Michele Hernandez ’89

America's best-paid college consultant on getting in

"Dartmouth's admissions office doesn't like me much because [former boss and dean of admissions] Karl Furstenberg and I parted on less than ideal terms. I agonized over the confidentiality agreement I signed that made it impossible for me to tell him I was writing a book, but how do you turn down a $450,000 contract when you're supporting a child and paying off years of educational loans?"

"The fury aimed at me seemsto be rooted in anger that aneducator is making money. You don't see the same people who criticize me getting upset over what a hedge fund manager makes. If they don't like a free market economy, they can always move to a socialist country."

"College counselors are scapegoats because collegesdon't make their admissions process transparent, It would be easier to find Osama bin Laden than an admissions director who speaks candidly."

"My working-class clients have different priorities than a lot of wealthy parents. They will sacrifice anything for their kids. I work a lot with Chinese, Korean and Indian parents, who mirror the attitude of their home countries: If you don't get into the one good school, you wind up working in the local factory."

"I tell my clients it's not about thename of the college. I want to get the best match for their kids. No institution is the best in everything."

"The temperament of a student iskey to finding the right school. Only a certain kind of kid will like Yale or Swarthmore. If you're not'super-intense, those aren't good places for you."

"Elite private schools aren't the pipelines they once were. To get into a top college you have to be at the top of your class. Often that's easier in a public school."

"In general kids don't know enough about the colleges towhich they apply. If they did that kind of shoddy research for a high school class, they'd flunk.Too often a kid applies because her tour guide was cool or she has a friend whose brother likes it."

"Colleges no longer look for well-rounded kids. They look for those who are distinguished. They want a kid with passion, who is unusual, who will make an impact."

"It's ridiculous that the Ivies take in athletes as 17 to 20 percent of a class. Alums who say schools admitting so many minorities hurts their own kids' chances of getting in fail to see the reality of who's taking up spaces."

"Anyone who says it's a level playing field is delusional. Very few poor kids apply to Ivy schools because most come from inferior schools with bad teachers and no SAT coaches. They can't compete with kids who take practice SATs 15 times and have years of private tutoring because no admissions director wants to report a dip in the average scores of an incoming class."

"Doing away with personal on-campus interviews made alot of sense. As someone who used to do them every day all summer then see only 5 to 10 percent of the kids apply, I know it's not an efficient use of time."

"Alumni interviewers can be helpful to an admissions officer. They can confirm your impression of an applicant or go against it. You listen when they tell you a kid is drooling or has never read a book. You ignore them if they're critical of a kid being underdressed because you don't care how a kid's dressed."

"I'm against eliminating early decision. How else can applicants indicate their first choice? I don't buy Harvard's argument that it limits financial aid. Harvard thought all schools would follow its lead."

"I think I'd get into Dartmouthagain as a student. I was No. 1 in my class, had high SATs, was a soccer recruit and an academic nerd. I didn't have obvious weaknesses."

CLAIM TO FAME: Widely known as college admissions consultant who gets 95 percent of her clients into their top choice; described last year by BusinessWeek as "a divisive figure in an already controversial field;" runs boot camps as well as one-on-one packages, which range from $30,000 to $40,000, depending on duration; author of books including A is for Admission, which she wrote while working at Dartmouth, and recent Don't Worry, You '11 Get In PREVIOUS CAREER: Academic dean and English chair, North Broward Prep, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 19972001; assistant admissions director, Dartmouth, 1993-97 EDUCATION: A.B., English; MA., English and comparative literature, Columbia, 1990; Ph.D., education, Nova Southeastern University, 1998 FAMILY: Lives in Weybridge, Vermont, with husband Bruce Bayliss, daughter Alexis, 10, and son Ian, 4