honestly, you're better off finding a job.


----------



## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I kind of concur with Nononymous' comments - though I don't have kids myself.

Still, I don't think you can rely exclusively on the Internet and online resources for that type of a business. You may want to try to link into some of the expat groups in the area. There is, for example, an American Women's Club in Berlin that is part of FAWCO (Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas) and FAWCO sponsors a small scholarship each year that is specifically directed toward US expats who want to send their kids to college in the US. You'd have to contribute and/or pay to advertise in their newsletter, but this might well be a better way to go than to rely on online contacts. (It's usually the parents who want to send the kids to university back in the US - at least in my experience.)
Cheers,
Bev


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

valoismedici said:


> Hi there!
> 
> I'm moving out to Berlin, hopefully starting this July, for a year-long job appointment that begins at the end of September. Before my job starts, I'd like to keep working in Berlin as a freelance counselor (i.e. personal statement editing, application help, college search assistance) for high school and university students who want to apply to undergrad/grad-school programs at US universities.
> 
> ...


What kind of visa will you be on?

Is it tied to a specific job or does it allow freelance work?


----------

